Chapter 4 Challenges

Questions
1. What direction does the left wheel have to turn to make the BOE Shield-Bot go forward?
What direction does the right wheel have to turn?
left has to move counterclockwise, right has to move clockwise.
2. When the BOE Shield-Bot pivots on one wheel to the left, what are the wheels doing?
What code do you need to make the BOE Shield-Bot pivot left? The right wheel is turning
clockwise, and the left wheel isnt.
servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1500);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1300);
3. If your BOE Shield-Bot veers slightly to one side when you are running a sketch to make
it go straight ahead, how do you correct this? What command needs to be adjusted and what
kind of adjustment should you make? Slow down the right wheel so it could correct a turn to the
left, and slow down the left wheel to correct a turn to the right. Slow down a wheel by changing
its servos writeMicroseconds us parameter, using values closer to 1500.
4. If your BOE Shield-Bot travels 11 in/s, how many milliseconds will it take to make it
travel 36 inches? 3272.72727273
5. Why does a for loop that ramps servo speed need delay(20) in it?
Without that 20 ms delay between each repetition of the loop, it would ramp from 0 to 100 so
quickly that it would seem like the BOE Shield-Bot just stepped instantly into full speed. The
ramping wouldnt be clear.
6. What kind of variable is great for storing multiple values in lists? An array.
7. What kind of loops can you use for retrieving values from lists? for loops and do-while
loops
8. What statement can you use to select a particular variable and evaluate it on a case-by-
case basis and execute a different code block for each case? switch/case
9. What condition can you append to a do-loop? do{...} loop while
Exercises
1. Write a routine that makes the BOE Shield-Bot back up at full speed for 2.5 seconds.
servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1300);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1700);
delay(2500);

2. Lets say that you tested your servos and discovered that it takes 1.2 seconds to make a
180 turn with right-rotate. With this information, write routines to make the BOE Shield-Bot
perform 30, 45, and 60 degree turns.
servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1700);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1700);
delay(200);

servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1700);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1700);
servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1700);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1700);
delay(300);

servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1700);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1700);
delay(400);
3. Write a routine that makes the BOE Shield-Bot go straight forward, then ramp into and
out of a pivoting turn, and then continue straight forward.

servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1700);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1700);
delay(1000);

t
for(int speed = 0; speed <= 100; speed+=2)
{
servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1500);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1500+speed);
delay(20);
};

for(int speed = 100; speed >= 0; speed-=2)

{
servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1500);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1500+speed);
delay(20);
}

servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1700);
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1700);
delay(1000);

Projects
1. It is time to fill in column 3 of Table 2-2. To do this, modify the us arguments in
the writeMicroseconds calls in the ForwardThreeSeconds sketch using each pair of values
from column 1. Record your BOE Shield-Bots resultant behavior for each pair in column 3.
Once completed, this table will serve as a reference guide when you design your own custom
BOE Shield-Bot maneuvers. link doesn't work
2. The diagram shows two simple courses. Write a sketch that will make your BOE Shield-
Bot navigate along each figure. Assume straight-line distances (the triangles sides and the
diameter of the circle) are either 1 yard or 1 meter.
Triangle:
#include <Servo.h> // Include servo library

Servo servoLeft; // Declare left and right servos

Servo servoRight;

void setup() // Built-in initialization block

{
tone(4, 3000, 1000); // Play tone for 1 second
delay(1000); // Delay to finish tone

servoLeft.attach(13); // Attach left signal to pin 13

servoRight.attach(12); // Attach right signal to pin 12

for(int index = 1; index <= 3; index++)

{
// Full speed forward
servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1700); // Left wheel counterclockwise
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1300); // Right wheel clockwise slower
delay(5500); // ...for 5.5 seconds

// Turn left 120 degrees

servoLeft.writeMicroseconds(1300); // Left wheel counterclockwise
servoRight.writeMicroseconds(1300); // Right wheel clockwise slower
 delay(700);
}
servoLeft.detach(); // Stop sending servo signals
servoRight.detach();
}

void loop() // Main loop auto-repeats

{ // Nothing needs repeating
}