For this lab, we were given a big robotic kit in order to construct a complete robot. While the process of assembling the robot was fun, what we did after that was more amazing. We were introduced to a software which later we would use to make the robot moves. As the robot moves, we were able to calculate the wheel rotations, how far it traveled, and the velocity of the robot. Even with the computer’s calculation, we would still measure these things ourselves later and compare our result with the computer. I think one of the good thing about this is that you can double check your result using the computer and next time in case we don’t have a computer we would still be able to do the lab. Our measurements compare to the computer were not precise to the milli-unit but it was close enough to the relevant units.The circumference of the wheels was about 0.176m, that means every rotation is equal to 0.176m in distance. The result of the lab is as below:

Trial 1

Power = 75
Time = 2 seconds
Human Distance Measured = 0.287m
Computer Distance = 0.2673m
Error = 9.91%

Trial 2

Power = 50
Time = 2 seconds
Human Distance Measured = 0.28m
Computer Distance = 0.2676m
Error = 8.135%

Trial 3

Power = 25
Time = 2 seconds
Human Distance Measured = 0.28m
Computer Distance = 0.2738m
Error = 8.0624%

Trial 4

Power = 25
Time = 3 seconds
Human Distance Measured = 0.245m
Computer Distance = 0.236m
Error = 2.1967%

Trial 5 

Power = 20
Time = 5 seconds
Human Distance Measured = 0.27m
Computer Distance = 0.2893m
Error = 6.79%

Trial 6

Power = 50
Time = 2 seconds
Human Distance Measured = 0.36m
Computer Distance = 0.35479m
Error = 1.681%

Trial 7

Power = 90
Time = 3 seconds
Human Distance Measured = 1.01m
Computer Distance = 1.12m
Error = 4.389%

 

On the 19th of September, our class made a trip to the Sawyer library under the instruction of our professor the day before. At first, I was still feeling cloudy about what we were going to do there. “An introduction to the resources that we can make use of and utilize for this class during our time here at Suffolk” was my first thought. Turn out  that I was half right. The class assembled inside a big room provided with lots of computers and a huge projector. We were introduce the valuable resources that were available for us to use for our classwork, projects, etc… I thought that this trip to the library was really necessary because it makes my life so much easier. You can get a huge amount of information needed for your class which makes your situation at school a lot more comfortable. I have to say thank you for teaching us how to access the database that provide us books and references. I hope we can have trips like this again soon.