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The Original VandenMoesel
The Original VdB is a prototype, built to follow a line. It consisted of a colour sensor, low to the ground (which detects the colour of the line, and three wheels. The intelligence block was slanted; easy to see and to command.
The Coding
This was our first taste of inventive coding. To code a bot to follow a line is relatively simple, providing the line is black. If it is not, adjust the following code accordingly.
Program the colour sensor. When it sees black, turn right, away from the line.
When it sees white, turn left, back towards the line.
When it sees both black and white, go straight.
We also programmed the robot to go through a simple obstacle course. This involved using the colour sensor to sense and react to other colours.
The picture opposite is part of the obstacle course we used...
Problems we encountered...
The main problem was that the coding varied on the gradient of the line, as the distances and angles of moving changed. Often, the robot did not pick up the line, and this caused various problems as it could go astray easily.
However, it was a very fun project and our first model that we had designed ourself.
Tricky
We first decided to build tricky. This was because, although it was a simple model to initially build, it had the potential for many functions. In addition to this, it was one of the five models that came with instructions. As such, it was a natural first step.
Although we took no photos of our own, we built the two models above.
On the left is the basic model, which can have gadgets added on. With this, we started by programming it to follow a straight line, and make rotations, just to understand how the coding and the app worked.
On the right is the basketball model, which can be used to move a ball. Although this was interesting, its capabilities were limited, and we soon moved on to a different model of robot, the original VandenMoesel.
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