Our final Robotics meeting was held this Friday. We continued to finish our design sketches, map out our programming needs, and build our color sensor brick sorter.

We now look forward to preparing and competing in the First Lego League Robotics Challenge for this coming Fall.

Designing and programming our Roomba robots proved to be a fun and engaging challenge.  We learned how ultrasonic sensors measure the distances between objects by generating and detecting sound waves. Two sensors, the ultrasonic and light sensor, were used in tandem to accurately detect and push plastic cups out of a defined square area without the robot exiting the area. For this challenge, multiple programming commands were implemented to accomplish the goal of this challenge. Many attempts and adjustments were made in order to determine the optimal measurements needed for the robot to detect the cups.

 

 

For our last challenge this spring and for this school year, we will create a fast and efficient color sorting machine using the color sensor, similar to the one displayed at the Connecticut Science Center, although on a much smaller scale. The mechanical design aspect of this challenge will be open-ended, anything is possible.  The delivery and scanning of each color brick by the color sensor will be important. Will a moving chute assembly line system be needed, or will a lifting or grabbing mechanism be better suited to achieve an efficient sorter.

Coach Johnson is shown in the above photo unpacking our brand new WeDo 2.0 Lego system generously funded by a TCS family. Many thanks to all of our supportive families at TCS Robotics.  This new WeDo system will allow us to bring robotics to our younger grades, better preparing them for the EV3 Lego system we currently use for our robotics competitions.