PmWiki | Student / HigginsWimpWrite-up

Dan Higgins Red Cohort Dec. 17, 2007 Wimp Mode 91.120 Interactive Robotics (Rhine/Pilla)
	The wimp mode for the iCreate computer was the most difficult programming experience I have had to date.  After several attempts I was able to successfully write a program.  The biggest challenge that I came across during my programming was getting the iCreate to change direction wile it was already turning.  This was because originally I had the robot turning for a specific angle and then restarting after that had been completed.  The difficulty was that I know had to update the sensors and write loops for the robot while it was in the middle of a previous command.  I achieved this by writing functions and then referring to them several times in the middle of my loops.  This made it much easier for me to follow my own code and understand what mistakes I was making.  My other problem was that I was not sure where I was making my mistakes in the code.  Using the LEDs and the cricket display I was able to see exactly where my mistakes were and from there I was able to correct them.  The most important thing I was able to learn to do in this lab was to create functions.  It allowed me to make my code much cleaner and readable, and also more complex.