In the current course we would use a number of languages. Generally we would program the robots in EV3-G, but we would also program them in JavaScript to make the parallel with the JavaScript. The programming would include arrays, switches and loops.
There are a number of tools available online to help you play the game. You just seed the initial conditions and leave the game. Let's look at some of the sites.
Let's look at what game of life actually is, what are the rules and how to play the game on paper
We can Turn Right. We can Turn Left. How do we decide which way to go if there are lines both to the left and to the right. Check out the video.
We are programming this strange construction to move in a square. This is a basic task, but it is worth doing for a robot with motors placed in different directions.
Next state in our state machine programming pattern is the "Turn Left" state and the corresponding behaviour.
Motors can be placed in opposite directions... opposite .. directions. Robo-builders might have difficulties imagining it so we have build one. One of the motors facing forward, the other backward. It is interesting how this robot turns.
Robotics Game of Life – that’s the name of our new scientific journey. We are organizing a 14-sessions course (1 session weekly). The idea of the course is to develop a solution to the Conway Game of Life where the robots would actually play the game. Students will construct the robots by instructions and lots of imagination. Initial programs will be provided by us and modified by students.
Next important state is Turn Right with our robot. This happens when we detect a line on the right.
We've detected the gap. It's time to move over it. This is difficult because we have to detect where the line is after the 0.1 meters gap on the line following field.
It's inevitable. While following this gapped line we would reach a gap. The robot must somehow understand that there is a gap and must make a decision on what to do. For detecting the gap we use the Rotation Sensor. Not the most popular, but very convenient in many cases. Check out the video.
The final video from the course. The robot escapes the state where it is lost. This happens if it can not continue in any direction.
We follow a line. We start from the Smooth Proportional Line Following program and modify it a little for this program. We follow the line with the middle sensor attached on port 2.
We extract the Proportional Line Following algorithm into a new block with parameters. This allows us to experiment with the Threshold, Constant Speed and Relaxation Coefficient. You can now easily use the block in you other programs without having to implement it.
We list the number of decisions that the robot is making while following the line. Then, we group them and decide on the number of sensors to be used.
Looking at the field we must first think of a strategy of solving this line following problem. There are rules that the robot must follow and these rules should be programmed in the robot.
We start a course for following a line with crosses and gaps. This is a challenge that one of the users at FLLCasts.com was trying to accomplish and asked us for advice. We present the whole challenge to you step-by-step. But first, let's also see the whole run of the line following algorithm. With this course, we also do an introduction of using State Machine as a programming pattern.
Showing the same run, but from a different angle. This allows you to see more of the way we sensors work and how exactly the robot positions itself.
Collect the humans and clear them from the rocket launching region. This is rather straightforward as a task, but it requires a little bit of thinking if you want to do it without manipulators.
(LEGO humans of course, not real humans :) ). Working on World Robotics Olympiad 2014 elementary challenge. Collecting modules, bringing them together and lifting them. A very funny and interesting competition that we would explore in this and the next video tutorials from the series
Arriving at a final solution. There is still room for improvement on using the Mindstorms Ultrasonic Sensor for aligning to walls, but we hope the whole five videos could give you a good idea of how to start with a problem and reach a solution.
We explore some common mistakes when a program is developed and becomes complex. We then try to remove part of this complexity.
If you get to a solution that is too complex you should always try to improve it. This is what we are doing here. Arriving at a solution for aligning to the wall that has become too complex.
Implementing the next logic for aligning to the border when we approach the border from the right.
We have previously aligned to lines with the Color Sensors. In this series we are doing the same program, but with Ultrasonic Sensors that are aligning the robot to a Wall.
This second part continues with importing two previously developed in Episode 53 blocks into our program. With them we can for align to lines. We program the robot to align to the cross line and start following it.
How do you detect a cross-section and move from following the main line to following the crossing line. In this series of video tutorials we are starting with a very simple solution that could work in most of the cases. It is especially useful for the FIRST LEGO League Trash Trek competition where there is such a section.