Due: Wednesday, April 23 at 3:30:00 p.m. (oral presentation) and 11:59:59 p.m. (two one-page write-ups [in a single pdf file] and slides)
This is a team assignment. From Jed Pederson's presentation and from Homework 5 you now have an understanding of the available Lego robotics hardware and software and how to use them. Siva-Mohan Sunkavalli's presentation on wireless networking gives an idea of the costs involved and the comparative merits of the networking options. Follow this with a research effort by your group to develop a clear picture of the available options and a sense of the kinds of interesting and challenging projects that can be finished by your group in one semester. Then put the collective creative imagination of your group to work and develop a one-page write-up for each of two project proposals, in a single pdf file. One project must involve wireless technology (e.g. Bluetooth adaptor card or LEGO robots with wireless), and one must involve LEGO robots. (Thus you may submit one proposal on wireless LEGO robots and one on anything else, if you wish.) Supplement each write-up with additional pages of figures and diagrams, as necessary. Your proposals should follow the general guidelines for technical writing in terms of citation of sources, etc. However, because of their short lengths, extensive sectioning is not necessary.
Be sure to include any capital-outlay costs that might be required if your proposal were to be adopted, as well as any expenses that could be specific to each group's design and thus would be covered by the discretionary funds (around $100) that would be available to each group.
In addition to the written proposals, prepare also a group oral presentation of about 15-20 minutes, and email your slides to me as an attachment with your write-up. The slides and written reports will be posted on the web page for the class to review and discuss.
Finally, while you are encouraged to be creative and imaginative, you should also remain realistic about what can be completed in a single semester with reasonable financial resources (i.e. not thousands of dollars of outlay). Remember that if your project is chosen, you are the ones who have to work on it next semester. Of course, the project must be non-trivial as well.