First Plan
Nate and I are doing the search and rescue maze. The point of the maze is to make our way through it to where the survivors are at the end. Our plan for it is to use the black pieces of tape that are periodically spread out throughout the maze in order for our cricket to orient itself. We will use the photo-sensor for this task, whenever the sensor recognizes a value different from the white of the walls, the cricket will turn. We are also going to utilize a infrared sensor in order to both keep the cricket in the middle of the path and so that it will not run straight into walls. It is important that the robot remain in the middle of the path so that the readings from the light sensor remain constant and correct. In order not to run head on into walls, the robot will be programmed such that when the numbers recorded are above a certain value, the actuators (wheels) will stop then will engage in a 90 degree turn (direction depends on the location in the maze it is).
Some difficulties that we may encounter include the fact that there are some very sharp turns the robot must make and, if the situation arises where there is no take where we have to turn.
Second Plan
When the first plan was not successful due to the fact of our inadequacy with the IR sensor, our second plan was to use a touch sensor instead of the IR. The light sensor was still utilized in order to turn the robot at the black tape. The touch sensor caused the robot to reverse, then turn left when it was activated. THis allowed the robot, when it hit walls, to get back on track and move further in through the maze.
Problems: Our problems included the fact that we did not get the motors aligned correctly for a while and also that the wheels turned two different speeds.
