Disadvantage of robots: limits and breakdowns

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A car factory robot meets a part that is a different shape from normal. What is most likely to happen?

A It uses judgement and works out a new way to handle the part

B It cannot cope because it was not programmed for this situation

2. Which statement about a robot is correct?

A It keeps working normally during a power failure

B It stops working if there is a power failure

3. A robot welder has a programming error that places every weld 2 mm too far left. What is the result?

A The same mistake is repeated on every product

B The robot notices the error and fixes it by itself

4. Which is a limitation of using robots compared with people?

A Robots are less flexible and can only do tasks they are programmed for

B Robots can easily switch to any new task without being reprogrammed

5. A robot on a production line breaks down. What is the effect on the factory?

A Production may stop until the fault is repaired

B Production always carries on as normal without it

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1if obstacle_detected: stop()		Afor i in range(100): weld(x + 5)
2power_level = 0		BRobots cannot use human judgement. They only act on programmed instructions, so a robot would not decide this unless it was programmed to.
3A programming error makes a robot repeat the same mistake every time it runs the program.		CThe robot only reacts to situations it was programmed for, so it cannot cope with a new, unexpected problem.
4A robot is less flexible than a person because it only follows its programmed instructions.		Dtask = "paint car"; new_task = ""
5Robot sees a worker's dropped tool on the line and decides to stop to avoid damage, using its own judgement.		EA power failure or breakdown makes the robot stop working, so production stops until it is fixed.
6The factory loses power, but the robots keep working and production carries on as normal.		FRobots need power to work. If power fails or they break down, they stop and production stops.

Definitions

robot limitations

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

_____ power = "ON" weld_joint() ENDWHILE

IF part = "door" THEN weld() ____ stop_and_wait()

___ count ← 1 TO 500 drill(5) NEXT count

IF fault = ____ THEN halt_line() ENDIF

IF task _ "weld" THEN weld() ENDIF

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A IF power = 'ON' THEN

B robot ← 'stopped'

C ELSE

D robot ← 'working'

Question 2

A WHILE power = 'ON'

B IF fault = FALSE THEN

C STOP_PRODUCTION()

D ENDIF

E ENDWHILE

Question 3

A item ← SCAN()

B IF item = 'bottle' THEN

C IMPROVISE(item)

D ELSE

E ALERT_HUMAN()

Question 4

A count ← 0

B WHILE count < 100

C count ← count - 1

D PAINT(car)

E ENDWHILE

Question 5

A task ← GET_TASK()

B IF task = 'any job' THEN

C WELD(part)

D ELSE

E OUTPUT 'Cannot do task'

Answer Key

Disadvantage of robots: limits and breakdowns

Section A: Quick Questions

B — It cannot cope because it was not programmed for this situation

B — It stops working if there is a power failure

A — The same mistake is repeated on every product

A — Robots are less flexible and can only do tasks they are programmed for

A — Production may stop until the fault is repaired

Section B: Match the Pairs

if obstacle_detected: stop() → The robot only reacts to situations it was programmed for, so it cannot cope with a new, unexpected problem.

power_level = 0 → A power failure or breakdown makes the robot stop working, so production stops until it is fixed.

A programming error makes a robot repeat the same mistake every time it runs the program. → for i in range(100): weld(x + 5)

A robot is less flexible than a person because it only follows its programmed instructions. → task = "paint car"; new_task = ""

Robot sees a worker's dropped tool on the line and decides to stop to avoid damage, using its own judgement. → Robots cannot use human judgement. They only act on programmed instructions, so a robot would not decide this unless it was programmed to.

The factory loses power, but the robots keep working and production carries on as normal. → Robots need power to work. If power fails or they break down, they stop and production stops.

Section C: Definitions

robot limitations — A robot can only do what it is programmed to do, cannot use human judgement, and stops working if it breaks down or loses power. It is less flexible than a person.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

WHILE power = "ON"
   weld_joint()
ENDWHILE

IF part = "door" THEN
   weld()
ELSE stop_and_wait()

FOR count ← 1 TO 500
   drill(5)
NEXT count

IF fault = TRUE THEN
   halt_line()
ENDIF

IF task = "weld" THEN
   weld()
ENDIF

Section E: Spot the Error

A — A robot stops working when it loses power. The condition should test for power = 'OFF', not 'ON'.

B — A fault stops production. The test should be fault = TRUE, otherwise production stops when nothing is wrong.

C — A robot cannot use human judgement or improvise. It can only do what it is programmed to do, so for an unexpected item it should alert a human, e.g. ALERT_HUMAN().

C — A programming error is repeated every time. Here count goes down, so the loop never ends and the robot keeps repeating the same action. It should be count ← count + 1.

B — A robot is less flexible than a person and can only do tasks it is programmed for. It cannot do 'any job'. The test should be for a specific programmed task such as 'weld'.