Projects

[Lego Robots] [Groups] [First Project] [Second Project] [Makeup 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).

When you collect the robot kit I will give you some material showing robot designs and sample code. I can also spend some time telling you how to use NQC along with the robot kits. Email me to set up an appointment if you want to do this.

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] [First Project] [Second Project] [Makeup Project]

Groups

These are group projects, and you will work in groups of 2.

Group A

Deras
Hossain

Group B

Malyuta
Hu

Group C

Borovinskiy
Khosid

Group D

Bukhari
Knizhnik

Group E

Johnson
Moriah

[Lego Robots] [Groups] [First Project] [Second Project] [Makeup 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. You will have to use my office to do this. Email to let me know what regular time slots your team will be available to do this practice (so I can adjust my schedule to fit).

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 hrt 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:

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:

  1. 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).
  2. 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] [First Project] [Second Project] [Makeup 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 my office. As before, 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.

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:

  1. 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).
  2. 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] [First Project] [Second Project] [Makeup Project]

Makeup Project

The makeup project can be either taken by a whole team, or by a single member of a team working alone (but if two members of the same team want to both do the makeup, they must work together).

The makeup project is to build and program a robot that dances along to music.

The rules for the demonstration are the RoboCupJunior Dance rules, with the difference that the "stage" will be the classroom, and you must discuss the music source will me before the demonstration to make sure we can play your music.

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:

  1. 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).
  2. 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 members who did the makeup project indicating that they agree that the description is an accurate picture of the author's contribution to the project.

[Lego Robots] [Groups] [First Project] [Second Project] [Makeup Project]