Robotics Spring 2009

UnderGrad Project 1 Measuring a box

Due: Tuesday March 3rd (papers due the following Thursday by 6pm - can wait till after midterm)

Overview:

This is a modification of a lab from Rowan University. In this lab your robot will measure a cardboard box. You will use a handyboard microcontroller and a lego body to do the lab. Your robot will have to sense the box and measure how far is has traveled when it believes that it has gone beyond the end of the box.

Materials:

Each group has the standard robot kit in the lab. The bin contains:

• An XBC robot

• XBC sensors

  •  light sensors

  •  ET style IR sensors

  •  top hat style IR sensors

  •  IR breakbeam encoders

  •  touch sensors.

• Two lego connected motors

  • motor connectors if needed.

• a 'bunch' of Legos. (you have a bout 300 lego pieces to build your robot with. including bricks, beams, gears wheels and axles)

If you are missing something, you need to let me know ASAP - don't go scavenging. 

Two cardboard boxes are also at the back of the lab for you to practice on. A new box will be used for demonstrations at the end of the month.

Lab Availability:

As previously mentioned, the lab is available anytime that the Moakley open access lab is open except for during a class.

Your Task:

Your task is to build and program a robot that can measure the side of a box accurately.

1. Your robot must calculate the volume of the box, having been given the depth and the height of the box by the instructor, with your robot measuring the width of the box. You must have a way of entering the depth and height information into the robot. You can assume that the depth and height that you will be given as integers, however you should make no such assumptions for the width that the robot measures. (it should be a floating point value) All measurements will be in centimeters. When your robot has traversed and measured the width of the box, it should display the volume of the box on its display. 
   You will be able to set the robot down next to the box where ever you like, but once the demo begins, you may not touch the robot.

Considerations:

• Sensor calibrations: the color of the box is not guaranteed. You will be given a couple of minutes to calibrate your sensors in place to handle the box color and the lighting differences in the room.

• Don't move the box. The box will be light and might move if your robot runs into it - this will give you incorrect readings for sure.

• This is an interesting first lab. It will teach you a fair bit about the various vagarities of our basic sensors.

Have fun:

Have fun with it and I look forward to seeing your projects.