Week 2

For the start of week 2 we submitted our design proposal which can be viewed by clicking on the design proposal button in the nav bar above this post.

Now it's time to get started on the fun stuff!  Robot building time!!  We received our two Lego NXT kits and began working on our physical design.  Before diving too deep into building a robot we really had to think about what we wanted our robot to do and how we wanted it do that.

Navigation:

We'll be using two Lego NXT bricks to build this robot.  A single brick wouldn't offer enough sensor/motor inputs to accomplish everything we want this robot to do.  One of these bricks will be utilized strictly for navigation purposes and will utilize the following sensors:

Ultrasonic Sensor:  This sensor will send out an ultrasonic pulse that will bounce off of objects in front of the robot and return to the robot.  This will allow the robot to know when there is an obstacle or wall in front of it.  This will be useful for navigating around the building floor plan.

Color Sensor: Each main room in the building will have a different color; red, blue, green, yellow.  The robot will utilize a color sensor to determine which room it is in and to know if it has already explored that room.

Light Sensor:  This sensor will be used to help the robot find its way back out of the building.  At the entrance to the building will be a stationary light.  The robot will then use a combination of the light sensor and ultrasonic sensor to make its way back out of the building once the mission is complete.

Motor Usage:  Two motors will be used for navigation to control each wheel independently.  Independent wheel operation is key to having the robot be able to perform zero point turns in order to navigate the building more efficiently.

Collection and Elimination:

The second Lego NXT Brick will be used to control the collection and elimination mechanisms on board the robot and will make use of some additional sensors and motors to help with these tasks.

Color Sensor:  A second color sensor will be used to determine if an object is to be either collected for extraction or destroyed on site.

Motor Usage.  Two additional motors will be used here to control the collection and elimination mechanisms.

Now for the hands on!

Once we had a general idea of how the robot was to function while inside the building we had to start assembling the robot.  We needed to make use of two Lego NXT bricks while being conscious of it's dimensions   Too wide and the robot would have a difficult time navigating the halls and rooms of the building.

The preliminary robot design is still under construction.  Expect some media (photos/video) once completed.

Week 1

Project Decision

First order of business in week 1 was to form our group and determine what project we were going to develop over the course of the next 10 weeks.  We debated about different ideas we could incorporate into the development of the robot and a common theme of "shoot something" was tossed around.  This lead to the decision to create a SpyBot.

We want to create a robot that is able to navigate a building and locate sensitive information.  When it finds this information it will pick it up to bring back to the extraction point.  During the robot's time navigating the building and locating this information, it is quite likely to rouse some suspension.  When the robot encounters and identifies hostile targets, it will then eliminate these targets.

The overall function of our robot is to search a building for sensitive information and eliminate hostile targets along the way.  In an order to do this, we had to split our team up and assign certain aspects of the overall project so that we could accomplish many things at once.  Two people were tasked with designing and eventually creating the floor plan for the building that will be navigated through and the remaining three team members will be working on the development of the SpyBot.

The SpyBot is going to require an appropriate design that allows it to navigate the halls and rooms of the building quickly, being able enter doorways and avoid obstacles and running into walls.  It will also need a method for detecting the sensitive information and then acquiring this information.  The SpyBot will also need a way to identify hostile targets and have a means of eliminating them.

Project Assignments: Building Floor Plan Team

The building floor plan team is comprised of Joseph Grande and Jacob Sabu.  Initial designs will be generated using AutoCAD and then later assembled with foam board.  The floor plan design needs to large enough to have several rooms in which information and enemies can be randomly placed for the SpyBot to locate and needs proper hallway and room dimensions so that the SpyBot will fit.  Without a initial design concept for the SpyBot, the initial floor plan will not include dimensions.  Once the SpyBot concept is complete, proper dimensions can be assigned to the floor plan and then can be physically built.

Project Assignments: Designing the SpyBot

The SpyBot design has been assigned to Harsh Patel, Gina Medayil and John Rose.  Using the design concepts decided upon during the Project Decision phase, the team will need to design a robot that has the correct physical attributes to get the job done.  This includes being able to navigate hallways and rooms without running into walls or other obstacles and being able to identify its targets, the sensitive information and the hostiles.  

Project Assignments: Design Proposal

One of the first things that needs to be completed for this project is our design proposal.  The design proposal is an important document that outlines many aspects of what the team is building and how it is that we intend to accomplish our project.  We need to provide a clear indication of what the team plans to deliver at the end of the 10 weeks, the technical activities that will be used in completing the project, as well as developing an appropriate timeline and budget.  Team members were individually assigned sections from the proposal that best fits their part in the overall project.