Activity title
Writing a Flowchart to Control a System
Time required
1 hour
Activity summary
Writing a program to meet a design brief
By the end of this activity, you will be able to:
• Understand that programs can be written as flowcharts
• Write a flowchart program to meet a given design brief
What equipment will you need?
None
How to do it
Programming is an essential skill in the 21st century. From mobile phones and tablet
computers, to large ‘fly by wire’ passenger jet aircraft, our everyday lives are shaped by
systems that have been programmed. Almost all modern electronic products have been
programmed to perform different tasks. These systems keep us safe, get us to work or school
and allow us to communicate with our friends and family.
In this activity you are going to write a program for a system using a flowchart.
A flowchart to program a
dog to chase a ball…
Flow Chart Symbols:
Start or Stop (terminator)
Decision
Process
Activity title: Writing a Flowchart to Control a System
Now try this
1. Study the design brief below and answer the following questions in the spaces provided.
Design Brief
Young children are often scared of the dark when going to sleep. This can stop them
from sleeping properly and cause worry for their parents. To address this need, a
design team has decided to create a programmable night light for use with young
children.
The night light must use an LDR (light dependent resistor) to detect when it has gone
dark and turn an LED (light emitting diode) on when this happens. The light must stay
lit for twenty minutes and then switch off.
You are tasked with writing the program for the system.
What inputs and outputs will need to be controlled by the program?
What are the main things that the program must do?
Activity title: Writing a Flowchart to Control a System
2. You are now going to write a flowchart for your proposed program. Use the space
below to present your first attempt. Make sure that you label your program so that it is
easy for other people to understand.
Some flowchart symbols have been given to help you.
My flowchart program Notes to explain my
program
Flow Chart Symbols:
Start or Stop (terminator) Decision Process
Activity title: Writing a Flowchart to Control a System
You could also
Write flowcharts that could control other activities. For example:
• Controlling a home heating system that turns on when the temperature is below 16 oC, but
turns off when it is above 20oC.
• Controlling the water sprinkler system at a garden nursery to be turned on for selected
times during the day.
• Controlling a burglar alarm for your house (you can choose the inputs and outputs).
• Controlling the wash cycle on a washing machine that heats up to a selected temperature
and washes, rinses and spins in sequence.
Further activities you could carry out
You could also use additional symbols for the flowchart, for example to include sub-systems
and input and output devices.
Activity title: Writing a Flowchart to Control a System
What results were expected?
