📡 Module 1: Learn About Sensors

How do robots see the world?

Discover how cameras and sensors turn the real world into numbers robots can understand.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand that images are made of pixels with RGB values (0–255)
  • See how robots "see" using numbers instead of colors
  • Connect camera output to robot decisions

Hands-On Activities (Robot)

  • Color mixer: Change RGB sliders and watch a pixel update—like a robot's camera. Students see how three numbers (R, G, B) create any color.
  • Live camera view: See what the robot arm's camera sees in real time. Compare the physical scene to the image on screen.
  • Face detection: Detect faces in the camera feed. Discuss how the computer finds faces in a grid of pixels.

Off-Robot / Tactile Activities

🎨 Pixel Art Challenge

Reinforces: Pixels = RGB numbers. Robots see images as grids of numbers.

Materials
  • 8×8 or 10×10 grid (printed or drawn)
  • Colored squares, markers, or sticky notes
How to Run It
  1. Give each team a grid and colored squares.
  2. One person (caller) says RGB numbers (e.g., R:255 G:0 B:0 for red).
  3. Teammates place the correct color in the right cell.
  4. First team to complete a simple shape wins.
👥 Team activity

🔍 Sliding Window Search

Reinforces: Face detection = scanning the image with a window and checking for a match at each position.

Materials
  • Large printed face image on a grid (e.g., 10×10)
  • Cardboard or paper "window" (e.g., 4×4) with a face outline or cutout
How to Run It
  1. Give each team the gridded face image and the sliding window.
  2. Kids slide the window across the grid row by row.
  3. Find where the face "fits" best—eyes, nose, and mouth align inside the window.
  4. Discuss: the computer does the same thing, but checks if the numbers (RGB values) in each window position match a face pattern.
👥 Team activity

👤 Find the Face in the Grid

Reinforces: Detection only "sees" what's inside the window—one region at a time.

Materials
  • Grid where only one 3×3 or 4×4 block contains a complete face; other cells have partial features or distractors
  • Sliding window (cardboard frame) matching the face block size
How to Run It
  1. Kids slide the window across the grid.
  2. At each position, ask: "Does this window show a full face?" (eyes + nose + mouth in the right arrangement).
  3. First to find the face block wins. Discuss why other positions didn't match (partial face, wrong arrangement).
👥 Team activity

Teamwork

  • Pairs: one controls sliders, one predicts the resulting color
  • Groups: design a "robot vision" poster showing camera → numbers → decision