Omg, it’s the end of week 6!! :O Not only was today
Valentine’s Day, we also held Ryan’s farewell dinner!
Autonomous w/ gyro, gear tooth counter, etc.
Ms. Kim found a sample on a more advanced sample for the autonomous period in which the robot will turn right and drive forward (later revised to repeat four times, driving in a square). Jessica and I were putting this code together and Bryant tells us we are not using the gear tooth counter. Because of this, we had to figure out how else we can set the duration of a task.
We weren’t sure what “time delay” was. “Wait” is a timer for the program cycle, such as the entire case structure. The “watchdog – delay & feed” sets the seconds to delay execution. This means it sets the duration of the previous task.
Autonomous (regular w/ strategy)
Mr. Tui told us to check Chief Delphi for any comments on the autonomous period. Someone posted that the human player is the biggest factor in this time, meaning the robot must be CONSTANTLY moving!!
For our old plans, we tried to block a robot and then stop close to our alliance side. However, we must always be moving as we have no idea about the effects of other robots. It appears having RANDOM actions would be pretty efficient since it is not predictable and if we were to run into a wall (or another robot), we’d be able to get out of it at some point.
One plan we had was to drive forward to block a robot, having the alliance partner drop orbit balls into their trailer; then turning 180 to where the opponent “used” to be. Instead of stopping, we can perform random functions now, such as forward, turn right, backwards, turn left, etc.
The potentiometer endures at least eight strikes
It’s surprising how the pot is still working fine after being slammed by the turret at least six times. Reasons the turret and program may not work: the values are switched around or it may only work one way.
Another win for Fu Quan!
Fu Quan and the other members contributed to one program where the target tracking works at a reasonable speed (if it was adjusted faster, the turret will overshoot more often). We also had trouble fixing the limits in autonomous. While the code worked in manual, it failed to also work in autonomous. However, this problem was fixed and now we have a more solid code for the camera/turret tracking system.
Electronics
Majority of the electrical parts are all mounted onto the compact space saved on the robot. Since the camera’s original orange cord was too short, it was replaced by a longer baby pink cord, to the dismay of the guys. For the potentiometer, since it was soldered incorrectly, the colors did not correspond to the correct function. Frankie, Chen, Bryant, and Sam debated what the correct answer was for quite some time! Finally, they were able to agree on one and fixed it. At the end of the day, some people also started wiring the tilt.
Calculating area of image
We marked the floor in one-foot intervals again, up to 20 feet. This time, we were calculating the size of the image on the screen, in hopes of using this information to figure out the tilt angle.
Lessons
Frankie joined us today and helped with the electrical aspect. As LabVIEW was an alien-language to him, he tried to understand and had a review session with Jessica and me.
Valentine’s Day!
The guys purchased a pretty box of See’s chocolates and every guy signed on the plastic wrap that was to be thrown away. XD The girls (Wendy, Judy, Li Xi, and myself) melted chocolate truffles with pink sprinkles as a gift for the guys. Yay!
Farewell Dinner
VEX members were invited to our dinner tonight as it was a farewell dinner to our fellow student mentor, Ryan!! We wish RYAN the best of luck with his basic training in Texas! Stay safe! He will be leaving on the same day as our robot: Tuesday, February 17. Only two more days~!
Work hard everyone!!!!!!!
