8P8-Sphero-mini

In the beginning of this project I knew I was taking on a lot, but the tasks were relatively simple. I first had to make my maze, I took a huge cardboard box, cut it in half and planned my maze. After the 3 paths were set, I cut pieces from the other half of the cardboard box and hot glued them in place. Once my maze was built I had 2 separate iPads to code the 1 sphero-minis and drive the other. Once my code was done, I used a 3rd iPad to record them running through my obstacles and edited it on iMovie.

In this project a few things that I learned were, how to build a cardboard maze, time management, and how to have individual codes overlap one another. What I learned about the cardboard maze was in order for it to be as exciting as I wanted it, there had to be a couple of curves, not just straight lines. I learned that cardboard, if bent repeatedly enough, can be made into curves. With time management, I discovered that spending too much time on one project can get you behind so I had to hurry if I wanted to finish this project on time. As I was coding it was hard to imagine where the other robots were in their code, but I still wanted it to look suspenseful of who would win.

         Of the 7 standards that Michigan Integrated Technology Competencies for Students has set (Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator) my project best ties to Innovative Designer. My project best fits with this because I created an original maze. I also used 2 iPads to code 1 sphero-mini and drive the other, this fits with the technological tools part of the Innovative Designer requirements. In this project I also knew what my finished product should look like and throughout my projects creation I stepped back to make sure I was on track for that goal.

A challenge that I had to work through in this project was definitely time. I had spent so much extra time on my previous project that I was rushing through this one. I solved this problem by cutting my original plan of 4 sphero-minis to 3 but the codes were harder than expected so I had to cut 3 down to 2, I still had a good result. I was able to get some extra time and turn in a quality assignment.

If I got a chance to redo this project, I would do 4 sphero-minis and 4 mazes. I would do this because it would allow more overlap and suspense of which one would win. I had enough room on the base cardboard but I didn't have enough time for 4 so I had to cut the cardboard down to size for 3 mazes. If I wasn't rushing so much on the maze I also would have redone the way the  cardboard faced to make it look more uniform.

The Hastings High School Career and Technical Education Program offers Agriculture, Business Management, Computer Programming, Construction Trades, Culinary Arts, Digital Multimedia, Engineering Design, Finance, Insurance, and Marketing, my project ties to Engineering Design. The careers that use these skills are, Game Designer, Software Developer, Architect, and Carpenter.