When riding a bike, always wear a helmet. Make sure that you are always paying attention to cars and other things around you, because even if you are a good rider, there are still other people around you that may not be as attentive as you. Make sure that you do not ride too fast near cars, parked or moving, because a parked car's door may open if someone is getting out and you don't want to run into them, or the car door! Never allow yourself to be "towed" behind a car, or any other motorized vehicle. Also, never ride into a street or path without looking first. Lastly, stay away from obstacles. Bike+Tree+Speed, you do the math!
See Spot. See Spot run.
C4. C4 RUN!!!!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Hello, Adventurer!
Our Tournament is coming soon! It will be hard, but it is the only one that does not offer invitations to nationals. We should be able to get... what? The date is February 27, 2 days until april fools day... I mean March fool's day.
This is a post from Alpha Rex.
The NXT wires are like telephone jacks, except for one difference: the snap connecter on top is to one side, not in the middle, to keep kids from plugging their robots into the telephone line.
Brrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnngggg!Brrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggg!
Person: Hello?
NXT:Hello.
Person: Who is this?
NXT:Alpha Rex.
Person: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALIEN ROBOTS ARE INVADING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NXT: Resistance is Futile.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Talking to an Expert
Our team recently talked to a robotics scientist about new cars using sensors. We asked him a few questions:
Q. What sensors do the use?
A. They use Radar for forward collision and vision for lane departure.
Q. Do they use ultrasonic sensors specifically?
A. Ultrasonic sensors are used for backup incase the Radar fails.
Q. What is the hardest problem in designing them?
A. Each sensor has different problems, Radar has problems when determining wether an object is in-path or out-of-path (you don't want to warn the driver that he's passing by mailbox on the road side). Vision has problems locating poorly marked lane stripes.
Q. What weather conditions can cause problems? (For example, it could think that you are about to crash into a group of snowflakes, so it would stop.)
A. Radar works pretty well in bad weather. Vision systems have problems with direct sunlight, oncoming headlights, reflective road surfaces, and other things of that nature.
Q. What is the range for ultrasonic sensors?
A. He is not exactly sure, he would guess ultrasonic sensors for backup would typically be 0-3m.
Q. What are the limitations for ultrasonic sensors?
A. One limitation is that an object can appear invisible if it's surface angle with respect to the sensor direction gets large. The acceptance angle of the detector is called it's field of view (FOV). If the object's surface exceeds half the FOV then there may not be enough energy captured.
For more information on sensors click HERE.
Q. What sensors do the use?
A. They use Radar for forward collision and vision for lane departure.
Q. Do they use ultrasonic sensors specifically?
A. Ultrasonic sensors are used for backup incase the Radar fails.
Q. What is the hardest problem in designing them?
A. Each sensor has different problems, Radar has problems when determining wether an object is in-path or out-of-path (you don't want to warn the driver that he's passing by mailbox on the road side). Vision has problems locating poorly marked lane stripes.
Q. What weather conditions can cause problems? (For example, it could think that you are about to crash into a group of snowflakes, so it would stop.)
A. Radar works pretty well in bad weather. Vision systems have problems with direct sunlight, oncoming headlights, reflective road surfaces, and other things of that nature.
Q. What is the range for ultrasonic sensors?
A. He is not exactly sure, he would guess ultrasonic sensors for backup would typically be 0-3m.
Q. What are the limitations for ultrasonic sensors?
A. One limitation is that an object can appear invisible if it's surface angle with respect to the sensor direction gets large. The acceptance angle of the detector is called it's field of view (FOV). If the object's surface exceeds half the FOV then there may not be enough energy captured.
For more information on sensors click HERE.
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