© Modular Robotics, 2016 www.modrobotics.com
Page 5
6. How Numbers Flow
The arrow shows the flow of a number from
the Brightness Sense block to the Flashlight
Action block.
Each black Sense block senses some property
of its surroundings and turns it into a number.
Each Sense block tells its number to all its
neighbors. You can see them “talking” as
the green lights on each block flicker. (The
Bluetooth flashes different colors.)
For example, the Knob Sense block senses
how much you rotate its knob. When you
turn the knob all the way counterclockwise
(left), the Knob Sense block produces a small
number. Turn it clockwise, to the right, to
produce a big number.
The Brightness Sense block senses how light
the room is. In a dark place, the Brightness
Sense block produces a small number. In
a light place, the Brightness Sense block
produces a big number.
Each Action block takes numbers from its
neighbors and turns the numbers into an
action.
The Flashlight Action block takes a number
and lights its lamp. A big number makes
the lamp bright. A small number makes the
lamp dim. Think of the number as hopping or
flowing from one block to the next. Numbers
are flowing through the blocks of the robot
from Sense blocks to Action blocks all the
time. That’s what makes the robot behave
the way it does.
Numbers don’t flow through Sense blocks.
Each Sense block produces its own number,
so it doesn’t pass numbers from its
neighbors.