Left Lane Ends

We know from the rules that a survivor will be on the line, so how does that help your robot find it? Follow these steps to learn about line following (you’ll have to use your own programming knowledge to figure out how this helps you rescue a survivor):

1. Go to this 9th Graders report on line following and look through it.
2. Start at the bottom of page two (2) and read through the description of his 6 different programs
3. Go to the bottom of page seven (7) and pick one program that is highly accurate and one that is quick.
4. Starting on page nine (9), he has a screenshot of his programs. If you picked program one, find ‘Algorithm 1′ to match it up. Locate the two programs you selected
5. Recreate the programs for your robot. REMEMBER: your robot’s inputs and outputs MUST match the program - you’ll need to use your programing knowledge to make sure that the program is appropriate for your robot (some programs require one light sensor, and some require two).
6. Test the accurate versus the quick line following program and write down what you found out in your team journal.

Now you can incorporate line following into one of your tasks! Think about all of the different ways that it can help you in this competition…

Often times, teams will build a robot based on a set of instructions or even with no clear purpose in mind. Try building (or re-building) your next robot with these instructions:

1. List all of the important abilities that your robot needs to have - we’ll call these ‘qualifiers’
2. Start an ‘Ability Needs’ list in your robotics journal. Keep it simple - does your robot need the ability to move forward? If so, add it to the list you just started in your team robotics journal. Does it need to be able to turn? How does it need to be able to turn? Tightly? Broadly? What other abilities does it need to complete the competition? Strength? Simple actions? Speed? Continue making the list of your robotics abilities.
3. Finish your list. Once you are done listing abilities, NOW is the time to start thinking about building, and build with the end in mind. If you are a novice builder, start with a set of instructions that meet most of the abilities you need - you can always make adjustments. If you are an intermediate builder - BEWARE! Don’t jump into a model without thinking through where you want to go - think ahead to how you can make sure you have a sturdy chasis.

Hint: Advanced builders may want to search the internet for some new ideas. Start at this website with different models, then try different combinations of the following search terms when you search:

• mindstorm or mindstorms
• lego
• “building instructions” (in quotes)
• rcx
• robolab

Creating a list of tasks and ordering them according to priority can be a very beneficial way to focus your efforts. Time is running short with preparation, so if your team is struggling, follow these steps to make the most out of the time you have left!

1. List the tasks that your robot has to perform and give them names/titles (write these in your team journal, which you should have already started!)
2. Leave space between the different tasks so you can identify the different steps for each of them
3. Prioritize the tasks: which is most important and why? what gets you the most points? what requires the least work from your robot? which task can get you closer to the ‘first touch’ tie breaker faster than your opponent? (Write down your answers in your robotics journal)

Check out this video of a team member talking through their identified tasks. Which one do you think will be the highest priority?

Hint: Complete ONE task at a time. Do NOT try to combine the tasks until you can do them separate and independently of each other. This will greatly help your team focus on one aspect of the competition without getting bogged down with more complex operations.

SETUP:

For this activity, you will need to setup a play board (an arena) with three (3) to five (5) spam cans placed a little behind the line (dead zone).

The arena surface is a 4′ x 4′ white Melamine (Mel-am-in-ae) board which can be purchased at your local hardware store. It typically comes in a 4′ x 8′ sheet, which the hardware store may cut in half for you. The black dead zone is made with ‘Avery 4Year Vinyl’ and can be ordered from Sign Warehouse in Sherman, TX (http://www.signwarehouse.com ** A direct link to the black vinyl is: http://www.signwarehouse.com/VAVA4O2410-p-VA4-2410-090-O.html). You can also use two strips of electrical tape to mark the 8″ dead zone, or get full sheet label paper and print an 8″ path with a laser printer.

ACTIVITY OVERVIEW:
Once you have setup your sample arena and placed the debris as shown, program your robot to push all of the spam cans across the line. Do not worry about pushing the spam cans over to your opponents side, just push them so that they are all the way across your line.

ACTIVITY::PATTERN FOCUS:

How do patterns help you program your robotics? Many times, you will want to develop a pattern that you can loop over-and-over so that you only create a small piece of programming that you repeat. This is easier to program, and thinking in patterns can make your robot’s performance more effective. So, where do you start?

1. Physically take your robot (or any model of a robot will work) and move it with your hand in the pattern that you want it to do on the play board. Talk through the steps as you move your robot (forward, back, right, forward, left, forward, back, right, forward…). These movements must be programmable in RoboLab (or whatever you are using to program).
2. Write down the pattern (represent the movements/actions with letters).
3. Block out the piece that is repeated.
4. Look at how you can loop that pattern in your programming.

Look at this video that shows a team going through this process :

What pattern would THIS program below make your robot perform?

ACTIVITY::PATTERN REVISION

Once you develop a pattern, the next step is to watch your robot perform the pattern and look for ways to improve it. Watch this student () look at his robot’s pattern.

• How is he looking at making changes in his pattern?
• What needs improvement in his robot’s pattern?
• What changes would you make to the pattern his robot is performing?

Now, watch the changes he made () to his robot’s pattern to improve how it performed.

JOURNALING:

Journaling is the most important part of what you do with your team! Use these prompts to add to your team journal:

1. What is more important? Rescuing survivors or clearing debris? Which one should our team focus on first? Why? Should our team try to do one or both? What we think other teams will do? How can we best prepare for what other teams will be doing?
2. What patterns does our robot need to do in order to clear debris?
3. What patterns does our robot need to do in order to rescue survivors?
4. What new programming concepts did I learn?
5. How can we build our robot or change its construction to make it more efficient?

NEXT STEPS:

• Make your robot faster at clearing debris - how can you program differently to do this and how can you build it differently to do this?
• Develop a second pattern that is different from your first one - test each one five (5) times. Which one is better? Which one is faster? Which one is more accurate?

Looking for a place to start with building your robot? Let’s begin with the basics:

First, build a robot that:

• can make sharp/accurate turns - left and right (and how can you test this??)
• has a light sensor that is mounted close to the floor and at the front of the robot
• Has a touch sensor mounted on the front (you’ll probably want to have some kind of activator instead of putting a touch sensor out front all by its lonesome)

HINT: If you have trouble getting started on the building task, you can build the model on page 16 of the Lego Constructopedia (it is the second model after the very basic first one). Keep in mind that this robot has different build-out ‘options’. You can build it with treads or tires and even build different sensor modules for the front of it. You’ll have to do your own tweaking to get a touch AND a light sensor on the front.

HINT: If you have your own robot design, look in the back of your Contructopedia for different ways to add on light sensors and touch sensors.

HINT: Looking for a new design? Try building this tank bot. OR, take a look at THIS site with a lot of new/different robot designs!

HINT: If you have more than one kit in your group, build two different robots to compare how they function (for example, one with treads and one with wheels).

Finally, and this is VERY VERY IMPORTANT, start a team journal with a section for building, programming and brainstorming. Take time to stop and reflect after doing small steps. Write down descriptions and/or drawings about what you build and program so that you can reference what you have done in the past. Update your team journal as often as possible - use it as a working document so you do not forget your ideas. Make predictions and write down theories that you think might work!

So, you have decided to participate in the 2007 TCEA Robotics competition? Congratulations, and welcome!

I want to take a few lines of text here to explain the purpose behind this year’s competition and throw out a few notes about its development. You may have noticed that we are repeating the same competition (for the most part) from last year. There are several main reasons for doing this:

1. We want to see a higher level of play at the state level - this year, teams will have more experience and have had a longer time to think about solving the competition.
2. We wanted to refine rules we had experience with to streamline how the competition is carried out. (In other words, improve on what we learned from last year)
3. We want to release the 2008 competition information AT the February 2007 competition in order to give teams a full year to prepare for a new challenge.

With that in mind, I would like to review what is different in this year’s rules:

• Cleaner play board: we felt that there was just a little too much ’stuff’ on the play board last year. So, we have: 1) reduced the number of debris; and 2) reduced the number of lines on the board. Less debris makes for easier navigation (while still keeping the level of challenge) and creating a solid, 8″ dead zone reduces confusion on the part of the robots.
• More lenient DQ rules: there were too many DQ’s last year, and that is just NO fun! So, we have made the DQ rules a little more lenient and added a penalty for those robots that cross the line. While we’ll be discussing how the DQ’s are assessed on the TCEA competition discussion forum, the basic premise will be:
• A robot that crosses into it’s opponents territory will receive a penalty. It is up the the judges on how many penalties to apply (for example, a robot that is twitching back and forth across their opponents line will not be assessed 30 penalties).
• A robot that alters the path or course of their opponent while on their opponents side will be DQ’d.
• A robot that alters the position of their opponents objects while on their opponents side will be DQ’d.
• Plain and simple, stay on your side!
• Easier tie breaker: Last year, it was ‘first rescue’. This year, it is ‘first contact’! Whoever touches a survivor first will receive the mark for breaking a tie. We had too many coin tosses last year, and this rule should help eliminate a large majority of those. How will YOU take this new rule into account to assure that YOU win in the event of a tie? Our judges will have to be on their toes to watch for first contact!

So, with all that in mind, it should be a great competition! It is imperative that students get on the TCEA message board, create an account and participate in the discussions from now until February. Also, keep an eye on this tag (TCEARobotics2007) as I continue to post team activities that will help prepare you for the 2007 TCEA State Robotics Competition!

Jerram Froese
TCEA Robotics Competition Coordinator