User:Davidmichael47/enes100/fall2013/p2Mazie

Problem Statement (Finish description)
The objective of this project is to build a maze solving robot. The maze has to be hand made out of card board. And the robot (called Mazie the cat)would be built using an Arduino and Parallax kit. Mazie is composed of two minor projects that sum up to make the whole project. The minor projects include programming the robot and constructing a maze for it to solve. The robot can not demonstrate its ability to traverse without a maze, so the project was focused more on making a navigable and complex maze after completing the program. The robot is programed and driven using Arduino and Parallax. The Parallax tutorials can be found at http://learn.parallax.com/node/236 which was very helpful. There are many ways to program Mazie to solve a maze but we decided to start with using whiskers and then we would test if IR sensors would be more efficient in solving the maze. Mazie uses the whiskers like a cat in the dark to feel its way, thats why the robot is called Mazie the cat. An important part of the project was considering the difficulty level of the maze and how complex it would be. We designed the maze to have several turns but not too tight or complex. That way mazie would have no problem running through the maze.
 * 1) Using the Parallax Parallax BOEBot Robot for Arduino design and build a robot that sensed the walls of a path and follows those walls.

Conceive
Market/Customer Needs The market for this project is other engineers and professors. We wanted to try to recruit other engineers to help work on the project. The Customer is the one and only Mr. Plotnick. He Needed us to create an interesting maze that would grab the attention of teachers and students to draw them or "wows" to the engineering community at Howardcc.

Initial target goals To be able to build an operational Mazie that can solve a maze built by the same group. For this beginning part, the goal is to set up Mazie and test it using a mini maze to make sure it can run an entire maze without any problems. ........
 * 1) Document everything thats being done while working. This will help avoid making the same mistakes twice or more.
 * 2) Document and experiment if the mazie runs better with whiskers or with IR sensors.
 * 3) Getting as many card boards as possible. The more boxes, the bigger the maze.
 * 4)  Program mazie and make sure timing and angle set on the program will make mazie run with the most efficiency through the maze.
 * 5) Build a maze for the maize and make sure its not complicated for mazie. The angle it takes has to be proportional to the angle turns mazie takes. Nothing more nothing less
 * 6) Have mazie run through the entire track without climbing walls

System performance metrics ........
 * 1) Mazie is able to run through the maze smoothly by only stoping when it hits a wall and has to make a turn.
 * 2) Keep an average speed and slow down when its getting close to the wall, too slow would make it boring for the client and too fast makes it venerable to problems

Project cost and schedule Likely, 100% of this project was funded by Mr. Plotnick and the engineering department. Whiskers, resistors, tires, IR sensors as well as the arduino can be very expensive, but the Parallax kit and Arduino were provided for us. We had to replace batteries once or twice but we were reimbursed for our expenses........

Alternatives If the whiskers are not as affective or you what Mazie to navigate with better procession, then the IR sensors can be installed to improve Maize. ........

Design
#Determine the type of sensors to be used.
 * Reverse Engineering:
 * Operations Manuals found
 * http://learn.parallax.com/ShieldRobot**Training video and tutorials found
 * Service Manuals found
 * http://learn.parallax.com/node/192**Theory of Operation
 * The break down into assemblies and modules
 * Alternatives
 * IR sensors can sometimes be more effective than the whiskers.
 * Final Design
 * http://learn.parallax.com/node/192*Utilization of Knowledge in Design
 * Technical and scientific knowledge
 * http://learn.parallax.com/node/192**Creativity, problem solving and group decision-making
 * Multi-Objective Design (DFX Design_for_X or Design For Excellence)Image maze.jpg

Implementation
We tested the appropriate angle measures for mazie. In arduino we programmed the robot to turn at approximately 45 degrees to traverse through the track. We noticed if the angle measure was too high then mazie would travel in a zig zag motion and would take up a lot of time in solving the maze. If the angle measure was too small then mazie would rub up against the walls of the track and flip over. 45 Degrees was the most effective angle measure tested. As we tested mazie running through the track we realized that at some angles of contact mazie was climbing the track wall. To fix this problem we instituted an addition to the three pin headers. This addition would prevent mazie from climbing the track walls because either way the whiskers are pushed contact is still made with the 3 pin headers. (see https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Jaysongreen/ENES-100/Project_mazie_the_kitty_cat for more information on solution) Weekly meeting with client to show progression and any needs for improvement or changes with our project solution. Weekly presentations to client and fellow engineers to get advise and show project progress.
 * Test and analysis procedures
 * The validation of performance to customer needs

Operation
Continual maintenance had to be given to the track because of being made of cardboard. Because of constant contact with mazie some of the track walls became too flimsy and needed to be replaced. Along with the track walls, some of the make-do parts were replaced with binder clips. These clips were easy to insert and kept the track sturdy and in place. The whiskers on mazie had to frequently be tightened. Constant contact pushed the whiskers out of standard position. Use IR sensors so that contact is not necessary in traversing through track. This will cut down on track repair and maintenance. All gaps in the track need to be filled and avoided. Recycle track pieces
 * Maintenance and logistics
 * Pre-planned product improvement
 * Improvements based on needs observed in operation
 * Disposal options

Check Out Our Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6zLTypAuhY

Next Steps
Find out if Mazie would run better with IR sensors or both the whiskers and the IR sensors. also finish building the maze. Test it and see if Mazie can smoothly run through the completed maze with out any problems. After testing and experimenting, it has been concluded that Mazie needs to sense the walls of the maze 100% accurately. To do this such changes need to be make like the turning time, turning degree, as well as making sure that the batteries are fully charged.