My summer experience at the University of Minnesota ~ Sara Lahr

Journal

Week 5: June 21 - June 27

I spent most of the week working with the Scribbler robots. I am modifying the original PBASIC program on the Scribbler's microcontroller by adding a few methods that will run on the most basic level. The plan is that the algorithm will run on the Fluke. Given the limited memory and processing power of both the Scribbler and the Fluke, I want to make sure that I can put as much information on both as possible. Previous to this week, I had had only slight inklings as to what the final project would pertain to. Maria, Elizabeth, and I were able to come up with a pretty good goal based on a paper we had discussed on Tuesday. We are going to patrol a line, or cover on an open polynomial, with the Scribbler robots. However, instead of focusing on the frequency of the Scribblers' movements, we are going to focus on long term coverage. When robots run out of power, they are replaced. Then they 'refuel' and wait to relieve a fellow Scribbler when needed.


One of the strangest things happened to me on Thursday. Thursday morning, Maya informed me that she had found a movie theater nearby and was planning to see Up that night. I was excited to see the movie as well. Later that morning, I ran into a friend who I had not heard from for months. While he was talking, he told me of a bunch of neat places to see while I was in Minneapolis. The attraction he stressed was St. Anthony Falls; it was the birthplace of Minneapolis due to the flour industry's ability to utilize the energy of the falls. I looked it up on a map and found that it was only about a block away from the theater! What a coincidence! After the movie, Maya and I walked across the bridge to take a look. It was a gorgeous sight! The waterfall was right in front of us, and we could see the Minneapolis skyline in the background. The fact that the sun was setting only made it that much better.


Friday was fairly frustrating for me. I had planned out a lot of goals for myself only to be bogged down by a communication error between my computer and the Scribbler. I could not open the port to initialize the communication. I spent too much of my time trying to fix it. While I was able to make some progress, I didn't make nearly as much as I would have hoped.