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SonLab5Braitenberg

Purpose The purpose of this lab was to program the Create to find and follow the light source and stop when the light source is approached.(Photophilic)

Summary In this lab, I planned and successfully programed for the Create to search for the highest light value, drive towards it according to the light's intensity, then stop once the light source is found. This was done by the use of only two photo resistors. Me strategy for the initial search began with a "spiral pattern" program. However, as I learned more about this lab as I did it, my strategy changed. I tried out programming it so that it'd find the average readings of its surroundings and average that. But upon seeing the holes in this plan, I changed my strategy again to search for the highest light value and drive towards that. The values varied even with the same light source, so calibrating was neccessary. I wrote a function for the Create to drive proportionally according to the light intensity: the brighter the light, the faster it drove towards it. Once an extremely high light value is sensed, indicating that it has approached the light source, it should stop.

The problems I had with this lab were the initial search pattern for the light and incorporating a 'pause/resume' mode. Doing this lab gave me more practice and experience with using and manipulating sensor readings to accomplish tasks. I solved the 'pause/resume ' button problem by using a digital sensor.

Debugging Tools To help me debug my program, I used the Create's cricket display, beeps, and the LEDs. These help me know what part of the code the Create is in so that I know what part of the code needs work.I had the Create beep each time it sensed a higher value, and made use of the LEDS to let me know which part of the code it was in--the search for light, or the drive towards it.

Lessons Learned In doing this lab, I've learned how to use external sensors, and how to program the Create to use proportional control, like in the wheel velocities, rather than a constant. This lab gave me more practice in using mathematical functions with the function prototypes to make my main code neater.