Interview with the Mission Specialists

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What was the mission you were trying to achieve?

The mission was to get the robot to move towards the crane, then pull the lever to rotate the crane, then push a lever to lower a block into the circle below.

 

What challenges did you encounter along the way with the mechanics and/or programming?

We made a My Block, a string of code created to perform a specific function, and we discovered that any code that followed the My Block did not work. Also, sometimes the line follower program did not detect the line and just went straight instead of following the line.

How did you overcome the obstacles to successfully complete your mission? 

We solved the problem by making one big My Block that completes the mission. We still need to learn how to make any code work after a My Block without the robot stopping, but the Crane mission now works.

 

Tell us about your code. Is your code unique, or did you modify it from existing code? How did you write and test your code? Did you use any advanced programming concepts? Does your code work consistently?

The programmers took the code that FIRST gave us and ran it repeatedly to find the proper setup for the robot. They then added to the code to make the mission work more consistently and to make the crane lower the blue building unit onto the blue circle. This process involved a lot of trial and error.

 

Two other team members figured out the problems coming from the My Block design and solved that. Now, the solution works about 7/10 times with the most common problems being the bar not hitting the lever just right or the line follower not working and the robot just going straight. Line following is an advanced programming concept.

Tell us about your robot and attachment design. How did you decide what design would be appropriate for this mission? Is your design original or did you modify it from an existing design? How did you test your design to be sure that it would work? Does your design work consistently?

 

Our attachment design is not unique. The idea for the bar came from the robot instructions and we did not need to modify it. It performs pretty consistently.

How did you use Core Values to help you complete this mission?

We worked together as a team. One of our new teammates learned about coding from more experienced teammates. When half of the mission team was absent, the other half had to work together to troubleshoot a problem with the mission. They worked well together and nobody got frustrated. 

What advice would you give to other teams working on this mission?

Use My Blocks and save your work every time something works! Keep things simple! Even though you do get a preset code, you should modify it a bit.