Part A: Wimp Mode Description
Put your robot into wimp mode and carefully record how the robot responds/reacts in this mode. Write down your careful, complete observations in a few well-worded paragraphs. If you plan on programming the full wimp mode for extra credit, you should also come up with a first draft of your flow chart. This task should take 15 - 20 minutes to complete.
Part B: External Sensor Exploration
- Carefully attach your Sharp distance sensor and photoresistor sensor to your create as shown in the slide presentation in the sensor overview page.
- Revise the sample code provided in the sensor overview page to display both Sharp distance sensor data and photoresistor data. You may want to change the refresh rate to about a quarter second or longer to make the data easy to read.
- Photoresistor: (should take ~20 minutes to collect data and write observations)
- Collect 10 - 20 samples at various light levels and record your data.
- Make a quick graph of the data and write a 1 - 2 paragraph conclusion based on your data (neatly hand drawn and handwritten is fine). How "far" can the photoresistor "see"?? All other things constant, can the photoresitor detect different colors?
- Sharp Distance Sensor: (should take ~40 minutes to collect data, analyze/graph using Excel or other spreadsheet, and write conclusions)
- First visit the link to the Acroname web site and read the information they give you about the Sharp distance sensor.
- Collect and analyze sensor data. Point the sensor at a "wall" and record the returned values. Be sure the wall is orthogonal to the optical axis of the sensor (i.e. plumb and perpendicular to sensor). Take readings in one centimeter increments as you move the wall away from the robot (or vice versa), until you reach at least 80 cm. Record your data directly into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (if you don't have Microsoft Excel, you should download free OpenOffice). The data values may jump around a bit, so you should probably take 3 - 5 samples at each distance and take the mean or median. Graph your results using Excel (use a X-Y scatter plot).
- Analyze the graph and write a couple of paragraphs for a conclusion. How "far" can the photoresistor "see"?? All other things constant, can the distance sensor detect different colors? Do changing ambient light levels effect the sensor's readings? What is the sensors field of view?
