Interview with the Mission Specialists

 

What was the mission you were trying to achieve?

We attempted Mission #7, the swing. To complete Mission #7, the robot must release a lever causing the minifigure in the wheelchair to swing freely.

 

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

1. One challenge that we encountered was that the line-follower program was written assuming that the robot was moving “forward”. Since the robot was moving “backward”, the color sensor was not sensing what we thought it was sensing.

 

2. Another challenge we encountered was that we had to experiment with the number of wheel rotations needed to reach the swing.

 

3. Finally, just when we had written and tested the perfect code for this mission, the code failed to save, and we lost all our work.

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

1. First, we flipped the robot around so that it could move “forward”. However, this caused the color sensor to be on the opposite side of the robot, causing the robot to crash into the swing. This also caused the attachment to be on the wrong side of the robot. To solve these problems, we moved the color sensor to the other side of the robot, so that the robot would sense the line correctly and avoid the swing. We also moved the attachment so that it was on the correct side of the robot. Once the color sensor and the attachment were placed correctly, the robot was able to complete the mission successfully.

 

2. It took us a good amount of experimentation to get the wheel rotations just right so that the robot could complete the mission successfully. We used a rotation marker on one of the wheels to help us calculate the number of rotations.

 

3. We had to rewrite the code all over again, which wasn’t too hard, but took a great amount of time. We learned from our mistake and we saved often after that incident, so we didn’t lose the code again.

 

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?)

 

We coded the robot to drive out of launch to the swing by following a black and white line on the mat, release the swing using an attachment on the back of the robot, and then move backwards into home.

 

To do this, we modified a piece of code shared by FLL to solve the crane mission. It took some time to understand and then tweak the code so that it would work specifically for this mission, but now our code works consistently, making this one of our most reliable missions.
 

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 an original concept created by a team member. We built a small attachment to move the bar that was holding the swing in place. We decided that an arm-style attachment would work best for this mission because it is easily able to release the bar by pushing it.

 

To test the design, we first physically mimicked how the attachment would move the bar (without running the code). Once we were satisfied with the results, then we decided to run further tests with the code to make sure it worked consistently.

 

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

 

We were able to use the Core Values to come up with and create a successful code and attachment to work with this mission.

 

Discovery: We were originally going to use a different attachment, but we decided to try something new (and simpler).

 

Innovation: We persisted through color sensor fails and incorrect numbers of rotations, to finally solve the mission.

 

Inclusion: As a team we were mindful of each other’s ideas and creativity and encouraged each other to use their strengths and skills to add to the mission. Even if we thought our idea was the right one, we listened to each other’s ideas.

 

Teamwork: This mission was solved with the help of many people. Everyone has a role to play in solving a mission. We were all very excited when we completed the mission successfully because we had all contributed to it together. Sometimes our code didn’t work because we made a mistake, but we found the problem and used our Gracious Professionalism® to stay calm.

 

Fun: Even though robotics can be frustrating at times, it is really fun to finally solve a mission! (It is also really funny when a robot crashes.)

 

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

 

Always save your work and save it consistently. You can have a great piece of code and then lose all that work by not saving.

 

Always be open-minded with other peoples’ ideas and do not be afraid to share your own ideas. You might have a good idea but when you work together you can create better solutions because your teammates can help you see things that you might not have noticed.

 

Be patient! Just as with any mission, it takes some trial and error to get the wheel rotations right. Also, don’t give up if your code has a bug. You will find that bug! 

Teach your team members how to prepare the robot for launch. Each team member should be able to prepare and launch the robot independently.