Week Six Update

The Group has successfully remained on-schedule this week. The Travel Algorithm has been completed. In the previous post, it was mentioned a light sensor was replaced with a color sensor, upon further review it was decided to remain with the original design and make alterations in later weeks.

The Passenger Counter coding is still being developed, the vehicle is now able to recognize its limit of passengers (maximum capacity being 3 passengers), an essential step forward in programming. A detailed explanation of the planned Passenger Counter coding is described below in the two figures.

Figure 1: Passenger Counter Part A

Figure 2: Passenger Counter Part B

In Figure 1, the code will first determine what station the vehicle is currently located and distribute the passengers to their respective stations until the vehicle is empty. Once the vehicle is empty, the code will execute the second loop (Figure 2). This loop will add passengers according to color until the vehicle is full. The loop will end when the vehicle is full.

Passenger Counter is nearly completed but it has yet to be integrated into the robot design. This will require the team to add a color sensor that will be orientated forward to face the LED light. In addition, the different components of coding must be integrated.

Figure 3: Travel Algorithm

 The Travel Algorithm above describes the order in which the robot will disperse passengers and move about stations. The Algorithm will establish the robot's current position, unload/load passengers, then initiate a travel maneuver to its next destination. The Algorithm accounts for a constant flow of passengers as the robot's destination will be dependent on the passengers' it currently holds.

The Travel Algorithm functions in tandem with the Line Tracking code. The Line Tracking code is much simpler than the code detailed above. Line Tracking functions by the intake of light values given by the light sensors. There are two light sensors on the robot which receive readings indicating the presence of the white portion of the field; meaning the black center line is between the light sensors. Should the light sensors read the value indicating that the robot is on the black center line, the robot will decrease motor speed on the side detecting the line in order to re-align the robot. The Line Tracking will continuously loop this code as the robot navigates the field.

Up until recent weeks, Line Tracking, Passenger Counter, and the Travel Algorithm have been developed independently of each other. In the coming days, the team will begin integrating these components. The team proposes to have Line Tracking running synonymously with Avoidance Maneuvers. These two components will be a small portion of what forms the Travel Algorithm. The Travel Algorithm will then execute in conjunction with Passenger Counter.