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Failure Recovery Chooser

Run the Failure Recovery Chooser MicroSim Fullscreen

You can include this MicroSim on your website using the following iframe:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/robot-arm/sims/failure-recovery-chooser/main.html"
        height="562px" width="100%" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Description

Choose the best next action for an agent in eight situations where something has gone wrong. The four actions are retry once, replan, ask a human and stop the arm. Used in Chapter 16.

Explore mode lists the four actions, each with the kind of situation that it fits. The quiz shows eight situations in a fixed order. You choose an action in the menu, press Check, and read why that action is the best one.

Lesson Plan

Grade level: Middle school and up (age 12+). Time: 5 to 10 minutes.

  1. Read the four actions. In Explore mode, say what makes a retry different from a replan.
  2. Recommend. Press Start. For each situation, weigh the four actions: is this a first failure, does a message say how to fix it, or is it time to ask? Choose an action and press Check. You get one try for each situation.
  3. Read the reason. The feedback names the best action and gives the reason. Mastery is 7 of 8.
  4. Think about it. Why is asking a human a recovery action and not a failure of the agent?

An agent retries once and no more. It asks when a request could mean two things, because a wrong guess can move the wrong object. A stopped arm stays stopped until a person clears the stop.

Specification

The learning objective, evidence of mastery and content for this MicroSim are specified in Chapter 16: Agent Planning, Vision, and Interfaces.