Subject:
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January Mini-Challenge
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.org.us.smart
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Date:
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Thu, 29 Nov 2001 00:42:03 GMT
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Viewed:
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1306 times
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Here are some comments about the January Mini-Challenge.
The idea is to build a robot that will drag-race from the starting line to
the finish line and stop within a very short distance of the finish line.
The starting and finish lines will be made out of reflective tape. I found
some at my local Fred Meyers for about $2.50. Here's a picture of the
package, so that you know what to look for:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/David/SMART/Samples/reflectivetape.jpg
It's with all the masking tape, etc., in the paint section of the store.
You might also be able to find some at other hardware stores, and perhaps
bicycle and marine stores.
I built a very simple robot, and also wrote the simplest of programs for it
(just stop the motors when you detect the finish line), and found that it
was very easy for the robot to stop within the 8 inches of the finish line.
Therefore I suggest that for the competition we make the run a lot longer.
What do you all think of a twenty foot run? That gives more time for the
robots to build up speed, and will make the winner of races easier to
determine as well.
Some hints to consider:
The floor surface that we'll be running on (probably carpet) very likely
will not be an even colour. So you'll have to handle variations in colour
that are NOT the finish line. Also, while you'll have calibrated your light
sensor for the reflective tape at the starting line, don't forget that
you'll be going a lot faster when you get to the finish line. This means if
you're polling the light sensor, you should be doing so very quickly. It
also means that you might not get quite as bright a reflection as you did at
the starting line.
Don't forget to use program #1 so that we can start the robots at the same
time with the remote control.
I would appreciate some feedback before posting the official rules.
- Has anyone else had a chance to try building a racer yet?
- What do you think about making the run 20 feet long?
- Alternatively, what do you think about making the stopping distance 3 or 4
inches?
--
David Schilling
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