HI. WE ARE BRIAN AND ERIKA.

THE WALLFOLLOWER IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF WHAT WE HOPE TO BE A GREAT ROBOT. OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE THIS WALLFOLLOWER TURN INTO A FEARLESS FIRE FIGHTER.

ABOUT OUR PROCESS

CREATING A ROBOT FOR THE FIRE-FIGHTING CONTEST TAKES A LOT OF WORK. WHEN STARTING THIS PROJECT, BRIAN AND I WERE BURSTING WITH IDEAS. HOWEVER, WE COULD NOT TAKE ACTION ON MANY OF THEM BECAUSE SMALL THINGS HAD TO BE HANDLED FIRST. FIRST WE HAD TO BUILD A MODEL WE COULD USE FOR TESTING. THEN WE HAD TO DEVELOP A STRATEGY FOR FOLLOWING THE WALL. FOLLOWING THE WALL IS A CRUCIAL PART OF OUR FIRE-FIGHTING STRATEGY. GOOD NAVIGATION THROUGHT THE MAZE WILL ALLOW OUR ROBOT TO GET INTO ROOMS, FIND THE CANDLE, AND FIND ITS WAY BACK TO HOME BASE. WITHIN FOLLOWING THE WALL CAME MANY PROBLEMS. SINCE BEGINNING THIS PROJECT, WE HAVE REDONE OUR GEAR TRACK. WE HAVE ADDED EXTRA INFARED LIGHT TO HELP OUR INFARED SENSORS. AND OFCOURSE, WE HAVE DONE A LOTS AND LOTS OF PROGRAMMING AND TESTING. THE PROCESS IS A TOUGH ONE. THERE ARE GOOD DAYS AND THERE ARE DEFINATELY HORRIBLE DAYS. PROGRESS CAN BE SO SHORT LIVED. WE MIGHT EXPLORE USING BATHROOM (DISTANCE) SENSORS INSTEAD OF THE INFARED SENSORS. I DID ENJOY THE CHALLENGE OF GETTING THE INFARED SENSORS TO BE DEPENDABLE, HOWEVER FOR THE COMPETITION IT MIGHT BE BEST TO USE THE BATHROOM SENSORS.

ABOUT OUR DESIGN

WE WANTED SOMETHING REALLY COMPACT AND LIGHT. BEING COMPACT IS GREAT FOR TURNING CORNERS, AS ARE TWO WHEELS. WE DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING TO HEAVY. A HEAVY ROBOT WOULD BE ANNOYING TO CARRY AROUND. ALSO, WE WANTED TO AVOID HAVING LOTS OF FRICTION. THE BASE OF THE ROBOT IS PLEXY GLASS ON TOP OF WHICH ARE SENSORS, AND HANDY BOARD AND LEGO PARTS, INCLUDING LEGO BRICKS, MOTORS. WE ARE DEFINATELY PROUD OF HOW CUTE OUR ROBOT HAS TURNED OUT TO BE SO FAR. SENSORS ARE PLACE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROBOT THAT WILL BE FOLLOWING THE WALL AND ON THE FRONT OF THE ROBOT. ADDITIONAL SENSORS WILL BE ADDED FOR THE COMPETITION. THE HANDY BOARDS LED IS EASILY VISIBLE AND COMES IN HANDY DURING TESTING. INSIDE OUR WHEELS IS GLUE. WE NEEDED SOME MASS INSIDE THE WHEELS TO MAKE THEM MORE STURDY AND MORE CAPABLE OF HANDLING OUR RIGOROUS TESTING PROCESS. CONNECTED TO THE WHEELS IS A GREAT GEAR TRAIN. IT HELPED SLOW OUR FOLLOWER DOWN TO HANDLE THE CHALLENGE. SOMETIMES GOING TO QUICKLY ISN'T A GOOD THING.

ABOUT US

BRIAN- TEACHER, STUDENT, WOODWORKER

ERIKA-STUDENT, CS MAJOR, STUDIO ART MINOR, STUDENT-ATHLETE

 Click Here for PHOTOS of our WallFollower and other projects created during the course.

How 'bout some CODE

Click here to learn more about the competition we'll be entering at trinity college

Visit the Wellesley College Robotic Design Studio Webpage

WISH US LUCK!!!!!!!