January 4

This Thursday Matt and I met at UML to get some work done on the Egg Hunt.
My responsibility of the code will be to take the the ball (Matt will have already captured it and made sure its the targeted color) to the goal and drop it in and then get the create in a position were Matt's code can restart and be effective.
I tested the light sensor's values for the different color balls.
Blue is approximately 455.
Yellow is approximately 520.

January 11

I've started writing the code and have constructed the flowchart for my practical exam.
We've changed our strategy slightly.Instead of having Matt identify the ball color I will with a light sensor mounted over the ball on the claw.If the targeted ball is present the servo will lower the claw and capture the ball.If the wrong color is present the create will drive forward and push the ball away.
Once the correct ball is caught the create will drive to the goal using Proportional control.
I've finished the portion of the code that does the light following and started experimenting with ways of dropping the ball into the goal.
I'm not using a formal search pattern,but I'm having the create rotate when it bumps the wall so regardless of where it starts the create will be in the line of sight of the goal in 2 or 3 bumps.

Showing and Explaining my robot to the Dean of Science

I had to add in a way for the create to get to the goal even if it was facing away from the light,so I had the create light follow with proportional control and if it bumped it would rotate 90 degrees and eventually find the light(Rhine liked this strategy during the practical).

I successfully completed the section of the code that made the create pick up the necessary ball color with the servo and take it to the goal. My Code Δ
Matt was responsible for getting the robot to find the ball but he didn't fully complete it.

I attached the lego base onto the robot and mounted the servo box to the robot.
I attached legos so the light sensors could rest on them and they could be equally far away from the light source and have similar readings.
I soldered extra light sensors extended the length of existing sensors and made a toggle switch which is used to control which color the create searches for.
Matt attached a pulley device to the servo and constructed the knex claw to capture the ball.

If only programming was as easy as building stuff...

The first difficulty was that we also had to accomplish the env. biotechnology project.I did take this into consideration and got the biotech project done as fast as possible.
Matt and I live pretty kind of far away from eachother and have somewhat different schedules so it was hard for us to meet with eachother.
By far the biggest time suck of all was malfunctioning sensors.My light sensors where fluctuating so much that it made my code seem like it was wrong, when in reality it was fine. After some debugging I realized the problem and made new light sensers which were consistant.
I didn't procrastinate this project at all, I spent at least 40-50 hours of my own time on this project(not including class time).I can't speak for Matt but I think he procrastinated on this project and it was reflected by the fact that he didn't make a functional code in time for the egg hunt.

This is about the only time I wasn't working on the egg hunt in the last few weeks

I wish we got creative a little bit earlier, what I mean is we should have brainstormed simple things like the layout of the servo motor(using a pully of a knex piece), and minor issues so we didn't have to waste a lot of time on it.

In my opinion I did about 60%-70%(maybe more?) of the work.I worked so hard on this project that I didn't have time to do anything in any other aspect of my life(I'm not exaggerating,can you relate Mr.Rhine?).I spent at least twice as much time working on the project and my portion of the code was completed in time for the practical exam.

As far as the individual portion of this project I consider it a great success.First off I got a good grade even though I didn't present on the 18th.Also,I'm really proud that I perservered and continued to work and get it done even when I got frustrated and could have easily folded my tent.
I was successful at integrating a toggle switch to control which color the create would pick up, and I got the create to deliver the ball to the goal using proportional control.I had a good idea which made the create light follow and when it bumped it would rotate so no matter what it would find the light in 2 or 3 bumps.
From a team standpoint I consider it a minor failure that we didn't get to present.I say minor because I completed my portion of the code.Its a failure because I couldn't help Matt enough to get his code done and accept half of the responsibility for not finishing the egg.
If I could do anything differently I would have us reconstruct the way the servo was attached to the create.We would have used the servo mounting piece and connected the claw with the servo by knex rather than string and pulley.

How to effectively manage time and prioritize what's important to success.
How to use servo motors and integrate them into programs.
How to solder and make light sensors,distance sensors, and switches.
That you have to just put your head down and deal with the stress of big projects.
That hot glue and duck tape suck!
That Mr.Rhine will stay after until midnight regardless of what he says(Thanks for all you help Mr.Rhine).