Variable Functions

Our next phase of the planned goal to reach robotics was variable functions. We learned what they can be used for and how they help a system keep track of itself and run for a certain amount of time or certain number of times. Below are pictures of what we accomplished.

Conclusion

1. Decsribe how you micht modify the Plus command so that it can reset a variable block to 0 within the program.

One would right click on the Plus command to pull up the additionasl information. Then one would click on the box beside "Data input for command value." After the node appears on the left, type in a starting value, which would be zero (0) in this case.

2. What might an industrial or manufacturing engineer need to count or keep track of? Describe one example.

An industrial or manufacturing engineer would need to count or keep track of machines in a production line. Using a variable funcion allows for an accurate way to keep track of the number of times a machine does a certain task. If a machines job is to pick up a bottle cap and put in on a bottle, the system would track how many times the machine runs through the loop of picking up the bottle cap and putting it on a bottle. This would also count the number of bottle caps and bottlesthat the machine put together.