H-33

I am satisfied with my project today. I feel that my robot performed very well. The only problem I had was that the ball did not fully exit the robot. It got stuck on the tiny edge formed by the LEGO brick at the bottom of my ramp. The bump was so slight that the ball would exit the robot consistently just if it was oriented differently on the desk. I was not too happy with myself that I let this mistake slide. However, I was not really disappointed because my robot performed very well. Overall, I felt that this project was fairly simple and more fun than the other ones because the robot was more fun to build.

H-33

In all, I was fairly satisfied with my final project, especially given the fact that I missed the chance to do much of the work on it I could have. I knew about the trouble my robot had keeping the ball in without running the motors constantly, but did not have time to fix it due to my absences. With those days, I probably would have known of the problem sooner and had a chance to fix it. I think that if I had had the chance to do more tests, I would have discovered the problem with the blue balls and been able to fix it too. I was generally pleased with the project though, since I would have been able to do everything if my original plan would not have destroyed the motors and I had had time to adjust the light sensor's level setting in my program. I was very pleased with one last-minute fix I made, which worked better than expected. I did not plan on the wand that expelled the ball to turn and just rattle around inside the box. Instead I expected it's base to remain rigid and have to stick and work to get in and out of the box. It proved very versatile and did its job perfectly.

H-32

Today I finished just about all the programming for my robot. In the first 25 minutes of class tomorrow I will just have to make it so that it can keep 'eating' and 'digesting' the 'flies'. I will probably just set up a loop. I have my 'happy' song just about done, I just need to change a few notes but then I will be good and ready for this challenge.

Challenge 3

Today I came in after school to work on my robot. I now have it completely finished and all of the requirements completed. I didn't come up with my own song, props to jude for coding the entire happy birthday song, but found that there are "scrolls" that you can use to bring up premade songs. I was able to get my robot to attract the fly, bring it into the trap, close the door at just the right moment. I think its worth nothing that it does it in 5/100ths of seeing the ball and then play the digesting song then flipping the ball out of the trap. It then does all that in reverse completely setting itself up for the process again. I actually tried this 10 times and it worked every time without a hitch, I only stopped because it got boring and was pretty much proof of concept for me anyway. Well I'm really glad that I was able to get this done. Hopefully it will work all the way tomorrow.
Even though I got it to work pretty well, there were a lot of problems I had to get through. The timing was a pretty bad problem. As If I didn't get it right there would be times when one part would grind against another while trying to move. And the other problem I had was when there would be too much wiring, (because I used all the short wires, I had the one 150 mm or cm one left.) So my Dad said that I should wrap those around the base. Instead of doing that I just moved the RCX to the other side and sat it there. And the wiring was troublesome at times, because it matters as to what direction you put it on and then test it and what way you put it if you move something. Because this can completely change the direction of the motors your using.

H-31

Today, I solved one problem, but encountered another. I fixed my issues with the light sensor by testing the light level sensed with and without a ball, and that part of my robot is working now. This allowed me to make my first full test, and as I was doing it, I discovered that my ejection method doesn't work as I expected it to. This should be fairly easy to fix, and I think I will be able to finish tomorrow.

H-30

While I was not here today, and made no progress, I will give an update as to how far along my robot is. The robot is completely built, and the program is almost written, only needing adjustments related to the light sensor. This should be easy, and I expect to finish on time.

H-32

Today, I just about finished my robot. I completed the code for the project requirements, including fixing my song. I also managed to accomplish almost both of the bonuses. I made it so that my robot can keep repeating the process of eating the fly. In addition, my robot is almost able to tell which color of fly it digests. I just need to change a light sensor value in my program, because what I had previously thought to be the median of the two balls' light sensor values was incorrect. I am ready for the final competition.

H-32

I will be cutting it close again for the challenge, but only because I did not read my instructions carefully. Hopefully I will be able to fix my code by tomorrow and get everything running. My views of this challenge have changed since we started. It was definitely easier than building a vehicle, because it didn't require a lot of architectural thought. I really hope I'll be ready for tomorrow.

H-31

Yesterday I started my programming and got a lot done in a class period. I got a good amount of my programming done and I will hopefully be about done with it all after today. All I have left to build on my robot is just something to 'lure' the 'fly', which will only take a few minutes. I am very confident that I will be ready in time.

H-31

I think that I am almost done with my project. So far, I have completed the requirements of the project, except for a few errors in my song. These should not take long to clean up tomorrow. However I still want to do both of the bonuses. I just need to write some more code to accomplish this. Getting the robot to repeat its eating process should be fairly simple. My robot should also be able to determine the color of the ball with some more code too because I built a light sensor into my robot during the construction process. I hope that I can complete both bonuses by the time of the competition.

H-31

Today I began the programming of my robot. I am still constructing at the same time because I have a minor setback. I can't completely guarantee that the ball will not fall out when its turned upside down. Overall I think one more day will be enough time for me to finish my project but it will be cutting it close.

H-31

Yeah well today I didn't really accomplish much unless you consider things that I should have had done on the second day accomplishing anything. My robot does nothing important right now and doesn't even have a top that you can drop the ball in. And I dont know how I am going to fit all the rest of that stuff onto it.

H-30

I have come across a lot of problems and havent gotten any of them really solved at all. And yeah, every time I get a problem fixed another one crops up that delays me even more. Maybe thats why I am so far behind. I dont even have any coherent moving parts that do anything. I dont even have any attractors or anything. And I didn't waste my time on this I tried but had a lot of set backs that kept keeping me from getting much done. Now I have to get more things done in such a short amount of time that I think this will be just another failed project.

H-30

On friday I started the programming for my robot. So far it is going ok, but then again I just started. I got my 'door' to open and close easily and I am now working on how to get my robot to tell when the ball is dropped in to it. Tomorrow I will be just working on my programming and hopefully I will make a lot of progress.

H-30

I overcame a major obstacle in the constructing of my robot. I learned that just one tread was not stable enough to hold the ball. So I attached another tread to my robot which now works as a conveyor. I have also added walls to my robot so it will not fall out. Overall it's going pretty good.

H-30

On Friday I was having some trouble with the coding. I just could not get my code to run correctly, no matter what I tried. When I told Motor C to run for no matter how many seconds, it just would not run. This is going to be a serious problem if I can not get this part of code to run soon as it is critical to my robot. Other than this, the coding of my robot is going pretty well.

H-30

Today, my main problem was getting the robot to sense the ball when I put it in. I have not solved the problem yet, but I tried several ways today. I first tried a slight, simple adjustment to the robot's setup. When that didn't work I tried different levels of light sensed that would set off a switch in the split in my program. I then repeated the process with a different icon, but did no get farther within the class period. I plan to continue trying different icons and different light levels in the program. I hope I do not have to do a major rebuilding of my robot.

H-29

Today, since I thought about it while I was away and kept my robot simple, I finished the first draft of my robot. The robot consists of a box to hold the ball, a light sensor at the bottom of the box, two arms on motors to lock the ball in, and a wheel to kick the ball out, as well as the required lures and RCX. I may have to change it based on tests I do, but I am ready to start writing and testing programs. I know basically what my program must do, but I may have some trouble finding some of the proper icons. If I finish with time to spare, I will want to connect some parts of my robot better.

H-26, 27, and 28

While I was gone, I thought about several aspects of the robot. My original plan involved tipping a box over and dumping the ball out, but I realized that it would be easier and use less space to have a wheel kick the ball out of the box. I also thought about several ways I could make the robot work slightly better, how to keep the ball in the box, and decided that without being able to test the robot, the plan I have was probably my best option for how to complete the project.

H-29

My robot construction continues to be successful. I think I am done with building my robot, however I have a feeling that once I test the code I may need to redo one part of it. Today, I finished building the top opening of my robot where the ball will enter. Then, I worked on making a mechanism to block off this entrance once the ball enters. I used a pair of the yellow, non-brick pieces to close the exit of my robot. This functioned well when I operated it manually, but I will have to see about how the robot handles the gears I have rigged up.

H-29

Today I still was unable to get a lot accomplished because of the problems I was having with like getting the ball to stay in the same spot when I needed it to and also just getting a mechanism to push the ball out of the way. I tried using a wheel, sliding platform, and a conveyer belt. But they didn't work real well so now I will have to find out something else to do. Im really starting to think im not going to have luck with this project even though I want to badly.

H-29

Today I pretty much finished building my robot. All I have left to do is figure out where my light sensor will go and just put it in. Then I will hopefully be able to start my programming tomorrow, which I have been thinking about and I think I have a good idea about how I will program it and it will be pretty simple. I have realized that this is a much more easy challenge than I expected and hopefully I will be ok.

H-28 and H29

over the past two days I have made some progress. I have added another tread to my robot because one was not sufficient enough to actually hold the ball. I have also attached the motors.What I need to do now is make a roof for the robot and make sure the ball cant fall out while it is on the conveyor belt.

H-28

Today I built a lot of my robot. I have a way for the 'fly' or ball to fall out when it is 'digested' but I am still figuring out a few things like how I am going to get the 'fly' to enter and how I will make something close so the 'fly' can't get out. I also have a way for it to detect when the 'fly' is in there but I just need to figure out a way to connect it.

H-26

I am almost finished with building my robot, however I seem to have run into a problem. I can't really find a decent way to close the entrance of my "fly trap". So far, I have tried using a motor, but I haven't been able to situate and position the gears correctly yet. I think that I will probably end up using a rubber band and wheel to rotate a door to block off the exit. I think this will work because it provides more flexibility with the placement of the motor. Hopefully, I am able to complete this tomorrow and then move onto the coding.

10-21-2009

I got another thing on my robot that will be "the flipper" and now it'll flip and let the ball fall through the slot. The only problem I'm having with it is getting it to work well and not continue flipping to much thus making the ball get stuck in the gap. Well I also made it a bit heavier today because it needed to stay stable and be able to flip it upside down without losing pieces and such. And I still have to code and finish building this thing.

10-20-2009

Today I noticed that my conveyor belt wouldn't work consistently and I would have to build something else on it. I now am going to build something else on my robot, probably like a flipper for the ball to fall by. But the only problem I'm going to have is making it all work smoothly enough. Now I will have to begin working on something else. And now I have to make it larger height wise.

H-27

Today I continued to work on building my robot. I have an idea now of what I am going to do for it and hopefully it will all work out. I also have started thinking about how I am going to program my robot to complete the task and I have a pretty good idea about that too. The programming will be hard, but I think the building of the robot is harder.

My progress on the my robot is going very well. I may even possibly be able to finish building my robot tomorrow and then only have the coding to do. Today, I managed to complete a method of detecting the ball and also opening and closing the exit. I used a sliding platform to close off and open up the exit below where the ball rests. The platform can move by a motor turning some gears. Tomorrow, I will build the part of my robot where the ball will enter. I will also have to build the lure.

H-27

This challenge is still going so-so. Im kind of stuck on how I'm going to get the robot to eject the ball after its done. I've been working on a sort of conveyor belt but I'm not sure how to get it to work, so I'm kind of stuck at the moment.

H-25

I think that I definitely will have some bugs to work around and some experimenting to do, but I think that this project will not be as hard as it sounds. I have a plan that I think will work, but it contains somewhat questionable physics, and I will have to test out my ideas. My original plan altered even after the first day, and my robot is very different from my original idea, but it should still fulfill the plan I had originally.
P.S.- I'm sorry this was late, but today was the first time on the trip I had any reliable internet access on anything other than a phone

H-26

Today I just worked on builiding my robot. At first I had no idea what I was going to do or how I was going to build this, but with help from Mr. Bell I got some ideas. I got the 'container' part that will hold the ball done, and am now working on a way for the ball to be pushed out when its done 'digesting'. Today I will continue to build my robot and hopefully it will be ok.

H-26

Today, I only worked on the construction of my robot. So far, I have built a base for the robot, an exit for the ball, and am working on a way to contain the ball while the robot "digests" it. I think that I will use a combination of a platform barring the way to the exit and a sort of gate that closes at the top of my robot, trapping the ball in. I hope to finish the construction of my robot by Thursday, and then use the remaining time up until the competition to work on the code.

H-26

This challenge is going okay for me. Today I have just worked on building the structure. This is going to be relatively hard even though its not a vehicle. I only have a crude concept of what I want my robot to do. But, I made progress today and that is one step towards completion.

I dont know which assignment this is.

Today I worked on building a small conveyer belt for the balls to go on and then reach my light sensor. This project is going pretty well, as long as I can get the rest of this build built. But other than that the coding I am going to try not to make to difficult because the build isn't going to be the most complex. Hopefully I can complete this in least amount of steps possible.

H-25

I think this challenge is going to be much harder than the other three challenges we did. To begin with I have no idea how I am even going to build this yet. Even if I finish building it, I don't even know how I will program this at all. I will give my best efforts but I really have no idea how I will even finish this.

H-25

As opposed to some of the other projects, I think that the hardest aspect of the final project will be the construction of the robot, not the coding. For the coding, I think that I will simply run the motors on timers, using a light sensor to detect when the ball enters the fly trap. I think that I will also be able to use the light sensor to determine the color of the ball for the challenge. As for the construction of the robot, I have started building the bas of the robot and the location where the ball will exit. I am not sure where I will go from here.

H-23

I have so far gotten the wheels and other pieces of my robots mechanics to stick to the sides of the RCX. I have been able to get this done by attaching two of the longer black bars to the side. Although one problem I am having is that I will be doing something else and then when I go to move the Lego piece will fall off of the bars and then require me to stick my fingers in their and attempt to fix it. But every time I do this I tend to make things worse for the robot by breaking it apart more. Need more structual integrity right thar.

H-25

This upcoming challenge I think will be relatively simple. Although there are a lot of things that need to be accomplished, they can all be done without a huge amount of building. I am going to have some trouble with being able to move the "mouth" closed again, but I might just use a sort of reverse thing like they do in traps for small rodents. Its like ..
"in"---> and then once their in its a smaller hole for them to crawl out of thus making it difficult. But truthfully as long as I can get the code together for this. then Im relatively optimistic about this challenge. Although I've been known to fail my own expectations and predictions before.

H-24

The king climber project didn't go very well for me. When I ran my robot on flat ground it worked and moved. But then when I placed it on the steps it made it up the first one or none at all and then just stopped. The first trial didn't work because of the light sensor reflecting underneath the lego and hitting black (making it stop. so i guess at least it did that...) and I think kourtney had this same problem for one of her trial runs too. And the other problem that I had was that I would get it up one step and then there would be this annoying clicking of the gears and one of them was moving faster then the other. This is my fault, as I should have checked for that mechanical problem beforehand.

H-25

This challenge is no doubt the hardest yet, from both the building and programming aspect. It looks so difficult and tedious to build. Also, there is so much to program. Hopefully, If I work hard, I will be able to do well on this challenge. But there is a part of me that isn't so optimistic...

H-24

On the day of the challenge I was not ready. I had all my programming done but I figured out that I did not connect my rotation sensor. Luckily Mr. Bell let us have extra time to do any changes, and I came back after school to fix my robot. I will be ready to run today but I just need to make a quick change to my robot seeing as it measures the distance as a negative number. But I know how to fix that.

H-23

On this day I had my robot completly built and was working on the programming. With help from Mr. Bell I got it almost done, and would have enough time in the next class period to finish it.

H-24

Today, my robot performed exactly as i had planned it to. It was even able to do so on my first attempt. My robot traveled up the stairs and stopped at the black line. Then it displayed the number of centimeters it had traveled. I am confident that I did well on this project. For the next project, I am still unsure of how I am going to accomplish it, but I am starting to get an idea.

Challenge 3

Day 24: I liked this challenge. It was simple, but challenging. The robot itself was fairly easy, once I got it to stay together. What was more difficult was the program. Getting it to run and stop was fairly easy, although there was some trouble that Mr. Bell helped me fix today with getting the sensor to only sense the black strip at the end, but not shadows. The most difficult part of the challenge was getting the robot to calculate how far it had traveled. With Mr. Bell's help though, I figured out the calculations and got the robot to calculate them. I later had to make an altercation when the wheels rotated without moving the robot on the stairs. I probably should have thought more about the light sensor problem, but other than that, I think I did fairly well.

H-24

I liked the idea of this project, i just didn't like how difficult it was. I couldn't even finish building my robot, and it just kept falling apart on me. I didn't even get started on a program either. I know I'm the one that had the most trouble but more than half the class had difficulty as well. Hopefully I'll do better on the next one even though it looks even more difficult...

Challenge 3 Progress

Day 23: I thought that the challenge was today, so I am pretty much done with my robot. I did the best I could to stop any possibility of glitches, and have a solid program and robot that climb the stairs, stop at black, and measure fairly accurately. I think I will do well on the project.

H-23

I was already completely ready for the competition at the start of class today, so I did not have anything more to accomplish with my robot. All that I did was to test my robot a few more times and make sure that it measure accurately and consistently, which it did. I am ready for the competition tomorrow.

H-23

I will most likely not be ready for the competition tomorrow, because my robot is not even half complete, let alone a program. I was so close to finishing my robot this morning, when it all fell apart. It's actually kind of funny how pathetic it turned out. I have been trying hard, but I think this is a lost cause.

H-22

Progress is going well on this project. I finished building my robot and it can climb up the stairs and can now stop at the black legos on the top. What I need to do now is program my robot to be able to measure the distance or whatever it is that we needed to do. (I will check my specifications tomorrow) So with luck I will be almost complete with programming by the end of tomorrow.

Challenge 3 Progress

Day 22: I am very close to ready for the challenge. My robot is built, and is climbing and measuring accurately. I ran into one problem after I had the calculations in, as the wheels and rotation sensor spun on the stairs while not actually moving the robot. I plan to fix this by offsetting the value of the container by a set number, since the distance the wheels spin for is fairly constant. That is the only thing I have left to do, and I should be able to finish it in the half-hour before the competition.

H-22

I am completely ready for the competition tomorrow. I tested my robot repeatedly in class on Thursday and it ran excellently. I made sure that my robot measured and displayed the distance it travelled correctly by measuring the approximate distance it travelled by hand, and my robot was right on. I am excited for the competition tomorrow and am confident that my robot will perform the task expected of it.

H-22

This challenge is very frustrating and I will most likely not be ready by the deadline. I am still constructing my robot. I still have to write a program and make sure everything works right. It doesn't look good.....

todays progress.

well i guess today went a little better. Although i am getting really frustrated with those stupid legos. I mean its hard to push them together and then the things dont stay that way. ugh. and when you try to pull some of the smaller ones apart they hurt the tips of your fingers. but i was able to get the RCX brick onto the base and the motors working well. although my gears keep on grinding and moving to fast.

H-21

Today I just about finished building my robot. All I have left to do is secure the RCX onto the robot. Hopefully my robot will be able to climb the stairs, so I can then begin my programming and be done with the construction of the actual robot.

Challenge 3 Progress

Day 21: Today, with Mr. Bell's help, I made a lot of progress on my robot. I finished building the robot, and started writing the program with Mr. Bell's help. I had a program that was too complicated, but Mr. Bell showed me the proper icons to use for the rotation sensor, and helped me make my calculations about the gears, divisions, and how to measure distance based on number of rotations. All I have left to do is to modify the information stored in the rotation sensor based on wheel sizes and gear ratios. I tried to do some of that today, but could not figure it out. I'm hoping that with more time, I will figure it out.

H-21

Today, I finished building my robot. I also made the part of my program that will make the robot climb up the platforms and then stop. In order to do this, I used a light sensor attached to the front of my robot. I had to change the default value of the light sensor because it was very difficult to find the correct value to wait for. This was because the area between the steps created a spot of darkness almost as dark as the final black line. However, after some trial and error, I was able to get my robot to consistently stop after it had climbed the platforms. Tomorrow I will write the part of the program that handles measuring the distance that the robot travels.

Progress Negative

Today wasn't really successful but I did get some done. I didn't get everything done that I wanted and only some of my robot is build now. Although I do have all the wheels and everything ready I could really use someones help getting the gears to stay together. Although I think I wont have an easy time getting all this done. And I haven't even begun the coding yet!

H-20 and H-21

I am slowly making progress with this challenge. I almost have my robots construction done, but I know this challenge won't be easy. I hope I can finish this in time.


Jordan

H-20

Today I just worked on building my robot to be able to climb the stairs. All I need to do is secure the motors and build the top of the robot so that my RCX can be put on. Hopefully by the end of tomorrow I will be testing my robot on the stairs, and hopefully the program will work.

Challenge 3 Progress

Day 20: Today, I made a lot of progress. I succeeded in making a robot that will climb the stairs, and have it able to stop when it reaches the end of the stairs. All I have left to do is program the robot to measure and display the distance it has traveled. I started yesterday, but could not find the way to get the distance to one smaller than the entire circumference of the wheel.

H-20

Today, I had to catch up since I missed yesterday's class. I began constructing my robot, and am almost done with it. The only thing left I have to do is attach the front wheels and secure the RCX unit better. Tomorrow, I plan to test my robot and make sure it can climb the stairs. I will then begin the programming of the robot, and complete as much as the remaining time in the period allows for.

H-19

I think that the main challenge for the robot will be the building of the robot itself. I think that the programming will be pretty easy, as it is just basic math. In order to make my robot climb the stairs, I will need to have a lot of torque. The robot must also move relatively fast in order to not slip. I think that I will use the largest wheels available because these will perform the best with the stairs due to their size. However, the main drawback to these wheels is that they use a lot of power from the robot.

H-19

Well I think that the idea of not slipping upon steps will not be a difficult thing to overcome. There are some really knobby tires available in the robotics kit. So I hope that those will be able to just heave their way up the like 1'' incline. The only problem there is having enough power to be able to do so. Or torque, Im pretty sure its torque. But yeah. Thats like only one of the overcomable things I need to do.
Oh YEAH!!
I just remembered that I need to also find a way to stop at that there line that isn't as distinct as any of the other black lines that we have had. Its like from red to black and theyre knobbed so thats gonna be odd to try to work out.

H_20

Well today I worked more on attempting to get my robots structure built. It really isn't the easiest thing. Since I have to find a way to get the wheels to have enough torque in the position they're in and still be able to push the RCX brick along. It's able to push the entire rest of the structure but once attaching the RCX brick there is a clicking noise and it's not able to pull that heavy thing. I need to get everything ready here soon, or else Ill be up the creek without a super hydron collider. 0,o. Anyway, what I am going to try to get done tomorrow is ...
1) Fix that whole lack of torque and strength thing.
2)Try to make it able to pull all the wheels along with only 1 motor (thanks noel for that inspiration)
3) See if I can figure out the amount of whatnot that I need.

Challenge 3 ... h - 19

I really have no idea what I am going to do for this challenege. I am trying to figure out how to build my actually robot to do this job. Then another problem will be the programming. I dont even know how I will make it go up the stairs, but I will start thinking about it today.

H-19

At first I was going to just use one big wheel connected to the front of the RCX to build my robot, but I was kidding myself and knew that was too easy. Right now I am a little stumped and hope I can come up with something soon.

H-18

Gear ratios help in determining how far you want the robot to run for. If you can measure the circumference, the you can set how many rotations you want. The rotation sensor can be used to measure exactly how many rotations of an axle occurred, and the distance a robot has traveled or needs to travel can be measured exactly.

Challenge 3, Day 1

Day 19: I plan on using large wheels with gears to climb the steps. I will put four large wheels on the vehicle, and use gears to increase the wheels' torque. I am not sure whether this will work or not, but I hope it does.

gears and such

I think one of the more useful ways to get the upcoming challenge done is to construct a program that will just measure the amount of turns on the wheel. but heres my question? if it displays the amount of turns are we able to calculate the distance ourselves?

100th post

YAY HUNDEDTH POST!! sorry mr. bell. but i just thought that might have been significant.

Gear Ratios and the Rotation Sensor

To measure a distance that is exact enough to meet the specifications of this challenge, we will have to use gear ratios. Increasing the gear ratio of the wheels will both give the wheels more torque and allow the rotation sensor to measure more accurately. This is because the number of divisions per wheel goes up with the gear ratio. To do this, I will have to connect the wheels to a gear with more teeth than the gears the wheels are resting on.

Gears and Ratios

Gear ratios and a rotation sensor could be very helpful in determining the exact distance you want a robot to go. If you are able to measure the circumference of a wheel, then you are able to calculate exactly how many rotations of it you want to occur. This is where the rotation sensor comes in. It can be used to measure exactly how man rotations of an axle occurred, and thus the distance a robot has traveled or needs to travel can be measured exactly.