← IGCSE Computer Science Paper 1

Advantage of robots: lower long-term running costs

Robots cost a lot to buy, but over time they save money because they need no wages or holidays and make fewer mistakes, so less is wasted. The purchase cost is paid back.

Part of: IGCSE Computer Science 0478 — 6.2 Robotics — Module 24

Understanding Advantage of robots: lower long-term running costs in IGCSE Computer Science Paper 1

What it does: Once the total saved on running costs reaches the purchase price, the robot has paid for itself. A robot does not receive wages, so over time it can reduce the cost of running the business. Robots repeat the same task accurately, so less material is wasted on faulty products. Robots are expensive at first, but the savings they make can add up until they equal the purchase price. The advantage is long-term: the savings can outweigh the high starting cost. Robots need no wages or holidays. They do still need electricity, so running costs are lower, not zero.

Common mistakes: The payback time is the purchase cost divided by the saving each year, so it should be robotCost / yearSaving. Multiplying gives a meaningless number. The wages saved over several years are the yearly wages multiplied by the number of years, so it should be wages * years, not +.

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Learning
Duo
A factory buys a robot arm. Which statement about its running costs is correct?
It must be paid a wage, just like a human workerIt needs no wages, so running costs can be lower over time
Matches
Robots are cheap, so they save money straight away.
↓
Robots cost a lot to buy. The savings build up over time, so the purchase cost is only paid back after a long period.
Applying
Meanings
Term
lower running costs
Meaning
Robots cost a lot to buy, but over time they save money because they need no wages or holidays and make fewer mistakes, so less is wasted. The purchase cost is paid back.
Practice
robotCost ← 60000
Testing
Gaps
robotWages ←
Check Answer
Spots
3OUTPUT "Payback in years:"
4OUTPUT robotCost * yearSaving

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Quick Questions

1. A factory buys a robot arm. Which statement about its running costs is correct?
A. It must be paid a wage, just like a human worker
B. It needs no wages, so running costs can be lower over time ✓
A robot does not receive wages, so over time it can reduce the cost of running the business.
2. Which is a reason robots can reduce waste?
A. They make fewer mistakes, so fewer products are thrown away ✓
B. They make more mistakes, so more products are thrown away
Robots repeat the same task accurately, so less material is wasted on faulty products.
3. A company says a robot has 'paid back its purchase cost'. What does this mean?
A. The robot has been paid a salary for its work
B. The money saved over time has covered what the robot cost to buy ✓
Robots are expensive at first, but the savings they make can add up until they equal the purchase price.
4. Which is true about the cost of robots in the long term?
A. A high purchase cost can be balanced by savings over time ✓
B. A high purchase cost means a robot can never save money
The advantage is long-term: the savings can outweigh the high starting cost.
5. Which cost does a human worker have that a robot does not?
A. Paid holidays ✓
B. Electricity to run
Robots need no wages or holidays. They do still need electricity, so running costs are lower, not zero.

Match the Pairs

no wages or holidays → A robot does not need a salary, sick pay or paid leave, so it removes a regular staff cost for the business.
fewer errors = less waste → A robot repeats a task accurately, so fewer products are spoiled and less material and money are wasted.
A robot is expensive to buy, but the saving on running costs slowly pays back the purchase cost. → savings over time >= purchase cost
Using a robot instead of workers removes the wage bill, which is a long-term saving. → running cost = wages + waste
Robots are cheap, so they save money straight away. → Robots cost a lot to buy. The savings build up over time, so the purchase cost is only paid back after a long period.
Robots save money because they never need repairs or electricity. → Robots still need power and maintenance. They save money because they need no wages or holidays and make fewer mistakes, so there is less waste.

Key Term

lower running costs
Robots cost a lot to buy, but over time they save money because they need no wages or holidays and make fewer mistakes, so less is wasted. The purchase cost is paid back.

Fill in the Blanks

1. humanWages ← 2000 robotWages ← 0
Hint: Type the monthly wage a robot needs, since it has no pay and takes no holidays.
2. saving ← humanCost - robotCost
Hint: Type the arithmetic operator that finds the difference between two running costs.
3. wasteCost ← errors * costEach
Hint: Type the arithmetic operator that multiplies the number of mistakes by the cost of each one.
4. IF totalSaved >= robotPrice THEN OUTPUT "Cost paid back" ENDIF
Hint: Type the comparison operator meaning the savings have reached or gone past the purchase price.
5. months ← robotPrice DIV monthlySaving
Hint: Type the pseudocode keyword for whole-number division, used to find how many months it takes to pay back the cost.

Spot the Error

Question 1
A robotCost ← 60000
B yearSaving ← 20000
C OUTPUT "Payback in years:"
D OUTPUT robotCost * yearSaving
Line D — The payback time is the purchase cost divided by the saving each year, so it should be robotCost / yearSaving. Multiplying gives a meaningless number.
Question 2
A wages ← 25000
B years ← 5
C saved ← wages + years
D OUTPUT saved
Line C — The wages saved over several years are the yearly wages multiplied by the number of years, so it should be wages * years, not +.
Question 3
A robotPay ← 25000
B humanPay ← 25000
C saving ← humanPay - robotPay
D OUTPUT saving
Line A — A robot needs no wages or holidays, so robotPay should be 0. Giving it wages removes the saving the program is meant to show.
Question 4
A humanErr ← 50
B robotErr ← 5
C fewer ← humanErr - robotErr
D wasteSaved ← fewer + 20
Line D — Each mistake wastes 20, so the waste saved is the number of fewer errors multiplied by 20: fewer * 20. Adding 20 is wrong.
Question 5
A cost = 40000
B yearlySaving ← 10000
C years ← cost / yearlySaving
D OUTPUT years
Line A — In pseudocode a value is assigned with the arrow ←, so the line should be cost ← 40000.

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