Definitions
blabberize: to talk or chatter indescreetly or thoughtlessly.
Synonym: a word having the same, or nearly the same meaning as another in the
language.
Deleterious: injurious to health; harmful.
Navigation: the art or science of plotting, ascertaining, or directing the course of a
ship, aircraft, or guided missile.
Voice: the sound or sounds uttered through the mouth of living creatures, especially of
human beings in speaking, shouting, singing, etc.
Synonym: a word having the same, or nearly the same meaning as another in the
language.
Deleterious: injurious to health; harmful.
Navigation: the art or science of plotting, ascertaining, or directing the course of a
ship, aircraft, or guided missile.
Voice: the sound or sounds uttered through the mouth of living creatures, especially of
human beings in speaking, shouting, singing, etc.
Engineering Process
Identify the Problem: Identify the problem from all angles of views.
Research: Gain information about your project topic.
Brainstorm: Write down and record all possible solutions and ideas.
Choose best Solution: The solution you feel best meets the parameters.
Research: Gain information about your project topic.
Brainstorm: Write down and record all possible solutions and ideas.
Choose best Solution: The solution you feel best meets the parameters.
Reflection
Day 1: After this class we will still be working on the program of our robot. During class we figured out that we need to switch to the old version of the light sensor. We also have to keep working on where to attach it for the best result. We also have to keep working on making the ultrasonic sensor to work because after passing by the light sensor, the bat is not swinging. Overall, we thought of new ways to fix the problems to keep working to better it next class.
Day 2: Today we were told in more depth what was expected of us on our podcast. It was time to create another "goanimate" video to add to our final project. I took on the task of creating the script, which took up the entire class. My partners continued trying to figure out how to fix the program to make our robot work correctly. We have also decided that I will create the "goanimate" over the weekend so our group will stay on target and not fall behind during the process.
Day 2: Today we were told in more depth what was expected of us on our podcast. It was time to create another "goanimate" video to add to our final project. I took on the task of creating the script, which took up the entire class. My partners continued trying to figure out how to fix the program to make our robot work correctly. We have also decided that I will create the "goanimate" over the weekend so our group will stay on target and not fall behind during the process.
Batter Bot Program
Our prototype is a batter bot. After coming up with all of our ideas and thoughts on how to initiate this, we were able to construct our first prototype. We came up with the idea of using one motor for the batter portion of our robot, which we then connected a longer piece resembling a bat to swing around infront when the ball is approaching. Also used for the batter is the ultra sonic sensor, which looks much like an alien head, to be able to distinguish when the ball is coming. The batter portion of our robot is attached to our NXT robot. Our NXT robot is simply a square box that tells our robot what to do using a program made by us. Lastly, we had to make this structure stable by using the lego pieces underneath as the base. Then, for our pitching machine we used two motors, connecting to the larger wheels on opposite sides. We also added gears to make the pitching machine shoot out the ball at even higher speeds. To make the spinning wheels stable, we connected the two wheels together by pieces that we made go from the center of the wheels, elongating them, and fastened them above our robot, with a big enough space for the ball to still pass through. Also, in our first prototype we added a ramp coming after where you put the ball through the pitching machine. By the time we were finished with this it looked exactly like a pitching machine. When all of the costructing was done, we set these two items up about two feet away from eachother.
The first prototype didn't work as successfully as we had planned. The batter did hit the ball, but not each time like it should have. We knew this couldn't do and were unhappy with the current end result. The motors weren't operating at the speed we had thought it would. This needed to work, or our whole design would go down hill. Looking further into this dilemma, we saw that the ball not coming out at a higher speed was caused by us putting the motors going the same direction on the program we made, actually making them go in contradicting directions on our robot. We didn't understand how we didn't see this during the process of creating our program, but we quickly made the correct changes. The ramp did not seem accomodating to our robot at all. We quickly dismantled this from the design and were excited to see the beneficial impact that it made. Also, we noticed that the bat wasn't hitting the ball each time. We thought this could be because the bat didn't cover enough area, making this task more complex. Overall, our group decided that the first testing of our robot went moderately well, with just some minor, easy and fixable errors. The real challenge is now taking this to the additional step of making it a "Rube Goldberge" style of robot. Our first thought to expand on this was to create a type of ramp that would then connect to the pitching machine and continue through the program, shooting out to the batter, but then in disapointment we realized we wouldn't have enough pieces. With this new knowledge, we decided on creating a program that would make our robot hit the red ball when it sees it coming, and not the blue ball, or the other way around. The only problem with this is we can't seem to get the light sensor and ultra sonic sensor to work properly. The tensions of having to make this work to progress are growing, but we know we have to make this possible. Although in the group there is the fear of failing, in which case I don't know where we would go form there, we are finding ways to keep moving forward in progressing each day. At the beginning of this testing process, we were uncertain and didn't believe we could complete this. We would test our robot multiple times during the class period and get no where with the many different changes we made in our program; until finally we changed our design slightly by moving the position of the ultra sonic sensor. After this things began coming together quickly for the robot as well as ourselves. We began slowly becoming more confident in our design and program, and seeing the success possibility in it.
After evaluating our robot from our first testing, we immediately saw the problem that the ball was not coming out of the pitching machine fast enough. Then after further investigating we noticed how the motors were going in opposite directions on the NXT robot, so we fixed this on the program and saw that this helped tremendously. Even with this, we still felt that the ramp after the pitching machine was slowing down the ball, so we took this off for our next prototype. Then, to fix the problem of the bat occasionally not being able to hit the ball, we decided to add pieces to make the bat thicker. Lastly, after being told we had to take our robot to the next level and create a "Rube Goldberge" style of robot, we added the light sensor, attaching this to underneath the pitching machine area. This is to help execute the idea of making our robot so it swings when the red ball is put through the pitching machine, but not when the blue is, or the other way around. We are still working on the program to make this idea work, using the method of trial and error.
The first prototype didn't work as successfully as we had planned. The batter did hit the ball, but not each time like it should have. We knew this couldn't do and were unhappy with the current end result. The motors weren't operating at the speed we had thought it would. This needed to work, or our whole design would go down hill. Looking further into this dilemma, we saw that the ball not coming out at a higher speed was caused by us putting the motors going the same direction on the program we made, actually making them go in contradicting directions on our robot. We didn't understand how we didn't see this during the process of creating our program, but we quickly made the correct changes. The ramp did not seem accomodating to our robot at all. We quickly dismantled this from the design and were excited to see the beneficial impact that it made. Also, we noticed that the bat wasn't hitting the ball each time. We thought this could be because the bat didn't cover enough area, making this task more complex. Overall, our group decided that the first testing of our robot went moderately well, with just some minor, easy and fixable errors. The real challenge is now taking this to the additional step of making it a "Rube Goldberge" style of robot. Our first thought to expand on this was to create a type of ramp that would then connect to the pitching machine and continue through the program, shooting out to the batter, but then in disapointment we realized we wouldn't have enough pieces. With this new knowledge, we decided on creating a program that would make our robot hit the red ball when it sees it coming, and not the blue ball, or the other way around. The only problem with this is we can't seem to get the light sensor and ultra sonic sensor to work properly. The tensions of having to make this work to progress are growing, but we know we have to make this possible. Although in the group there is the fear of failing, in which case I don't know where we would go form there, we are finding ways to keep moving forward in progressing each day. At the beginning of this testing process, we were uncertain and didn't believe we could complete this. We would test our robot multiple times during the class period and get no where with the many different changes we made in our program; until finally we changed our design slightly by moving the position of the ultra sonic sensor. After this things began coming together quickly for the robot as well as ourselves. We began slowly becoming more confident in our design and program, and seeing the success possibility in it.
After evaluating our robot from our first testing, we immediately saw the problem that the ball was not coming out of the pitching machine fast enough. Then after further investigating we noticed how the motors were going in opposite directions on the NXT robot, so we fixed this on the program and saw that this helped tremendously. Even with this, we still felt that the ramp after the pitching machine was slowing down the ball, so we took this off for our next prototype. Then, to fix the problem of the bat occasionally not being able to hit the ball, we decided to add pieces to make the bat thicker. Lastly, after being told we had to take our robot to the next level and create a "Rube Goldberge" style of robot, we added the light sensor, attaching this to underneath the pitching machine area. This is to help execute the idea of making our robot so it swings when the red ball is put through the pitching machine, but not when the blue is, or the other way around. We are still working on the program to make this idea work, using the method of trial and error.