Projects

[Lego Robots] [Groups] [Lab Hours] [First Project] [Second Project]

Lego Robots

The projects will use Lego Mindstorms robot kits. These kits are supplied by me rather than the department, so, please guard the kits carefully and make sure you don't drop the box with the kit in it on the subway.

The kits contains an assortment of parts some or all of which you can use to build your robot. There is no restriction on what you can build except that it can only be constructed with the parts you have been given.

If you want to use additional parts (for instance because you need an extra three grommets to build the robot of your dreams), come and see me, and we can discuss if you can have some extra components. (I will only agree if the parts you want are essential to what you robot is doing and don't give the robot an unfair advantage.)

You will need to download the current version of Not Quite C (NQC) (version 2.4 r2 or higher) for the platform you intend to use.

You can also download the User Manual and Programmer's Guide for Not Quite C.

You might also be interested in the Bricx Command Center which is an integrated development environment for NQC (I prefer to use the old-fashioned combination of text editor and compiler).

Finally, Aaron Gibbs has put together a LEGO Mindstorms page which include information on how to get started, how to use NQC, and has a bunch of sample programs that you might like to look at.

[Lego Robots] [Groups] [Lab Hours] [First Project] [Second Project]

Groups

These are group projects, and you will work in groups of 3.

Group A

Vera
Girshtel
Deda

Group B

Soori Ashkan
Soori Afshin
Yang

Group C

Shnitzer
Kamal
Owahiduzzaman

Group D

Kwong
Shubov

Group E

Lednevs
McKenzie
Renard

Group F

Shnayderman
Krivogorskaya
Kurkov

Group F

Lasorte
Loria

[Lego Robots] [Groups] [Lab Hours] [First Project] [Second Project]

Lab Hours

For the last two weeks before each project is due, you will be able to use the laboratory in Ingersoll 5301 during 2pm-4pm on Monday and 4pm-6pm on Wednesday.

This means the weeks of 20th and 27th October, and 24th November and 1st December.

I will only open the lab when requested (since I can't just leave it open), so you will have to come to my office during those periods, and I will then open the lab for you.

Note that the aim of these periods is to give you time to test the robots, not to develop the robots.

In other words, you will do best of you work on the robots outside of these periods (at home say) and us the lab time to tweak your design rather than trying to do everything in the lab.

[Lego Robots] [Groups] [Lab Hours] [First Project] [Second Project]

First Project

Using the Lego Mindstorms kit, you will have to build a robot which follows a line, detects obstacles (and backs up when it hits an obstacle) and can detect various coloured regions that the line passes through.

A course which incorporates these elements will be provided for you to practice on with the robots. This will be placed in Ingersoll 5301 for you to use. We will set up a schedule of times that this room is open for you.

At the end of the project these robots will compete over this kind of course; the aim is to complete the course in the minimum time.

Doing badly in the competition will not hurt your grade for the project, but doing well in the competition may increase your grade for the project.

The robot control programs should be written in the "stimulus-response" style we discussed in Lecture 3.

Competition details

The following notes should be consulted in conjunction with the line following course.

They describe the procedure that will be followed during the competition.

Place the robot at the end of the black line where the line touches the edge of the board.

Let the robot start line-following and start timing.

At some point between the third and fourth corners place an object (for example a box).

When the robot touches the object, it should stop, back up slightly and wait

When the robot has stopped after backing up, remove the object.

When the robot reaches the green patch (between the 4th and 5th corners) it should play a sound.

When the robot reaches the silver patch after the last corner, stops, and plays a second sound (to show it recognises the silver patch) stop the clock.

NOTE:

Each robot has a maximum of 5 minutes to complete the course.
If you touch the robot at any point on the course after the clock has started, that attempt will immediately be given a time of 5 minutes.
If the robot leaves the board, then that attempt will immediately be given a time of 5 minutes.
If no robot completes the course in 5 minutes, the robot that gets closest to the end will be adjudged the winner.
If the robot does not play a sound when it crosses the green patch, it will have 2 minutes added onto its time.

What you have to hand in

Everyone has to submit a project report which is their own work (and we will be checking that group members have not just cut and pasted between reports).

Each report should be 4-5 pages long (standard letter paper, 10-12pt type, single spaced), and should describe the design of the robot and the design of the code which controls the robot.

You must not only describe the design choices made, but also justify them.

In addition to the 4-5 pages of report, you must submit two other items:

A listing of the code of the control program of the robot. This should be properly commented (I expect to be able to understand exactly what the code is doing from the comments).
A single sheet which describes the contribution to the project of the author of the report. This should be signed by all the group members indicating that they agree that the description is an accurate picture of the author's contribution to the project.

[Lego Robots] [Groups] [Lab Hours] [First Project] [Second Project]

Second Project

The second project is to build a robot that can play one-on-one soccer.

Both the pitch and the ball are designed to simplify this task.

The pitch is a standard RoboCupJunior one-on-one soccer pitch. This has a floor which is a greyscale. Thus one end of the pitch is black, the other is white, and the colour gradient "slopes" from one to the other. You can use a light sensor (just like you used it in the first project) to tell which end of the field is which and which way the robot is heading.

You can find a more detailed description of the pitch on the RoboCupJunior website, where the full Soccer rules are given.

The pitch also has walls, so the ball cannot leave the pitch and the robot can detect (using a bump sensor) when it is at a wall.

The ball emits infra-red light, so you can use a light sensor to find the ball.

The project will end with a competition. This will take place on a pitch in Ingersoll 5301. As with the first project, you are encouraged to come and try your robot out on the competition pitch well before the competition.

The rules for the competition will be the usual RoboCupJunior rules, but the games will be shorter, around 5 in total.

Using the lab

For this project we have a new pitch, which is now in the lab, and electronic balls that emit infra-red light (which the light sensors detect).

The balls have a rechargeable battery built into them (don't try and replace the battery).

I will leave some balls in the lab, along with a charger. These will be plugged into an outlet near the pitch.

Note the following rules for handling the balls:

When the wire is not plugged into the ball, the ball is on. So you need to un plug the wire from the ball to use the ball.
When the wire is not plugged into the ball it is discharging, so you should plug the wire into the ball when you are not using it.
When the ball is plugged into the wire, and the wire is plugged into the charger, it will charge up (and the red lights on the charger light up).
When the red lights on the charger go out, the ball is fully charged.
Don't use a ball that isn't fully charged.
When you leave the lab, make sure that two balls are charging.
You are not allowed to take balls out of the lab (If any disappear, I will hold the last group to use the lab responsible).

If you follow these rules, everyone should be able to use the balls properly and find a charged ball when they need it.

What you have to hand in

Everyone has to submit a project report which is their own work (and we will be checking that group members have not just cut and pasted between reports).

Each report should be 4-5 pages long (standard letter paper, 10-12pt type, single spaced), and should describe the design of the robot and the design of the code which controls the robot.

You must not only describe the design choices made, but also justify them.

In addition to the 4-5 pages of report, you must submit two other items:

A listing of the code of the control program of the robot. This should be properly commented (I expect to be able to understand exactly what the code is doing from the comments).
A single sheet which describes the contribution to the project of the author of the report. This should be signed by all the group indicating that they agree that the description is an accurate picture of the author's contribution to the project.

[Lego Robots] [Groups] [Lab Hours] [First Project] [Second Project]