Cluster 11: Introduction to Autonomous Vehicles

Week 4

Friday - Miramar Lake

For our last field trip, we went to the lake again, but now to drive our cars on the parking lot. We worked on our PID values for hours under the sun, and made little progress. Some members went to the lake to kayak as a break. Overall, the lake was a nice change in scenery from the DIB and the MAE.

Weekend - COSMOS Dance

Throughout our last week at COSMOS, we were able to relax and take a nice ol' break! Cluster 11 relaxed in their dorms, explored the campus, and participated in relife activities. For our final COSMOS ResLife event, we had a dance on the second floor of Canyon Vista. We drank mocktails, took photos at the photo booth, and danced at the overly warm mosh pit.

Monday - Rain Can't Stop Our SLAY!

Today was the day we finished our three laps (with computer vision) after working tirelessly to achieve this goal. We faced our most grueling challenge yet - the ELEMENTS - as we ran to protect our robots from the rain. Luckily, no robots were broken; however, we were forced to pivot. We went upstairs and learned about the workings of Professor Silberman's go-kart. Many of these pieces were used in our own robots, just on a larger scale. After learning about Professor Silberman's projects, we went outside to check up on the track. Since the water had not dried yet, our code wouldn't have worked, so we were forced to pack up.

After lunch, we returned to our building and worked on Donkey Car again. We held a Twitch live stream for our families and friends. Some robots were better than others, but we all had lots of fun rooting for our robots. While other groups worked on their code and planned their final projects due on Friday, today taught us a great lesson - don't buy a mac.

Elevator

CA Manu finding shelter from the rain

Professor Silberman

Later, all clusters met up in the bowl to watch the talent show, which included acts like singing, dancing, hot dog eating, and motivational speaking. Our CA's Arjun, Manu, and Moises even came to watch! Later in the night, As the night advanced, amidst the merriment and revelry, Jeremy emerged as the chosen representative from our esteemed cluster to participate in a dance-off. With flair, Jeremy "threw it back," executed impressive flips, performed the "sturdy," and "twerked" with remarkable skill and exuberance. Nonetheless, despite earning resounding applause during the initial stages of the competition, our cluster encountered familiar disappointment, finishing in the honorable but elusive second place. Some Cosmonauts from all clusters expressed their dismay at the final decision, with comments such as "He got robbed," "Arjun says this is rigged," and "2nd time Cluster 11 got robbed 💀💀💀." Despite this outcome, we cherish the memory of a truly exceptional day that was thoroughly enjoyed by all members of Cluster 11.

Tuesday - Grind.

As the deadline for our final project approaches, we GRIND.

Team 6 testing out their robot on track.

Cluster's vist to Starbies!

Trying to get the leaves off the track

HSV getting to Vansh

Wednesday - Grind pt. 2

Today was the last day to work at the MAE, where we had access to the track for lane detection. All of the groups hurriedly spent the morning on the track, trying to find accurate HSV values to detect the yellow dotted lanes. In the end, only a few groups were able to get their robots to travel a full 3 laps around the track, due to the camera constantly detecting shoes and leaves as lanes.