Video of Performance Test 2
Preparation
The second performance test required the robot to start on the start light, press the fuel switches forward and backward, and drive to the upper level. Additionally, bonus was awarded for pressing one of the fuel buttons.
In preparation for this performance test, the arms for the switch toggles needed to be made. These were made out of erector and paper. The arms were designed to snap forward once the robot hit the wall.
A few difficulties were encountered during testing. First, the robot struggled coming off of the start platform, with its drive surfaces becoming uneven. To correct for this, the motor powers and time to travel off of this surface were increased. Additionally, the arms did not have the strength to push all the switches forward from the bottom platform. Strategy and coding needed to changed to have the robot run into the wall each time. Next, the material of the long arm was changed from paper to erector. This increased the strength of the arm and reduced undesired compression. Unfortunately, the robot could not press the right-most switch with its current build, so this still needed to be adjusted. Also, implement RPS would aid in helping the robot align with the switches much better than time.
The robot was able to pass the performance test, but it became even more apparent that time was not going to cut it in terms of consistency. See the full Testing Log for a full description of all the tests conducted. The image below shows the robot up until this point.
Performance Test 2 Passer!
Path Taken
For the second performance test, the robot followed the path shown below in the figure. First, the robot left the start platform on the signal of the red light. Then, the robot used the walls to navigate to the leftmost switch, pressing it forward. Then, the robot navigated along the switch wall and eventually to the temporary access ramp. Next, the robot navigated up this ramp. Then, the robot traveled over to the toggle switches from at the top of the course, pressing the rightmost switches forward. Finally, the robot pressed both of the fuel buttons to complete the run. A full image of the path taken is given below.
Performance Test 2 Path