Team Swag Wag's Final Challenge!!!

Today was our last challenge with the robots. Our robot’s goal was to kick a ball, then go find it using Bluetooth. We spend the first 15 minutes of class mastering the Bluetooth and polishing up our robot overall. We were able to get the Bluetooth controls down pretty well before we had to test our robot. We did ok with the whole challenge. Both times our robot was able to find the ball and the second time we did the challenge, the robot was able to kick the ball and go after it again.

We did not use any software or programming during this challenge. This is because the Bluetooth was able to handle all of the controls itself. The Bluetooth came in handy throughout the whole design process because we knew that we could always use that if we couldn’t figure out another solution. Bluetooth ended up being the easiest for us to work with so we decided to use that. Chris’s smart phone allowed us to download an app that could control our robot. It controlled each motor separately and allowed us to kick and move when we liked.

The only problem with the Bluetooth is that it was hard to control exactly where you wanted the robot to go. We had trouble with the tilt program which is the one that we had to use since that was the only free app available to Chris. We practiced many times trying to master it and in the end we realized that we should of practiced more. It took us too long to reach the ball compared to other teams. If we had to do this challenge over again, we would of taken more time to practice and then hopefully do better than the other teams.

Below is our team relfection that was written by all of the team members. The purpose of this reflection is to look back on how our team performed and how our team dynamics worked together:

Overall, team swag wag worked out very well. Initially, we split up work with 1 person mainly handling the blog, 1 person focusing on programming, and the other 2 focusing on the design and building of the robots. This structure worked out well and the entire team worked cohesively to end up performing well on each of the competitions including a win on the dashed line following robot. We all got along and understood our roles in the team, resulting in a lot of fun and learning.

The only real issue our group had was clarification of the guidelines for each project. It seems like we would have pulled ahead and won the tug o’ war competition if we knew you could add things outside of the box to the robot to weigh it down or if outside materials were disallowed as specified in the directions.  It also feels as though a lot of unique ideas that people had for certain projects would get stolen and become the norm amongst every other group even though they initially had other ideas. It was frustrating to come up with a good idea for a robot and then have every other group steal that idea. Granted the competitions were not super serious or competitive, but it goes to show that it’s a cut throat world and people are quick to jump on good ideas even if they aren’t their own.

All this being said, we learned a lot about creating a functional group and about working with robotics/LEGOs throughout the last few weeks. We definitely realized that the little things are important in large projects because if one thing was off in a program like the color grade on the line follow project, there is a good chance all the work will become trivial and the robot won’t work.

The Kicking and Moving Robot

This is a picture of our robot from the front!

Today, we finished building our robot. The goal of our robot for this next challenge is to have it move a ball and then chase after the ball and touch it. We tried out many different designs to make our robot the most effective. We made an arm that will spin and kick the ball. We decided that if it rolls, it won’t bounce and has a better chance of going straight. Also we created a funnel like tunnel that when we approach the ball, it should get captured and then follow the rails until it is back at the kicker arm. The reason why we need it to return to the kicker arm is because it is extra credit if it can reload and push the ball again.

The program for our robot is simple and it is actually non-existent. We do not need to program any program for this challenge. This is because we are able to control all of the motors on the robot individually with the Bluetooth device. We are using Chris’s phone’s Bluetooth to control all of the motors. Today, we spent mentor session practicing controlling the robot with the remote. The controller is tilt censored which sometimes makes it hard to control, but we worked it out and we believe that we are going to be able to hopefully dominate on Monday when we test out the robot.

We discovered today that using the title flooring in the hallway was very hard to work with because not only did the ball go farther, but it traveled faster than the robot did. This took us much longer than it should have and caused us to not be able to find the ball easily. We decided that we want to do the challenge on carpet. To us, this will allow us to be faster than the ball and therefore catch it faster.

Larry the Lizard Dominates!

Today, we had to complete the challenge of following a line with gaps in it. Pictured above is Larry the lizard (our robot). He was able to successfully follow the line and make it past the gaps. Our original idea of using a touch senor to maneuver the robot back to the black line was a huge success. So much so that other groups were asking us how we programmed the touch sensor. Luckily, no one was able to master the touch sensor as much as we did, so we got first on time! we made it around the track in 40 seconds our first round then the second round, we made it around in 39 seconds.

After we were done testing our robot, we took it apart and started brainstorming ideas to help with the next challenge presented to us. For this new challenge we have to create a robot that is able to throw a ball (catapult style) and then once the ball is thrown, our robot needs to find the ball that it threw. For extra credit, we can then program our robot to pick up the thrown ball, and throw it again. We are aiming for the extra credit, but today we are concentrating on constructing the catapult and the robot itself.

During mentor session, we worked on constructing the robot. We started with using the motors and connecting them to the wheels that way our robot is mobile. We are then going to use a windmill like design to capture and then re-throw the ball. There will be an arm that spins constantly to re-load the ball into the catapult. We plan to direct our robot to run over the ball that way the arm can then pick back up the ball. We are using the ultra-sonic sensor to help us find the ball. We plan to also use the Bluetooth on the robot as a backup just in case the ultra-sonic sensor can't find the ball. This Bluetooth will be hooked up to one of our phones and it allows us to steer the robot with simple tilting of the phone. We may just end up using the Bluetooth and not using the ultra-sonic senor, but we have until Monday to figure it out.

Our software solution is to use all three of the motors. Two of those motors will be programed to move the wheels of the robot, allowing it to move after the ball. The last motor controls the windmill which will rotate in a complete circle that way it can pick up the ball and throw it. We are still trying to figure out how to use and program the ultra-sonic sensor. We figured out how to work the Bluetooth and so far that is what we are going to have to do. We plan to spend Wednesday finishing the programming and also trying to figure out the ultra-sonic sensor.

This picture shows what we have done so far on the catapult robot! We plan to continue to work on and program it on this Wednesday.

Problem Solving: following a line with gaps

Today we worked on mastering the challenge that involves gaps. What we have to do is program our robot to follow a line that is a continuous track. Along the track there are many gaps that our robot has to go through. The original line program that we used on Monday is the same program we are using for this project, but we added steering to the opposite side of the original that way it can find another line to follow. We were able to program our robot using a touch sensor to steer and go through the gaps. The touch sensor allows the robot to adjust and coast when it runs into the gaps. The touch sensor is going to be controlled by Chris or Takumi and the whole mentor session they are working on perfecting their skills. The touch sensor allows the robot to turn right and light while moving forward until it finds where the line starts.

We were able to successfully program our robot to do this and he completed the course. We then tried making the robot faster, trying to get a better time than everyone else, but it ended up not working. It is hard to control the robot when it is moving so fast and it freaks out when it hits the gap. Towards the end of class, we just worked on making sure all of the small quirks that happen when steering and we fixed them.

We also worked on making our robot into a lizard. His name is Larry the Lazy Lizard. We are going for the “Best in Show” option for all of the assignments and our animals that we create seem to help us achieve that. He is so cute! You can see Larry the Lazy Lizard on the track and doing well in the picture at the top of this page. We plan to add back legs and make him seem even more like a lizard.

Robot Line Following Challenge!!!

Today we tested our robot. Our robot (pictured above) is supposed to follow a path which is a solid black line. It should have gone around the track twice then stop on red square. Our robot this time was a cute little mouse! We named her Mimi and she was all ready to go for the testing.

We had many software problems to figure out this time around. We were having trouble with calibrating the robot to recognize the black line and therefore follow it. We ran out of time in the end so we could not add the part when we would have our robot stop on red. Therefore, when our robot made it around the track once and hit the red square, it turned around and started going the other way around the track. We still got points for it going around the track twice, but it was unable to stop on red. Our time was pretty fast; it was 1 minute 29 seconds. Overall we did just as good as the other teams. It seemed that we were not the only team having troubles with this challenge. This project seemed very advanced and even hard to figure out completely.

During mentor session, we worked on the next task which is to have our robot follow a line that has about 1 inch breaks throughout it. We are very lucky that we don’t have to build a new robot. We are able to use the same robot that we used in the previous challenge. This saved us a lot of time that we used to work on the program. We are trying to rework the software to coast when the gaps appear on the track and then just move on until it reaches the next black line. Our problem today with the new task was trying to get the robot to keep on going and not freak out when the white gaps appeared in the track. We ended today with the robot still being able to follow the line and getting past only a few gaps. The problem that we will tackle on Wednesday is to have the robot make it past all of the gaps instead of just one or two.  

Tug-of-war Competition!

(our group minus Takumi)

Today is the day that we tested our robots. We spent the first part of class charging and preparing our robot for battle. Our robot is now an elephant. Her name is Jillian and she is absolutely adorable (see picture below).  After we charged Jillian up, she was ready to beat everyone in the tug-of-war contest.

On the first round, we beat the team. After that we lost our battle with the team that initially won the whole contest. We won 2 out of 2 of our games. Our robot would of done so much better if we had added extra weight. The two teams that beat us both were weighed down. Later after the completion when both of those teams took off their weight, we beat both of them. If we would of known that we could of added weight, we would of won the whole contest. Our design was overall the best and the most creative.

Our software worked very well overall. The gears started to move, and did move each time a loud noise was made.  Because of the way that the gears were made, the actual pulling of the other team’s robot did not happen until after a few seconds. The lever that was programmed to pull up and jerk the rope towards our robot worked well and helped to throw off the other robots.  Our program worked very well and our group was happy with the results of our robot.

During mentor session, we took apart our poor elephant robot, that way we can create a new robot. This new robot needs to be able to follow a line and start when it is on red, pass the red once, then end at the red. During class, we just worked on building the robot. We plan on working on the program this weekend and then we will be ready to test our robot on Monday!

 this is Jilliam the robot!

Week 2, Day 1: Tug-of-war robots!!

Our challenge for this week is to design and build a tug-of-war robot using Pilot Level 4 or Inventor Level 4 to program the robot. The objective of the tug-of war competition is to pull the opposing robot over the center line with a string that attaches to both robots. The battle commences when both the robots are activated by a sound sensor.

Our problem that we need to solve is that we need to make a robot that is not only powerful but is able to hold its own power; meaning it has to be heavy and able to stay in place during the tug-of-war competition. Also today we were trying to figure out how to work the programming and make it fit what we wanted the robot to do.  We were able to figure out the program and we created a “testing” program to help us build this robot to be as strong as it can be.

Takumi is in charge of writing the program and Chris and Danny are working on the robot itself. Lindsay is keeping track of our progress and helping out with ideas to make the robot stronger.  We are constantly changing our design every time after it is tested using the program that Takumi created. We were working out simple problems and working towards the best robot we can create. 

First, we tried using only one motor to just figure out how the gears were going to work with the motor. Once that idea was figured out, we added another motor. Chris is working on the design process. Another idea that came to our minds was to create a hook that grabs the rope from underneath and then it lifts up to grab the rope then it drags the other robot towards our robot.  Danny worked on that hook while Takumi programed the arm to a motor to help it attach during the competition. Once the main ideas were established, we started to work out the kinks and brainstorm ways to either add weight or create a more stable robot.  We attached the sound box that will allow the robot to start moving when a loud noise is made. Also we used the four wheels not as wheels, but as rubber stoppers that will create friction with the table and hopefully keep our robot in place.

We have two separate programs for each of the sets of motors. Two motors were programed together to help power the gear box. A separate program was created to power the arm that will pull the other robot towards our robot. With these two programs combined, we plan to dominate this competition and beat the other team’s robots.

At this point, we were still thinking about how we were going to even start to build the robot. Playing with the different Lego pieces always seems to spark some ideas that then hopefully turn into a final design.

 The photo above is of us during our original test runs that we did. We were just starting to add the wheels and arm to the robot.

This is our final design of the tug-of-war robot! It is ready to go and defeat all of the other robots in Wednesday's competition.

GO TEAM SWAG WAG!!! :)