Lava Palava preparation

We have been coding the robot to follow a line for the lava palava challenge. In this challenge, your robot has to follow a line autonomously which so far, we have managed to do with a code that our coder, Ariel has written. 
Here you can see the code in action:

Now we have to find a good speed for it so we can do it in the fastest time possible. After that we will have two programs for the lava palava, one which is fast and the other would be slow in case the fast one fails.

Building the prototype and coding additional pieces

Here we get a look inside the 
prototype,which we are using for testing before we create the real robot out of acrylic. We are using Raspberry Pi components such as a Raspberry Pi circuit board.

Recently we've been coding our  additional parts such as a claw for the Eco-disaster challenge which we can dismount or mount depending on  which challenge we'll do first. Here is some footage of our claw opening and closing and going up and down.



After that, we began testing and practising for the challenge Eco-Disaster. We created some barrels ( using a 3D printer ), both red and green. Using these, we tested our skills with it with the claw shown in the video.

Bitbot

The first thing we are going to tackle is the Lava Palava line following challenge.

To get going quickly, we started by using a Micro:bit bit:bot robot. This has line following sensors built in so we could test our code quickly.

We found some example code on this website:

http://www.multiwingspan.co.uk/micro.php?page=botline

  

We had to make a few modifications to the code and we were very pleased with the result. 

Here is some footage of our code running on the the bitbot:

Pretty good right? 
Now we have to modify the code so it works for our Raspberry Pi based robot.

TechnoFire

Hello, we are TechnoFire, a group of year 8 students from Graveney School in South West London. We have entered the Piwars robotic competition with our hopes on improving our technology skills.

We have already built our prototype robot which we can control using a PS3 controller. This blog will document our progress as we complete the rest of the challenges.

The members of our group:

•  Ariel 
•  Ikram
•  Siththaram
•  Ollie
• Tiago

Hi, I'm Ariel, I started technology in year 7, I was amazed at how a 3D printer worked and eventually I took an interest in everything in technology. I am also the team leader.

Hi, I'm Siththaram I began technology in year 7 and completed all sorts of different projects that includes: graphics, textiles and product design. I entered Pi wars with my friends as I thought this was a great opportunity to improve my technology skills.

Hi, I'm Tiago and like Siththaram and Ariel, I also started in year 7. I like doing woodwork, graphics and other forms of technology.With this team, I think we'll do well in  Piwars and hopefully come back to school with something good to say.

Hi, I'm Ollie I started tech half way through year 7. I have little experience with coding and would like to improve my coding skills and I think Piwars will be a great way to do this.

Hello, I'm Ikram I began in year 8. I enjoy programming, woodwork and textiles. I entered Piwars because I saw a robot at the schools open evening and was amazed at how creative the students in Graveney were.