Cliff Sensors - Question 2
name: Brittany Forkus
Purpose/ Description of Experiment:
The Create's cliff sensors have many different reactions to their enviroment, and it's many changes. I decided to place my primary focus on the effect of height from the ground (distance) of the create on the cliff sensors. I believe that the further away from the ground the robot is, the weaker the signal strength will be. I also believe that the cliff sensors state will either have to be on or off, since it only works with the binary numbers 0 and 1, it will work much like a light switch. I predict that when the robot is on level ground, the sensors state will be o (off), when its is lifted, even just a little but, I believe the value will be 1 (on).
So for an experiment, I decided to test both the state and the signal at three different levels of height, which would be the only variable changing (excluding some minor, unavoidable, experimental error). So I first took the robot and put it on ground level and sent the commands 128 131 142 10 (to measure state) and 128 131 142 29 (to measure strength). These only focused on the front left sensor, but they all work the same. I then repeated this experiment with a in stool and a 17.0in table.
These were the average results (three total times experimenting):
| Height | State | Signal |
| Ground level | 0 | 2 208 |
| 6.5 inches | 1 | 0 4 |
| 20.0 inches | 1 | 0 0 |
Results/Conclusion
Based on these results, I have determined that the cliff sensors are off when they are on ground level, but the moment the robot is lifted of the ground, the sensors turn on. As for signal strength, it seems to be strongest when the robot is on, or close to the ground, and the further it gets from the ground the lesser the signal strength is. My experiments all used the same piece of rug, in the same room, and at the same time of day, as I attempted to keep all variables as constant as possible.
