Atlas+Stones--Initial+Design

Initial Design
Home Daily Log Final Design

Some of the details were inspired by Mr. Schmidgal's video, but the structure is a Thomas Kim original.

Challenge
The challenge this time is for the robot to be able to grab three different masses, lift it up, and bring it back to the goal, where it will drop the weight in an open wooden box and return to grab another weight.

Functionalities
The robot should have a few functions:
 * 1) Locomotion - it has to be able to move forwards and backwards and be able to rotate, with AND a mass attached.
 * 2) Crane - the robot will use a crane to lift the weight, hold it in place at a high level to carry it back to the goal, and drop the weight there.
 * 3) Line following - the course has black tape lines over a white surface as guide lines that the robot can follow.

Systems

 * 1) Locomotion - the robot will have a tripod platform with two wheels driven by motors and a slider.
 * 2) Crane - a third motor will control the crane, which will be mounted and will serve the dual purpose of being a counter-weight as well.
 * 3) Line following - the robot will utilize two light sensors constantly sensing light and turning when one of them senses black and doing some other functions when they both sense black.

Integration
The brick itself will probably serve as the center of gravity, where the wheels will be on either side of it and the slider will be towards the back. The motor's crane will be situated behind the robot, and a rope will extend from the motor to something in front and above the robot, which is the distance from the brick from which the weights will be lifted. This point has to be high enough so that when lifted, it is able to surpass the height of the wooden block, while taking into account the height of the mass plus the distance that the mass will pull the crane down. The light sensors will be situated somewhere near the front of the robot, separated by a distance slightly greater than the width of the tape, and just above the ground.

Pseudo-code

 * Move forward while line following until it hits double black (**My Block 1**)
 * Decide which direction to go--first left, then straight, then right
 * Will use a logic switch to determine which way it would go
 * After every cycle, it will add one to a counter that determines direction
 * If it's a turn, pivot until the second light sensor hits black--that's when it knows that the two sensors are straddling the line (**My Block 3/4**)
 * Move forward while line following until it hits double black (**My Block 1)**
 * Pick up the weight by lowering a string, waiting for it to be loaded, then lifting it back up (**My Block 2**)
 * Turn around (**My Block 3/4**)
 * Move forward while line following until it hits double black (**My Block 1**)
 * Turn toward the direction of the goal, or go straight, depending on which path it took first (**My Block 3/4**)
 * Same variable will be used as step 2 to determine which way it turns
 * Move forward while line following until it hits double black (**My Block 1**)
 * Release the weight by lowering the string, waiting for it to be unloaded, then lifting it back up (**My Block 5**)
 * this requires a different approach than loading the weight because of the forces required to lift/lower the crane with/without the weight.
 * Turn around (**My Block 3/4**)

Design Analysis
The design has to be a combination of the power and counterbalancing required in the crane challenge, and the maneuverability of the line-following challenge. The crane being situated in the back will provide the necessary counterweight for when the robot is holding the weight, and it also serves as the third wheel/slider. There is also a counterweight towards the back of the robot of 200 grams that should provide extra balancing while the robot is holding a weight, but at the same time not hindering its performance when it is not holding the weight or holding a less massive weight.

In order to minimize the amount of torque that the weight would have on the robot, we made the crane in such a way so that it would barely clear the block, both vertically and horizontally. This would minimize the distance from the robot, thereby minimizing the torque, so the robot won't tip over.

Goals
Get 100% and have the fastest time. we finna get a hunnet