Lego Mindstorms Project

In class, we assembled a small, wheeled robot that we then attached to our computers via it's USB port. On the computer, we used the robot's respective data-entry application to program the robots specifications. By measuring and inputting the circumference of the robot's two wheels - we were able to accurately program the robot to travel for a certain time (measured in seconds) with each wheel set to a certain power level. Through multiple sets of trials and comparisons, we were able to accurately decipher the distance the robot traveled, at what velocity it traveled and the percentage of error between the computer's measured distance versus our manually measured distances. For example, when travelling for 3 seconds with each wheel set to a power level of "30," the computer measured a distance of .6 meters (a meter per second). However, when manually measuring the physical distance from point A to point B, we found the distance to be only slightly longer by .0445 meters. This produced a discrepancy of only .75%. Trying other settings produced similar results - with only small percentages of error between .2% and .75%. It was an interesting experiment and showed me how possible it is for scientists to program a motorized device to travel specific distances and at certain speeds - and how to accurately measure and compare the subsequent data of the device's movement.