Project 3: Independent Robotics Projects
(see the projects selected by the students)
In the time remaining in the semester, you will each pursue an
independent robotics project of your choice. This will give you a
chance to explore an area that you are especially interested in. This
project can be an extension of something you have done before, or
something completely new and different.
As this assignment is rather vague, we have come up with a list of
about 20 suggested project topics. We hope that one of these will
interest you or cause you to think of some other interesting project.
Projects must be completed by the last Friday of the term, May 7th.
More lego vehicles:
- Build a robot to follow lines
- Build a robot to navigate a maze (of walls or lines)
- Build a robot controlled by a VCR remote
- Build a robot that communicates via IR (infrared) signals
- Build a robot that can drive right-side-up or upside-down
- Build a robot that wanders the room
- Work more on the Claw
- Build a robot using the lego pneumatics
- Build a robot that figures out where it is.
- Build a light-seeking or dark-seeking robot
Non-vehicle things to build:
- Build a platform to pan and tilt a digital camera
- Build a machine to throw/fire foam balls.
- Build a machine that turns the lights on and off remotely
(controller by IR, radio, or sound ("the clapper").
- Build a system that automatically waters a plant when it gets dry
- Build a station that robots can drive into to recharge
Electronics:
- Build an electronic controller to run the lego pneumatics from the
boards.
- Build the electronics to monitor battery voltage/state of charge
on the boards.
- Build a smart board recharger
Programming:
- Design/Improve the board operating system (the "menu program" that
comes up when you turn on the board)
- Use the IR ports on the boards to allow one "master" board to
control "slave" boards (to use more motors, for example).
- Control a printer with the boards.
- Control a plotter with the boards.
- Communicate with a computer from the boards (to transfer data the
robot collected to the computer, for example)
- Experiment with multiple processes (several different programs
running at the same time)