It's sunny and gorgeous outside! Finally!
Today, Krista and Brad tested all three of the line-following algorithms for the racing robot on an octagon track. They were having trouble with the line-following on the corners, so they're trying to figure out a way to make a good circular/oval track. They also worked to figure out the best place to locate the light sensor on their robot, and will continue this tomorrow.
Chris and Reza worked on the code for the PS2 controller and worked on setting up the libraries necessary for that. They also made the decision, regarding the Predator/Prey activity, to make all the prey human-controllable via the PS2 controller. Reza also worked on devising predator functions to be used in all of the activity. Today, he worked mainly on predator functions for the grasshopper.
Erika and Fara worked some more on their search, grab, and line-following modules. They're still having problems with the search module, in that the ultrasonic sensor "sees" the trash objects in its peripheral vision and begins moving forwards immediately. By the time it reaches the object, it is up to a few inches away, because it stopped its rotation before the object was directly in front of it. They are playing with ways to have the robot turn a few more degrees after detecting an object to correct this. Erika also worked on determining which types of "trash" objects work best for the robot claws. It was found that an empty cup or other such light object gets tossed around too much by the wobbling arms. The robot can't grab large objects tightly enough to carry them, but the ultrasonic sensor can't detect small objects. A field trip might be necessary to see what types of large, easily-squished balls can be found. Fara also worked on the activity write-up for the Trash-Collector.
