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91.450 Lab 1: Intro to Handy Board and Handy Bug

Out: Mon Sep 12
Due: Fri Sep 16

In class, we learned about the Handy Board—its parts, where to plug in components, and how to program it. This week, you will build a robot base to carry the Handy Board.

Part 1: The HandyBug

We will be using the Handy Bug 9719 described in Section 2.2.2 of Robotic Explorations (pages 50 – 71). Your assignment is to build the HandyBug robot. You may also design your own robot to carry the Handy Board.

Please note the following corrections for the HandyBug:

• p. 54, halfway down: 4 2x4 bricks listed (correctly) with incorrect picture (1x2 Technic beam). You need the 4 2x4 bricks, not the 1x2 Technic beam.

• p. 56, last item: 2 black rubber bands are listed. These are too small. Use 2 yellow rubber bands instead.

Various LEGO components are available. Please observe the following community standards for LEGO use:

• Please take what you only need so that the main bins don’t get unnecessarily depleted.

• If you’re building the HandyBug from the book’s plans, plastic organizer trays are available.

• Let me know by writing on the white board if we need a particular part or parts; we have some funds for ordering stuff.

Please have a working HandyBug or your own equivalent ready for next Monday’s lab. In the lab, we will be programming the robot, so it’s important that your robot is ready to go.

Part 2: Programming Problems

Turn it written solutions for each of the following problems. Provide a printout of the working code, and a few sentences in description. Also, answer any questions alongside the problem.

1. Write a program to control the speed of a motor using a light sensor. When the light sensor gets more light, does its reading get larger or smaller?

2. Write a program to make a motor reverse its direction each time you press the switch of a touch sensor. Each time you press and release the switch (touch sensor), the motor should change to spin in the opposite direction.

3. Devise an experiment to measure the speed of the Handy Board's Interactive C interpreter for integer operations. For example, how long does it take to count to 1000? Express your result in operations per second.

Grading

4 points for having a working robot, 1 point for each of the programming problems.