Robotics
Goal:
The goal of this activity was to test and ultimately compare the accuracy between human measurements and the measurements done by a computer program. This was done by conducting various experimental trials and at the end calculating the margin of error between the computer and the manual results.
“What did you actually do?”:
The experiment itself consisted of the robot or car that was used during the experiment, a USB cable, the computer program used to run the robot, and a ruler. The experiment was quite simple, yet intriguing to do. The robot was placed in a straight line on a smooth surface and the ruler was used to measure the distance the robot would travel from its starting point at different motor power levels. Time was kept at one second throughout the experiment so that there would be no more than one variable during the experiment. The robot’s starting point was from it’s axel and its end point was also measured at the axel. During the activity, the group ran 3 experiments, each one consisting of three trials. Each experiment had three different power levels for the motor. Below are both the manual and computer calculations taken during the experiments.
Results:
Experiment #1:
Power Level: 75
Time: 1 Second
| Computer Calculations | Manual Calculations | Margin of Error | ||||
| Trial #1 | Distance | 0.27024 | Distance | 0.275 | 1.84% | |
| Velocity | 0.27024 | Velocity | 0.275 | |||
| Trial #2 | Distance | 0.27024 | Distance | 0.27 | 0% | |
| Velocity | 0.27024 | Velocity | 0.27 | |||
| Trial #3 | Distance | 0.27264 | Distance | 0.273 | 0% | |
| Velocity | 0.27264 | Velocity | 0.273 | |||
Experiment #2
Power Level: 70
Time: 1 Second
| Computer Calculations | Manual Calculations | Margin of Error | ||||
| Trial #1 | Distance | 0.253 | Distance | 0.257 | 1.57% | |
| Velocity | 0.253 | Velocity | 0.257 | |||
| Trial #2 | Distance | 0.255 | Distance | 0.255 | 0% | |
| Velocity | 0.255 | Velocity | 0.255 | |||
| Trial #3 | Distance | 0.255 | Distance | 0.256 | 0.39% | |
| Velocity | 0.255 | Velocity | 0.256 | |||
Experiment #3
Power Level: 80
Time: 1 Second
| Computer Calculations | Manual Calculations | Margin of Error | ||||
| Trial #1 | Distance | 0.298 | Distance | 0.294 | 1.35% | |
| Velocity | 0.298 | Velocity | 0.294 | |||
| Trial #2 | Distance | 0.299 | Distance | 0.293 | 2.03% | |
| Velocity | 0.299 | Velocity | 0.293 | |||
| Trial #3 | Distance | 0.299 | Distance | 0.295 | 1.35% | |
| Velocity | 0.299 | Velocity | 0.295 | |||
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the margin of error between the computer and our hand measurements were not too far off from each other. Though it is only a fractional amount, there are definitely some factors that may have attributed to the slight differences. Human error is undoubtedly the factor that may have affected the outcome the most, however, forces such as friction may have also played a smaller role. The robot itself also tended to brake abruptly and often ended up a few centimeters back from where it originally stopped. These jerks from the abrupt stops became stronger as the motors’ power levels increased.