Motion control.

After the exam we'll start a section on precisely moving the tri-bot along straight and circular paths. If you are interested in seeing the test track you will be working on, go here. I've already printed the track onto a full-sized poster that will be stored in the MathLab for you to use in testing.

My hope is to have us spend a class seeing how well each of us has programmed our robots to traverse the path.

Lamp blocks.

So yesterday I finally got around to building the tri-bot robot I assigned last week. As I was rooting through the parts, I noticed that there are lego blocks with little lights on them (officially called lamps). There are also cables with blocks at the end that appear to be electrical connectors. So, putting two and two together, I put the lamp blocks on the electrical sockets. Now, how to make them work.

I figured a lamp needs power... so does a motor. So I put the lamp cable into a motor port (PID off). Treating the lamp like a motor does the trick! The more power you send to the lamp the brighter it gets.

I also noticed that there are translucent green and red blocks, so now I have colored lights on my robot (I know you're jealous).

One little stumbling block (no pun) is that there appears to be a preferred direction for putting the lamp block on the electricity block. One direction works, one doesn't.

Saving Files

When saving a program, don't put periods in its name. It won't work.