PlanningWe hoped to make choices throughout the process that would allow the project to be tackled as feasibly and smoothly as possible whilst preserving the integrity of the assignment. This included trying not to “hard-code” when possible to ensure a robot that operated consistently. We chose to focus on a “wall-hugging” strategy, utilizing ultrasonic sensors and their pre-existing arduino libraries to navigate the world whilst avoiding the potential complications of filtration, with the initial goal of successful and accurate navigation and the destruction of at least one tower.
Reflections
These choices allowed us to focus on the implementation of a functioning robot before deciding which tower to target. Because of navigational ease and the geometry of our robot, we subsequently chose Casterly Rock and were able to consistently raze our target in 38 seconds or fewer. We were then able to take advantage of the reliability of our robot and state machine to successfully target an additional tower, King’s Landing, minutes before the quarter-finals. The formerly-untested code worked, and Raisin Bran placed third overall in the showcase. Key lessons learned include:
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