On the first week of our mindstorm projects, the entire class got split into groups and started to build the body of the Mindstorm robots. My group was a bit behind in the constructing and we also had a team member that was absent, but we somehow managed to get most of it done. There was a problem where there was a piece on the instruction manual that we just couldn’t identify with the other pieces and wasted some time, but in near the end, we finally found the piece. We also had to take the core of the robot and charge the battery inside it to make sure it was working for next week.
The second week was a mix of constructing and programming. My team finished constructing the body, put on the charged core, and also added a sound sensor which would enable the transitions between each programmed action. After a few minutes to add some finishing touches, the teacher told us that we had to make our Minddstorm robots try to follow the taped line on the floor as accurately as possible. My group’s robot only went 40% of the way, yet we still got the highest percentage.
On the third week of our Mindstorm project, the objective was to showcase a trick/make a different robot (using the internet). My group decided to add a part that could be added without removing any parts. It was a hand that could push a ball. We only had a few pieces to finish the hand, but the time was up. Luckily, before we decided to add a hand, we had already made a pressure sensor that would make the robot move back, then forward, then back, then forward and continuing like that. So that’s what we showed the class.
The Mindstorm project was very enjoyable and a fantastic experience. I thought that the programming would be really hard and tricky, but it was actually okay since it was the basic type of programming. When we watched a few youtube videos of other different Mindstorm robots created by others, it was truly amazing to see so many ideas that could make a great Mindstorm robot.