8P4 Dash

Using the dash coder I created some code that can guide the dash to move through a maze because I thought it would be cool if I could make a small robot move its way through a maze. I liked the idea of coding something new that was involved in the real world, rather than coding something in a video game, or other program on a device. I also liked the idea of giving the dash reactions, so when the dash completed the maze, he would celebrate, or say something.

During this process, I learned how to code a dash, and got a better sense of distance in centimeters. I figured out a general sense of coding, which is different from minecraft. In minecraft, you can make your agent place a block, with the dash, you make it move, or give it reactions, or make it look in different directions which lead more towards making a story with code, rather than building something.

The 7 standards of the class are Empowered Learner, Digital Citizen, Knowledge Constructor, Innovative Designer, Computational Thinker, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator. My project ties to Empowered Learner because I had many trials when using my code. I had to tweak small things many times, for example, the distance it moved forward for one piece of code, it got a bit frustrating because I would misplace the dash at the beginning of maze, and so it would run into some of the walls, but eventually I got it.

A challenge I overcame on this project was the code. I was able to do it by constantly resetting the code to see if small tweaks would work, and I had to tweak many small things, many times. Just like before, the distance in centimeters was difficult to understand, I was to used to using feet, or inches, so I got confused when using centimeters and made the dash barely move. I had to keep changing the distance the dash went, in order to make it so the dash wouldn't ram into any walls.

Given a chance to do this again, I would change the objective, obstacles, and code . The reason why I would change these things are because I felt like getting through a maze was bland. I felt like that's what most people would do when using the dash, so it didn't feel unique. I would also add greater/different obstacles such as more story like objects, and maybe make my own maze to use if I were to make a maze. Finally, I would change the code to be able to maneuver itself around, and be able to detect if there's a wall, or object in front of it.

Hastings High School Career and Technical Education Program offers Agriculture, Business Management, Computer Programming, Construction Trades, Culinary Arts, Digital Multimedia, Engineering Design, Finance, Insurance, Marketing. My project connects to the Computer Programming CTE program at Hastings High School. My project also connects to careers in Engineering Design. My project connects to Computer Programming and Engineering Design because I was coding a dash to move around. Also, it took many trials to get the dash to do exactly as I wanted. I had to change the code many times and start over many times before the code actually worked, and got its way through the maze.