7P8 Sphero

List of 25:

• Make sphero go through a maze
• Make sphero drive in a triangle
• Make sphero drive in a square
• Animal sound toss game
• Program sphero to drive over a bridge made with classroom materials
• Paint
• Sphero chariot
• Some activity to go with a book you're reading
• Model the orbit of planets
• Sphero bowling
• Sphero Battleship
• Build an obstacle coarse
• Practical joke
• Boat racing
• Chariot race
• Code Shpero to navigate a city that you draw
• Program Sphero to move from one location to another on a map of the US
• Icebreaker activities
• Raking leaves with Sphero RVR
• Sphero RVR dump truck
• Pick up colored objects with Sphero RVR
• Examine the underside of cars with Sphero RVR
• Sphero RVR garden sentry
• Sphero RVR excavator
• Sphero RVR sorting game

First, I made Sphero drive in a triangle. I could't get it perfect, but I manages to get the robot to drive in a shape that resembles a triangle. Then I programmed Sphero to to go from "Start" to "End 1" on the maze. The cardboard made it impossible to get it to work properly, so Sphero didn't get to the end, but I got it as close as I could. I measured the distances, and figured out the times in my code mathematically, so the only reason it didn't work very well is the Sphero just spun on the cardboard, and therefore the distances were not accurate or consistent.

During this project, I learned how to work with coding blocks that aren't very convenient for my purposes. With the blocks in the Sphero app, you can only make Sphero move forward for a certain amount of seconds. I figured out how to convert the seconds into distances for the speed that I chose to use.

This project is tied to a few of the MITECS standards One of these standards in Empowered Learner. This project is tied to Empowered Learner because I had to figure out what shape I wanted to use, and them figure out how to do it. I had to work out all he angle measures and side lengths, and them figure out how to code them. I also had to decide which path I wanted to use and figure out how to program the Sphero to get through it. Another standard this project is tied to is Knowledge Constructor. On the MITECS website, under Knowledge Constructor, it says that students "Plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources..." I did this when I was making the list of 25 for this project. A third standard this project ties to is Innovative Designer. This standard is about using the design process. I used the design process when I was programming Sphero to make a triangle. I tried out a code that I thought might work, and then revised it until I got the turns right.

One challenge I ran into during this project was the way that the blocks were with Sphero EDU. I could only make the robot move forward for a certain amount of time instead of a certain distance. I was also a little difficult to figure out how the turning worked. To solve the problem of the distance, I first used a yard stick to figure out how far the Sphero traveled in one second at a certain speed. I then used the yard stick to measure how far I wanted the robot to go. Then, I would divide the distance I wanted it to travel by the distance it traveled in one second, and that was the amount of time I needed to enter. Another problem was the cardboard that the maze was on. The Sphero would just spin sometimes, so the distance it traveled wasn't consistent. I couldn't really solve this problem, so I ran the code multiple times, and used the one that was closest.

If I could do this project again, I would probably like to make a maze with tape on the ground. Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, the robot didn't work very well on the cardboard. If I made a maze on the ground, I think that the robot would spin less, an therefore the results would be more accurate.

This project might be useful if I had to use robots to get into hard-to-reach areas. Maybe on a search and rescue mission. By programming it to navigate through fallen obstacles, I could reach places that a human couldn't. This would probably be useful to find and help people trapped by some sort of national disaster.