In the last few classes we have had the opportunity to use the Lego Mindstorm NXT robots to better help explain sustainability. In this experiment, we took several different steps that involved controlling the robots via programs on LabView, and measured the distance the robot traveled and speed that it went.

First, we had to legitimately put the robot together. This was kind of fun, it reminded me of when I used to play with toys as a young child. We had to use many small pieces to attach two side wheels and a front wheel to the robot; this honestly proved to be pretty tedious, but the end result was a fully-functioning robot. Well, fully functioning once connected to the computer via a USB cable. There were also two phone cables that connect the ports of the robots wheels to the lettered ports on the back of the robot. (See image below).

Once the robot was complete, it was plugged via USB into the computer. We then opened up LabView, the technology program used to control the robot by using various programs/creating programs.

We then measured the circumference of the two larger wheels in the back of the robot. (See image above). For our wheels, we got 2.2 in, which is equivalent to 0.05588 m. To calculate the circumference of the wheel, we did pi(diameter) -> 3.14(0.05588)= 0.17546. We then recorded the circumference of both wheels in the font panel of the VI on LabView,

Once you hit the arrow on LabVeiw in the upper left-hand corner, it would command the robot to move. The robot then began to drive itself over the desk for a short amount of time. In observing the robot move, we noted that the wheels rotated 2.5 times before the robot came to a stop. 2.5 rotations equals 441 mm, or 17.36 in. It took the wheels approximately 10 seconds to spin 2.5 times, which translates to 10,000 milliseconds.

The next step we took was to measure the distance the robot traveled; we got 0.27 m, and LabView’s measurement was 0.255212 m.
We then calculated the percent error:

|0.27 – 0.255212| / (0.27 + 0.25) / 2 X 100 = 5.63%