The Challenge
This quarter, our project was to build a hovercraft (the Lobbyist) and a controller (the PAC) that controlled the lobbyist in its mission to herd ping pong balls (members of congress) through one of two goals (the openings at each end). The PAC and the Lobbyist communicated using XBee radios, following a predetermined protocol. Because the maximum pairing time between a PAC and LOBBYIST is only 45 seconds, this universal protocol allowed any PAC to pair with any unpaired Lobbyist, which happened quite frequently during the 218 second round.
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The LobbyistThe Lobbyist is the hovercraft that is controlled by the PAC using XBee radio communications. After successfully pairing with a PAC, the Lobbyist turns on its lift fan and modulates its left and right brakes as well as its thrust fans based on the commands from the PAC. In addition to these constantly changing values, our Lobbyist can brake on command and perform its special action - a combination of braking, turning the thrust fans on high to herd congress, and playing the Magic School Bus theme song!
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The PACThe PAC is our controller. It uses various sensing modalities to figure out what to send to whichever Lobbyist it's paired with. Our PAC translates its angle - both forward/backward and left/right - into a speed and direction to command the Lobbyist. For other actions such as pairing, braking, and selecting a team number or the special action, the PAC senses petting, bending, and pinching!
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