Robot Challenge

I finished the last two parts of Spike tonight.

When constructing, you might want to connect the cables before hooking the sensor assemblies to the main part of the robot. If you follow the instructions and wait until the last step, it is impossible, especially for the ultrasonic sensor.

First was adding the sound sensor. You can see it at upper-right in the picture. After programming, you clap and it will move. I had to lower the sound threshhold to make it more responsive, but it worked pretty well.

Then I added the ultrasonic sensor. The programming for this is a bit complicated, as the instructions zoom in a section, and you can't easily see where some commands go. Note that on your program, you can pan around with the pan toolbar button enabled.

Once I had the program corrected, it worked pretty well (and old Spike is not limping as badly today). If you move your hand in front of the sensor, it will (sometimes) strike at you. And meanwhile it avoids hitting walls, staying 30 inches (about 75 cm) away from them. It makes a sound when it strikes, but the speaker is not very loud, especially with the noise of the motors, so it is hard to hear.

Still, the most impressive bot so far.