The above link will send you to Tom's website where you will find a video of our car racing. Our group of three was myself, Tom, and Devon.
During this project, I learned a lot of new information about robotics. Programming the robot to drive was a very interesting project. I programmed two motors to drive forward and allowed the wheels to turn when the Left and Right Button were clicked. Also, I implemented my own "Reverse Button" which I wrote program for to allow the car to back up in the race in case it crashed or went off course. Unfortunately, I was so caught up with improving my app that I did not actually record myself driving with it, but you witnessed me driving it around and were giving me advice about it, so this is the best evidence I can offer for that. Also, toward the beginning of the project my group raced against the group with the long, aerodynamic car but we could not recover the video of that either. Devon Crosby drove for us during that race and we did win, with a time of 29 seconds. Tom and I did time trials with our apps as well clocking times of 33 seconds and 28 seconds respectively. During the race Devon drove extremely well with flawless turning and no crashes, and we also won in a drag race with our bot. Additionally, the time trial I did with my app was exponentially better than the Lego app, it was easier to turn after I fixed the turn radius in my programming, and the reverse button helped immensely. Both my skill in constructing Lego robots and my ability to program improved drastically during this project, and it was enjoyable to make my own app in which I could control a robot I built. Although this was a well- designed project, there are some corrections I would make. I think it would be better to show you our time time trails and races to you in person, where you set a certain date where every body does a time travel, and then schedule a date at a later time for the races. That way, if we forget to take a video or it gets deleted somehow, like what happened to my group, you could check it off and have your own evidence that we did it. However, between the hectic nature of the class, and every senior having senioritis, you did a great job organizing the project and you really made the most out of what you were given. I think this project was a really good introduction into programming and following step-by-step instructions, and I became a lot more innovative through the process. Thank you for your generosity and patience this year, and good luck in future years!