CS148 Labs

Final Project

Your final project proposals are due Wednesday, April 3, 1996 at 3pm. Please bring them to class. If you cannot attend class, please make sure they are in the bin outside the TA room by 3pm.

During your lab time, you should roughly go over ideas you may have for a project with your TA. The TAs will be able to give you some initial feedback to help you further develop your plan. The TAs will be available to you during these hours to answer any questions you may have as well.

Each group should turn in 1 Final Project Proposal. It should be 1-2 pages long. It should cover a complete description of your project. It must include hardware you intend to use and the goal you hope to achieve. There will be 2 milestones/checkpoints where you will meet with your TA to demo your robot and what you have accomplished (see section below for more info). Included in your proposal, you will need to determine feasible, yet challenging, milestones. Each group, based on their chosen project, will set their own milestones.

This Final Project Proposal will serve as a contract for your work for the rest of the semester. Think carefully about what you want your project to be and what steps in what timeframe you will need to take to achieve your goal. Any changes made to your project, after the proposal has been approved, will have to be reviewed by your TA. Your Final Project Paper will also be based on the original contract. If your project changes significantly, you will need to rework your proposal and get it re-approved.

Milestones

Milestones are set goals that you must reach on your way to your Final Project. They may be related to hardware or software or both. To set these appropriately, think realistically about your ultimate project goal and set down all the detailed steps that will lead you there. Then, break these steps into the 2 milestones. Be realistic and leave spare time.

At each of these checkpoints, you will not only demo your robot, but you will also give, as a team, an oral lab report. The oral lab reports should cover much of the same material as the written ones you have done previously. You should talk about whether you reached your milestone. If not, what were the impediments and what do you need to now change to still complete your final project goal. You do not need to turn in code at these milestones.

Talent Show

This will be a time to gather and show off your projects. You will be graded on this final perfor mance and it should reflect the previous 5 weeks' work. You must be prepared to speak for no more than 5 minutes on the structure of your robot, its hardware, what your final project was sup posed to do, what it actually does, how you are going about doing it, obstacles encountered, etc...

NOTE: This event will be open to the public.

Final Project Paper

Each person must turn in a 5-7 page in-depth lab report. You should compare what you set out to achieve with what you have accomplished. Include problems you found, any changes you might have made, methods and considerations used in programming your robot, etc. Use your original Final Project Proposal to discuss what you might have done differently. Discuss choices you made and alternate selections, their pros and their cons.

Choosing a Final Project

Rules:

Make use of the sensors and parts we have available.
Robustness over complexity.
More than one group can do the same thing.
Be creative.

Possible Projects:

Build and use shaft encoders and make like a Logo Turtle.
Real hill climbers using tilt switches.
Learn to do obstacle avoidance and light seeking.
Build and follow a simple map (may need to use shaft encoders or time ticks).
Manipulator - pick things up and take it to the light.
Cooperate with other robots, for example play tag.
Use ultrasonics.
Possibly some work with microphones. If you are interested, please see a TA.

Graduate Students

Graduate students are expected to create more sophisticated projects. They must be very robust. Please bear this in mind when planning your Final Project.

Final Project Schedule

Final Project Proposal Due: Wedneday, April 3, 1996 at 3pm, in class.
Proposal Review with TA: Week of April 8, 1996 in lab section.
Milestone 1: Week of April 15, 1996 in lab section.
Milestone 2: Week of April 22, 1996 in lab section.
Talent Show: Wednesday, May 1 during class time.
Final Project Paper Due: Friday, May 10, 1996 at the exam.

Note that the talent show is manditory.

TAs

We will no longer be holding TA hours. You may email your TA directly to arrange a meeting time. We hope in this way to better be able to accomodate you.

Bill Smart