One of the common misunderstandings when programming the EV3 is that if you turn the motor “On”, the robot will just start moving. This mini-challenge is to make beginners aware of what the “On” mode does on the EV3.
- Start of by giving your students the following code:
- Explain to them that this is a motor block on the EV3 and that the first parameter is set to “On” mode.
- Ask them to predict what the code will do. Most students new to programming with the EV3 will say that the robot will move forever.
- Have students create this code, download it, and test it on their robot.
- Have them compare their predictions with the actual results.
Conclusions
Simply turning “On” the motor does not result in the robot moving. The “Motor On” block is used to run the motor while you play the block that comes after it. The motor will run until the end of the program or a “Motor Off” block. In the code given to the students, there was no block after the “Motor On”. Therefore, the program ended immediately and robot did not move.
To check comprehension, show students the next two pieces of code and ask them what the code does.
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