An Automated Delivery System in Schools
The purpose of this experiment was to design, construct, and test the mechanical components of a robot capable of navigating itself through the hallways of the Butcher Community Center in conjunction with two other research teams who completed the electrical and programming requirements. After the robot was built, a three factor D.O.E was used to measure the range of radii the robot was capable of completing. The three factors, A, the direction of drive, B, the direction of turn, and C, the center of mass all had an effect on the radius of the turn completed. There were eight combinations of these variables in addition to three standard trials that allowed the researchers to discover which combination would complete the most successful turn. Elliott and Giasson were surprised to discover the large interaction of factor A, the direction of drive, and factor B, the direction of turn.
The best results were found when the robot drove forward, turned right, and had the center of mass in the front. This proved the hypothesis incorrect since the research team originally predicted that the radius of turn completed would be best suited to the hallway when the robot drove forward, turned right, and had the center of mass in the back. However, there was a fair amount of "experimental noise" in the experiment because there was a diffence of 2.5 cm between the standard trials, and there was a difference of more than 2.5 cm between some of the trials. Comparatively, there was a difference of 77.2 cm between the highest and lowest trials.
Research Done By:
Scott Elliott
Stevenson
Melanie Giasson
Stevenson
Warren Consolidated Schools