We used a measured motor, with the number 7042 being the degrees of rotation needed to go the 11 ft
This program makes the bot go to the end of the table and not fall off with a touch sensor that will release when the sensor reaches off the table
Questions
1. State the assignment (problem/project) in your own words. Our assignment included three phases. The first phase was to make a robot travel exactly 11 ft, then make it stop at the edge of a table, and the final phase was to design a robot that could cross a gap between two tables in the classroom.
2. What are your input factors? (What do you need to know or do before you can begin?) Include the research you did. Our most significant input factor was figuring out how to program the robot to travel exactly 11 ft without using any kind of sensor. With the help of the teacher and by exploring the different functions on our programming software we solved this problem by programming how many degrees the wheels would turn in 11 ft. We also had to look up a basic design for our robot to mount the battery and the motors. We didn't have a prodigious amount of input factors because of the experience we have from prior assignments.
3. Describe the process in detail. Explain the steps you followed in order to complete the project. The first part of the project involved designing a robot that would travel 11 feet. We chose a simple, compact design that we made on Tinkercad, which had 2 rear motors and 1 independent front wheel. We then programmed the motors to spin forward and by measuring the circumference of the wheels of our robot, figuring out with this measurement how many revolutions the wheels would make in 132 inches (11 ft) we were able to calculate and then program the wheels to turn the exact amount of degrees necessary to travel 11 feet. Using the same robot, we completed the second phase. We implemented a touch sensor that we programmed to stop the robot when it was no longer being compressed by the table. Finally, we redesigned our robot to make it longer in order to cross the gap in the final phase. We added 2 motors to the front of our elongated robot and mounted the battery in the back so it would counterbalance the weight when it was crossing the gap. This design was unsuccessful unfortunately.
4. Describe the final output / product in detail: (what are we looking at?) Overall, the project was successful. We seamlessly completed both the 11 ft robot and the sensor robot. We had a design for the final phase but after a few trials we couldn't get it to cross the gap.
5. Describe feedback you received during the project (suggestions, comments, etc). From peers, instructor ect.. How did you use this feedback to correct issues with your project? The only feedback we got was from the teacher. He helped us program our different robots and showed us settings in the programming software that allowed us to analyze what the sensors were actually doing. He made some suggestions about the structure of our robot which assisted us in completing the assignment.
6. What did you learn during the assignment such as tools, skills, design concepts, software, hardware, etc? The most interesting thing I learned because of this project was how to program a robot to travel a certain distance by using the amount of degrees the wheels turn. I also become better at constructing Lego robots and improved my team work skills.
7. If you were to do the project again, what would you do differently and why? Provide reasons and examples. If I were to do this project again I would have done the first 2 phases faster and then spent a considerable amount of time on the last part in order to finish the assignment completely. Also, I would not have wasted time designing the robot on Tinkercad because I feel as though my team only did that because we were required to, not because it would help us.