Announcements

You should check here regularly for changes in dates and other announcements about lectures and laboratory.

• 15 November: No more lectures this semester; concentrate on your robot design. Here are the instructions for the Final Team Report.

Important Class Dates

• Tuesday, 28 August: First class session; sign up for lab days.
• Thursday, 30 August: Enrollment lottery results and team assignments.
• Friday, 31 August
  • Parts pickup, 1 - 4pm, in lab.
• At least one member of each team must come to the lab to pick up your robot parts. The process takes about 1/2 hour for two or three people, and is a good opportunity to learn how to identify the parts you will be using.
• Wednesday, 5 September: Laboratory sessions start this week.
• Tuesday, 18 September: Team Planning Report Due in Class.
• Friday, 28 September: Team Strategy Report Due.
• 15 & 16 October: Mid-term recess.
• Wednesday, 17 October: Virtual Monday, BUT Wednesday lab meets anyway.
• Tuesday, 23 October: Team Progress Report Due.
• Wednesday 21 November: No laboratory
• 23 & 24 November: Thanksgiving break
• Saturday, 1 December: Qualification and 1st Contest Round.
  • 1pm, McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall; Attendance Required; Lunch Provided
    
  • 5 pm, Robots are impounded.
• Sunday, 2 December: Final Contest
  • 11 am, Lab opened and robots released.
  • 1:30 pm, McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall; Attendance Required.
• Tuesday, 4 December: Last class session in lecture hall.
• 5 & 6 December: Parts and key return during regular lab times.
• Friday, 7 December: Due, 5pm, AL A141:
  • Final Team Report
  • Group Evaluations
  • Notebook

Robot Progress Milestones

It takes organization, steady work, and determination to produce a working robot in just one semester. There are only 12 scheduled laboratory periods, or 48 hours, before the contest, and most teams require at least 60 hours, so plan on working extra time. These milestones are intended to encourage you to make regular progress on your robot. The machines that you use to meet these milestones (especially the early ones) should not represent your final design. A good plan is to iterate your robot design many times, building small, simple robots to test particular functions or ideas.

• RoboBoard Complete, Lab 3: Board assembled and tested; team strategy report due Friday.
• Mobile Robot, Lab 4: Your robot should be able to cross the board under its own power. This should be a very simple robot, not your final design.
• Meaningful Encounter with a Wall, Lab 5: Your robot should be able to move forward until it finds a wall and then back up and stop, or repeat.
• Basic Navigation, Lab 7: Your robot should be able to track a white or black line on the board, or use another method of navigation, like shaft encoders.
• Tracking, Lab 8: Your robot should be able to locate a light source, a fixed light beacon if used in the game, and/or the IR beacon of another robot, and take appropriate action, moving to seek or to avoid it. Team Functional Specification due Friday.
• Beat the Brick, Lab 10: Your robot should be able to score at least one point against an inert placebo.
• Programming Complete, Lab 11: The software for your robot should be largely complete and functional. Your robot should be able to compete against other robots under game conditions —and win! Only one more week until the contest.

  The above milestones are are a good measure of your progress, and meeting them will help your grade. If you get more than a week behind this schedule, your group should definitely consider spending extra time in the lab. Be sure to let a labbie or the instructor know when you accomplish one of these goals so we can celebrate with you. Top