Core Concepts in Robotics and Structured Programming

Robotics Fundamentals

• Machines involved in an assembly line, often appearing very smart, are known as industrial robots.
• The third generation of robots is characterized by using computers for control and having environmental perception through sensors.
• The word 'robot' originates from a term meaning servant or slave.
• Robotics is the branch of science and technology that studies the design and construction of machines capable of performing tasks typically done by humans or requiring intelligence.
• Light sensors and bumpers are devices that allow robots to locate themselves or objects in their environment.

Structured Programming and Algorithms

• Structured programming requires that all programs are built from three basic control structures: sequence, selection, and repetition.
• An algorithm must be clear, precise, and finite.
• A flowchart must have one start and one end, with all symbols connected, and the connections must indicate a clear direction of flow.
• An executable program does not require a programming environment to run.
• A key difference between a compiler and an interpreter is that an interpreter translates and executes code line by line during runtime.
• The bottom-up design approach consists of assembling modular solutions to solve a larger, complete problem.
• Expressions are evaluated from left to right and from the inside out, respecting the priority of operators.
• The process of designing and outlining a solution to a problem is a key part of programming.
• The two main types of documentation for programs are internal (comments in the code) and external (user manuals, design documents).

Pascal Programming Language Details

• Given an expression to calculate a reduction, such as cost - (reduction * 15 / 100), if cost = 100 and reduction = 20, the result is 97.
• A constant is a named, reserved area in the computer's main memory that stores a fixed value which cannot be changed during program execution.
• The while/do loop is a pre-test loop; it checks the condition before executing the loop's body, ensuring that the process is never executed if the condition is initially false.
• The for/to loop implicitly increments its control variable after each iteration.
• In Pascal, when multiple instructions are part of a single control structure, they must be enclosed within a begin/end block.
• In Pascal, assigning a value to a variable is done with the := operator.
• A primary rule in Pascal is that statements are terminated with a semicolon (;).
• The language a computer directly understands is called machine code, which is a low-level language often represented in binary.
• In Pascal, the data type used for numbers with decimal points is real.
• In Turbo Pascal, to use screen manipulation functions like clearing the screen or setting colors, you must include the uses Crt directive.