Dana and I are slowing getting through our robot challenges. Now that we have completed line runner, we have two left. I am happy to see new challenges added to the previous ones. It’s just as fun to watch other people complete challenges as it is to do them yourself. I learned this week that even though programming of the Lego robots can be frustrating, it’s totally worth it. Finally getting the code right for line runner, after working on it for a few hours was satisfying. I can only imagine the satisfaction of completing more complex tasks, like depthx (the Bill Stone TED talk). Depthx has 96 sensors! That is an enormous amount. Being able to get all these sensors to work together is quite feet. I can see the allure of working as an engineer on projects like depthx.
The talk by Richard Feynman was awesome as well. He provided at great reminder of why science is so interesting. It is fun to look at everyday things more in depth. I think this is why I like physics and chemistry courses much more then my peers. Most of my friends find the material in these courses irrelevant. I not sure why but I find these topics very interesting. I suppose I am more curious about fundamental things.
Next week Dana and I should have our robot ready for can grab. I have some good ideas for this robot. My ideas may be a little complex, but I’ll know next week whither my ideas are feasible. I am also planning on making the robot capable of picking up a full can. I should also say that I would like to build an ROV that has onboard video. I am not sure if this requires any parts we don’t already have, but I thought I would give you a heads up.
Great post, Tom. You only have one more challenge to do before you move to building a sensor and then to the final project. The video part for the ROV may be difficult (unless you have one in a housing and cable to the surface). Lets talk about it in class. Have a great week, Emmanuel
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