Activity 3.1.1 Inputs and Outputs (VEX) |
Activity 3.1.2 Basic Outputs Programming (VEX) |
Activity 3.1.3 Basic Inputs Programming (VEX) |
In this activity you will use the ROBOTC software to monitor inputs and control outputs. This will allow you to test the behavior of components before writing a program and to use it as a troubleshooting tool for analyzing program performance.
Conclusion 1. Describe how these motors and sensors may be used. These motors and sensors can be used to receive messages from the cortex and ROBOTC. 2. Describe scenarios where the motors or sensors did not respond as you would predict. When working the two motors at the same time we were having some issues making them go at the same time but we finally got it. |
Computer programs are used in many applications in our daily life. Devices that are controlled by a processor are called outputs. These devices have a variety of functions such as producing motion, light, and sound. In this activity you will use ROBOTC to control several outputs.
Conclusion 1. Describe any challenges that you encountered while developing the program. The bump switch was hard to program. 2. Describe how these outputs might be used in an application. These outputs are used everyday in computers and machines. |
Inputs are devices which provide a processor with environmental information to make decisions. These devices have the capacity to sense the environment in a variety of ways such as physical touch, rotation, and light. An engineer can design a system to respond to its environment through the use of input sensors. In this activity you will use ROBOTC and VEX robotics platform components to sense the environment.
Conclusion 1. Describe any challenges that you encountered while developing the program. Writing out the task main is always hard because of all the symbols and numbers used. 2. Describe three applications for the use of sensors that you worked with in this activity. We worked with the light sensor that is controlled by light, the limit switch that is controlled by a switch, and the line tracker that is also controlled by light. |
Activity 3.2.1 Fluid Power Applications/Activity 3.2.4 Hydraulic Demonstration
In this activity we will create a T-Bot II Hydraulic Arm. We will see how fluid power works with simple parts.
Problem 3.3.1 Design Problem: Materials Sorter
This problem will provide you with the opportunity to work together in teams of two or three. Your team will design a solution to the stated problem. Study the design brief located below. Using the steps in the design process, your team will create a solution to the design problem.
Reflection and Conclusion
Our goal was hard to achieve but we finally got a design that we thought would work just fine and fit all the criteria. I think something that we should have done differently would have been separating at least one marble by size instead of separating all the marbles by color. I feel like that would’ve made things go a faster. I think we tried to make our design too complex. We should have thought about all the coding we had to do and made the design simpler. The purpose of this project was to sort four different types of marbles. We tried to do this using a light sensor and a servo motor that put the marbles in their place but we did not achieve this in the tie allotted. We could've done a better job if we had more time.
1. What was the most challenging aspect of this design problem?
The most challenging aspect was coming up with an idea. An idea that worked and could be easily coded.
2. What are some creative changes that you would make to the design solution if you could start over?
If we could start over I would make our design easier. I would make the marble sorter sort by size as well as the color the light sensor detects.
Our objective was to create a marble sorter that separated four different types of marbles. It had to be completely coded and it couldn’t take longer than two minutes to sort all the marbles. We accomplished making a robot but we were having some trouble coding it and making all the servos and motors to work. I think something that we should have done differently would have been separating at least one marble by size instead of separating all the marbles by color. I feel like that would’ve made things go a faster. We made the design too complicated. We could have worked on making the robot simpler as well as the code. If we had more time and more brain power we could have achieved a better robot and a better code. The problem statement was that we needed to create a device that would successfully separate different marbles into different bins but our results did not fulfill that. We could not get the light sensor to read the marble and tell it where to go and less in two minutes. I learned that it is very hard to work as a team when everyone has completely different ideas and has no idea what they are doing. I learned that it’s very important to use our time wisely and to talk and communicate effectively. Most of our challenges came from trying to code the robot and actually make it run and do what it was intended to do. And the purpose of the design problem was, once again, to sort four different types of marbles into four different types of bins all under two minutes and completely coded.
Our goal was hard to achieve but we finally got a design that we thought would work just fine and fit all the criteria. I think something that we should have done differently would have been separating at least one marble by size instead of separating all the marbles by color. I feel like that would’ve made things go a faster. I think we tried to make our design too complex. We should have thought about all the coding we had to do and made the design simpler. The purpose of this project was to sort four different types of marbles. We tried to do this using a light sensor and a servo motor that put the marbles in their place but we did not achieve this in the tie allotted. We could've done a better job if we had more time.
1. What was the most challenging aspect of this design problem?
The most challenging aspect was coming up with an idea. An idea that worked and could be easily coded.
2. What are some creative changes that you would make to the design solution if you could start over?
If we could start over I would make our design easier. I would make the marble sorter sort by size as well as the color the light sensor detects.
Our objective was to create a marble sorter that separated four different types of marbles. It had to be completely coded and it couldn’t take longer than two minutes to sort all the marbles. We accomplished making a robot but we were having some trouble coding it and making all the servos and motors to work. I think something that we should have done differently would have been separating at least one marble by size instead of separating all the marbles by color. I feel like that would’ve made things go a faster. We made the design too complicated. We could have worked on making the robot simpler as well as the code. If we had more time and more brain power we could have achieved a better robot and a better code. The problem statement was that we needed to create a device that would successfully separate different marbles into different bins but our results did not fulfill that. We could not get the light sensor to read the marble and tell it where to go and less in two minutes. I learned that it is very hard to work as a team when everyone has completely different ideas and has no idea what they are doing. I learned that it’s very important to use our time wisely and to talk and communicate effectively. Most of our challenges came from trying to code the robot and actually make it run and do what it was intended to do. And the purpose of the design problem was, once again, to sort four different types of marbles into four different types of bins all under two minutes and completely coded.