CSCE 488, Fall 2001                                                    Homework 6

 

 

Due dates: Wednesday, November 28 (work plan) and Wednesday, December 5 (final report), both due at 5:00p.m.

 

This assignment will give you practice in working with the Handy Board and LEGO robots.  In doing this, you will work in groups of 2-3 students each.  The robot you will use for this project is in Ferguson 18.  Use the ``uinfo'' command on cse to get your code for the door to the lab.

 

You will be provided a chassis similar to that of the Handy Bug described on page 28 of  the book Robotic Explorations by Fred Martin.  There are two motors controlling the left and right rear wheels, and two light sensors.  The left motor will be connected to motor port 0 and the right motor will be connected to motor port 3.  The left light sensor will be connected to analog port 0 and the right light sensor will be connected to analog port 1. 

 

You are to write a simple program to be compiled and downloaded to the handy board.  The program should wait until the start button is pressed.  Once this is done it should run an algorithm that follows a light.  If no light is present (sensor levels indicate only ambient lighting) the robot should sit still until a higher light level is detected.  This will require a small amount of sensor calibration.  The power levels of the motors should be determined by the user knob.  If an error occurs, the robot must enter a fail-safe mode, in which it stops and emits an audible signal. 

 

Deliverables and Deadlines

 

Wednesday, November 28, 2001, by 5:00p.m.: (50 pts) Submit via e-mail to the instructor:

 

  1. The Team Resources and Expectations forms (see http://www.vta.spcomm.uiuc.edu/TBG/tbgt2-a8.html), as completed by each team member. (It is expected that you have completed and shared this form among the team at the beginning of the project.)  This should be a text file.
  2. A list showing the division of labor for this project.  This should be a text file.

 

Wednesday, December 5, 2001, by 5:00p.m.: (100 pts) Submit via e-mail to the instructor a well-written technical design report, again following the prescribed written style, of this assignment:

 

  1. Detailing the project and how it accomplished its objectives,
  2. Including, as an appendix, a short User’s Manual that could be followed by an engineer with minimal working knowledge of the Handy Board.

 

You should also submit the complete, well-documented source code in text files e-mailed to the instructor.  Finally, by the due date and time you should also demonstrate your robot to the TA.  Contact him for an appointment to demonstrate your robot.