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=Team Name:= 

=Team Symbol:=

I. Team Members Names =Rachel, E=Meredith, C=Elizabeth.

=II. Instructions for Challenges=

A. For each challenge you must write a short description of the challenge using complete sentences. Please write in 3rd person, scientific writing. B. This is where you should include your programming code by including screen screen shots. You should place all multimedia on [|photobucket.com] and then incorporate it into the site using the embed code. C. For each challenge you must provide some form of multimedia exhibit. This would be images, a short video, an interview, etc. You should place all multimedia on [|photobucket.com] and then incorporate it into the site using the embed code. D. For each challenge you should provide a written explanation of the difficulties encountered with the challenge. = = = = =III. Challenges=

DATE: 4/7/2008
 * Title of Challenge:

Point Turn
//Note, the different symbols for the different motion symbols used to create the different motions. Also note the difference in distance and direction depending on what motion is being performed.//
 * A. Description: **
 * To complete this challenge the robot needed to be programmed to do 3 things. It had to first go forward 25 cm, make a 180 degree point turn to the left, and finally back up 10 cm. First, it had to be programmed to go 25 cm forward, and to do that it was necessary to figure out how to program this without using trial and error. The circumference of the wheel was used to figure out how far it would go per rotation of the wheel, and then using this information, the robot was programmed to go forward 25 centimeters, or 1.445 rotations of the wheel. It was then necessary to program the robot to make it do a point turn to the left. To do this, a motion block was used to instruct the robot to turn to the left then brake. This was tested, and it was found that it all worked according to plan. It was then necessary to program the robot to back up 10 cm to complete the challenge. To do this, it was decided that the same thing would be done as for the first part of the challenge and the circumference of the wheel was used to figure out how many rotations would be needed. It was figured out that 10 cm was 0.58 rotations and the code was then completed. It was tested, and it worked perfectly. The first challenge had been completed!
 * B. Programming Code:**

Diagram 1: Motion Block Obstacle Course
 * These are the motion blocks used to create the obstacle course.

Diagram 2: Motion Block One Programming Code
 * This is the programming code used to move the robot 25 cm forward. The duration is measured in rotations, using the number from dividing the distance by the circumference of the wheel.

Diagram 3: Motion Block Two Programming Code
 * This is the programming code to turn the robot 180 degrees. The direction and steering were altered to turn the robot around.

Diagram 4: Motion Block Three Programming Code
 * This is the programming code used to move the robot 10 cm backwards. The duration was is measured in rotations, using the number from dividing the distance by the circumference of the wheel and the direction was changed to backwards.


 * C. Multimedia:**

media type="custom" key="680113" Video 1: Description of the programming

The main difficulties that our group encountered were discovering what information we needed to make the programming code. We found that the number of rotations was the distance divided by circumference of the wheel. However, it took quite a lot of frustration before we could figure it out. The next step was playing around with the turns, which proved even more of a challenge. In the end, all that was needed was to change the steering to turn 180 degrees. The final part of the programming code was easier than the rest because we had already had a chance to play around with the settings. The last step was simply a matter of changing the direction to backwards. The frustration and confusion along the way made the final run all the more worthwhile & exciting!!! :)
 * D. Difficulties Encountered/How You SOLVED the Challenge!:**

Template: DATE: 4/8/2008
 * Title of Challenge:

**Square**
The second challenge was for the robot to create a 60 cm by 60 cm square on the floor. The challenge was not much of a challenge as the programming code only required a straight away roll for 60 cm before making a 90 degree turn (which on the snipping is 180, as the angles of the robot must be doubled). The number of rotations that makes up the straight away portion was found by dividing the distance (in cm) by the circumference of the wheel (in cm) which equals 3.468. The direction is forward on all the straight aways lengths. The turns are right angles which are 90 degrees, however all angles must be doubled for the robot courses. Therefore, the duration, which is set in the measurement of degrees is 180. The steering is turned to the right as the robot began on a line. There are four straight aways and four turns because it is a square which by definition has 4 sides and 4 right angles.
 * A. Description:**

Diagram 5: Motion Blocks for Square Programming Code
 * B. Programming Code:**

Diagram 6: Programming Code for Straight Edges of Square - The number of rotations that makes up the straight away portion was found by dividing the distance, 60 cm, by the circumference of the wheel, 17.3 cm, which equals 3.468. - The direction is set to forward as of course, the distance is straight forward.

[[image:turn_block.jpg]]
Diagram 7: Programming Code for Turns of Square


 * C. Multimedia:**

media type="custom" key="653791" width="81" height="81" Video 2: The programming

Since completing the first challenge, the programming basics came much easier. Creating the programming code for the square was simply a matter of having the robot go 60 cm forward & turning 180 degrees and repeating their alternation. The number of rotations that makes up the straight away portion was found by dividing the distance, 60 cm, by the circumference of the wheel, 17.3 cm, which equals 3.468. The multiple turning portions were programmed by setting the duration to 180 degrees and changing the steering to turn all the way to the right. There were some difficulties with the turn degrees as the 90 degree right angle turn as it had to be doubled. Through the little mistakes there were some big discoveries were made.
 * D. Difficulties Encountered/How You SOLVED the Challenge!:**

DATE: 4/4/08 >
 * Title of Challenge:

 Backing Up
To complete challenge three, the robot needed to be able to make a gradual turn while moving forward, then position itself so that it could back up in a straight line. This challenge was not very difficult because all members of the team were by then fairly comfortable with the programming. Also, there was nothing very complex that the robot needed to be programmed to do. The only difficulty that was discovered was getting the robot to make a gradual turn. It took several tries, but the group finally figured out how to make the robot make a gradual turn while moving. Once this was figured out, the remainder of the challenge was easy to complete. Diagram 8: Motion Blocks for Backing Up Course
 * A. Description:**
 * B. Programming Code:**

Diagram 9: Programming Code for First Motion Block

Diagram 10: Programming Code for Second Motion Block

Diagram 11: Programming Code for Third Motion Block  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**C: Multimedia**

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**D. Difficulties Encountered/How You SOLVED the Challenge!:** <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> This challenge posed the most difficulty for the team as it had a gradual turn. The first part of the course contained a straight portion which was programmed by setting the duration to 1.445 rotations which was distance, _, divided by the circumference of the wheel, 17. 3 cm. The next part, the gradual turn, was the hardest portion of the course. The team went about solving this with patience and trial & error. Finally they asked Ms.Todd who helped them set the duration for with the rotation setting instead of degrees. The steering was set to turn right and the number of rotations was set at 2.512 which was the distance of the curve divided by the circumference of the robot's wheel. The last portion of the course was simply a matter of setting the direction at backwards as the robot had reached the vertex. The duration was again found by dividing the distance by the circumference of the wheel to get 2.716 rotations.

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif">DATE: 4/8/2008 >
 * <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif">Title of Challenge:

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif"> Freestyle
The freestyle challenge could contain any number of turns or steering.The group created a course in the shape of a heart. The first straight away portion of the course was 45 cm long and the circumference of the wheel in 17.3 cm.Of course, all the straight away portions were set at forward direction. The duration was found was dividing 45 by 17.3 to find the number of rotations which was 2.601. The turns posed much difficulty as the number of degrees in the programming was much off that of the course. The first turn was 115 degrees on the course and became _ on the programming code. The steering was set to to turn to the right. There was another straight away of 28 cm, when divided by 17.3 (the circumference of the robot's wheel) it equals 1.618 degrees. Another turn at 85 degrees on the course, made the programming code set at _ degrees. This turn was proceeded by a 12 cm straight which was left out of the programming code to allow for more turning room on the 115 degree turn which fed into a 65 degree turn. It was at this stage of the course that the team was forced to stop work to begin on another challenge. The rest of the course, had the group had a change to complete the programming code would repeat the same motion block codes in reverse order and turns to the left instead of the right.
 * A. Description:**


 * B. Programming Code:**

Diagram 12: Motion Blocks for Freestyle Course

Diagram 13: The first turn

Diagram 14: A straight


 * C. Multimedia:**



Drawing 1:Scale drawing of heart obstacle course

Picture 1: Heart obstacle course



Picture 2: Elizabeth Hard at Work Measuring Obstacle Course



Picture 3: Meredith Hard at Work Programming the Robot

media type="custom" key="680119" Video 3: Half way there

media type="custom" key="680091" Video 4: Finished product

The team ran into some serious challenges completing the freestyle challenge. They had created a rather ambitious obstacle course, and this meant that they had some difficulties in programming the robot to do all the required turns in the amount of time that was given to them during class. Also, the turn in the middle of the heart posed a serious problem. After multiple attempt at making the robot make a tight enough turn to completely round the corner, and still stay on track, they decided that a different solution was needed. They then programmed the robot to travel farther before making the turn so that the robot would be able to pass the turn, make the turn farther beyond it, and then come back up all the way to end of the straight-away beyond the turn. However, some difficulties were encountered in doing this as well. As shown in the video, the team was forced to make the robot make a complete spin to make the turn because of an unexpected programming difficulty. The robot would not turn to the left, so the team programmed it to turn to the right instead. Despite these difficulties, the team did an excellent job and came very close to completing this challenge.
 * D. Difficulties Encountered/How You SOLVED the Challenge! :**

5. DATE: 5/20/2008
Task 1 (10 points): At your work area on the table come up with a strategy to calculate the velocity of your robot at 30% power over 70 cm. Repeat the measurement 3 times and get an average. Think about the equation for velocity. Carry out your plan and determine the velocity.

a. Brief description and image (snip and you can upload to the wiki- give your image an uncommon file name) of the programming you used to solve this challenge. The programming code began with finding the number of rotations needed for the robot to go 70 centimeters. The circumference of the wheel is 17.3 cm and the number of rotations is found by dividing the distance by the circumference (70/17.3 = 4.045 rotations). The power was set at 30% so as to find a constant in the velocity equation. The velocity of the robot at 30% power going 70 centimeters was found by dividing the change in distance by the change in time. the equation looked like: 70 cm/ 8.4 seconds = cm/s.

b. Description of what made this task difficult for your group. The difficulties of this challenge were applying the math equations correctly. There were special equations for finding the number of rotations to go 70 cm and to find the velocity. Overall, this challenge provided little obstacle & glided smoothly.

Task 2 (20 points):: At your work area, come up with a strategy to get your robot to accelerate over a 1 meter distance. Have it come to a stop at 1 meter.

a. Brief description and image (snip and you can upload to the wiki- give your image an uncommon file name) of the programming you used to solve this challenge. The group had to program a way for the robot to move smoothly changing velocities for one meter. This was done by having 4 different moving blocks, and each of them coasted and then would go into the next block. The average acceleration ended up being 2.56 cm/s(squared)

b. Description of what made this task difficult for your group. When first completed the robot jurked everytime the power changed. To get over this challenge the programming was changed so that instead of braking after each move block, it coasted.

Task 3 (30 points):: Determine the velocity of the rotation of the wheels on your robot. Program your robot at 45% power to rotate 10 times. Calculate the velocity of the rotation of the wheels at this power in cm/sec. (Hint: You need to know the circumference of a wheel and remember it goes around ten times!)

a. Brief description and image (snip and you can upload to the wiki- give your image an uncommon file name) of the programming you used to solve this challenge: The robot was programmed to travel at 45% power for 10 rotations, and it was measured how far it went and how long it took. It went 175 cm and took 13.2 seconds. When the velocity was calculated, it was equal to 13.26 cm/s. b. Description of what made this task difficult for your group: This challenge was not very difficult. The programming was simple, and the timing and math was also simple. The only difficulty was figuring out the correct way to complete this challenge.

Task 4 (40 points):: On a graph, plot the velocity that your robot travels 1 meter at 20% power, 40% power, and 70% power. Include an image of your plot in your documentation by snipping it. Make sure it has units and axis labels. Using your graph, determine how fast you think your robot wold be traveling if you programmed it to go at 60% power. Calculate velocity in cm/sec.



a. Brief description and image (snip and you can upload to the wiki- give your image an uncommon file name) of the graph. There was only one block put into the programming code each time, this way the velocity was easily found. The group divided the distance 100 cm by the different times. Every time more power was added, and there was more speed, the velocity was more. For example, 20% power only had 5.247 m/s, and 40% had 11.39 m/s.

b. Description of what made this task difficult for your group. At first the time was divided by the distance, resulting in there being a decrease instead of increase. When the distance was divided by the time (the correct equation) the velocity made more sense, because it increased instead of decreasing with the percentage of power.

Task 5 (50 points):: Create an obstacle course on your lab table with building bocks. It should contain one right point turn and 1 left point turn. The robot should stop at the end where you have built a small tower of blocks. Your robot should not knock the blocks over.

a. Brief description and image (snip and you can upload to the wiki- give your image an uncommon file name) of the programming you used to solve this challenge. b. Description of what made this task difficult for your group.