Creating a Drawing Robot with Lego Mindstorm

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RoboShape: The Drawing Robot ABSTRACT For our final project, we have chosen to build a robot, using the Legos Mindstorm kit. It will be programmed using NQC. The name of the robot is Roboshape. It is comprised of two main structures; a rectangular base, which is the y axis, and a black log, which is the x axis and moves along the y axis. Our robot uses a light sensor to scan in a certain colored piece of paper, and using this percentage input, it will print out the desired shape. BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Every child has their own unique approach to learning. While some can easily comprehend information by just listening, the majority of adolescents need a visual example to fully understand a specified subject. Being able to associate their much loved colors to shapes would greatly improve a child?s desire and enthusiasm towards learning. We are proposing a robot that will use one RCX to scan in colored strips of paper and reflect a certain percentage of light. This percentage of light will then be transmitted to a second RCX, which will use its stored program to print out a particular shape. Though we are building a robot, it will mainly be used as a toy and a learning tool. Parents and kindergarten teachers are the main consumers that this product will be directed at. I was able to locate a similar robot to the one that we are planning to construct. It is called the Geo-bot and is used to draw polygons and other shapes. It requires the use of a two motor design, where one motor drives each wheel or tread. Our project is different in that the Geo-bot merely drives out the shapes, while ours will use motors and rotational sensors to direct and move pens to draw out shapes. BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Research shows tha... ... middle of paper ... ...itching. The great difference in speed, the y-axis moves much slower than the x-axis, affects the overall performance of the robot, making it even more unreliable. If expanded upon, the gear reduction could be changed so that a much more desirable ratio can be achieved. With more time we can also construct a series of gear that would raise the pen, enabling us to draw more efficiently and even allow us to write a letter or words. REFERENCE Baum, David. Definitive Guide to LEGO MINDSTORMS, Second Edition APress, 2003. 1�One Brain�or Two?�2. Retrieved August 1, 2005 from the World Wide Web: HYPERLINK "http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/split.html" ?http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/split.ht Johannes Kepler: The Laws of Planetary Motion. Retrieved August 1, 200 from the World Wide Web: http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/kepler.html

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