Test Runs/Design process

Design Process:

We started our project by familiarizing ourselves with the RobotC program and the behaviors and capabilities of the robot itself.

After, we had a brainstorm session to come up with ideas for the logic of our code. We eventually decided to primarily allow the robot to move until it hit a wall. Once this happens, the robot would turn to the right and scan for a clear path. If a path was found, it would continue moving forward until it hit another wall, but if a path was not found, it would turn around 180 degrees and travel forward. Our theory was that if our robot was traveling forward and was stopped by a wall, the only possible options for it to move would be to the left or right, so the robot would only have to turn a direction and check for a clear path to advance through a maze.

After coming up with the logic for the program, we created a simple maze prototype for testing. We began to write the program, ran into some problems with the specifics of our robot model, and needed some help from TAs, but we eventually got the program working.

We then created a more complicated maze and added some obstacles to simulate a collapsed building environment. Upon making the course more complicated, we noticed that our turning mechanism for the robot was imperfect. We originally had the robot turn by only powering one motor, but this caused the robot to pivot around a point. After switching the mechanism to have both motors powered, the robot rotated around its center.

After touching up the turning mechanism, it took a little more fine-tuning and testing, but we eventually got the robot to clear the course.