Lab 5: Braitenberg, Wall Following, and Team Search & Rescue

Part 1: Individual Braitenberg & Wall Following Challenges

Find a partner and choose an one of the two initial tasks below for each partner (individual assignment):

Braitenberg Vehicle: Make the Create ...

(a) home in on a light source (turning lamp) and STOP at the source (photophilic)

(b) avoid (run from) a light source and searches for the darkest/dimmest safe area and STOP when it does (photophobic)

(c) the user should be able to use the create's buttons to select the mode in which the create will operate and to pause/resume operation (and be safe!!)

(d) demonstrate good use of debugging tools!

(e) Bonus:

Implement effective P or PD or PID control (each worth more)
Can your robot turn off the light?? We'll put a jelly bean switch on top of the light.
Find the rotating light rather than the incandesent light.

Wall Following: Make the Create...

What does wall following mean? Try out the Create Demo mode #1 to see an example of wall following. Generally speaking, the robot should follow a path parallel to the outer edge of the wall. The robot should not "scrape along the wall" or jam itself into corners--the Create should only touch the wall occasionally, if at all. When it does touch, it should not "push" against the wall (our wall are "mobile" so you should not hit them hard enough to move them).

(a) Follow the outside edge of the hallway. Bonus: Can you do it in either direction???

(b) Find its way though a maze ("single" path maze) (Advanced: what if a wall is missing/red tape on floor instead?)