Week 6 into Week 7

Maze construction has finally begun this week.  As seen in the figure below, the cardboard was delivered to the group cut into 22 sheets of 8 x 60" strips.

Initial State of Cardboard Strips

The strips were then cut into pieces as follows for the walls of the maze:

12 sheets of 8 x 11.25"
9 sheets of 8 x 22.5"
5 sheets of 8 x 33.75"
1 sheet of 8 x 45"

For the outside walls of the maze, 4 strips of 8" x 2'6" were cut and taped onto 4 existing 8 x 60" sheets to create strips of 8" x 7'6".  All of the strips can be seen below.

 Cardboard Strips Cut into Proper Sizes:  Top View

 Cardboard Strips Cut into Proper Sizes:  Side View

The group has decided to construct the maze in the lab itself in order to avoid conflict with the elements  (mainly the high winds of Philly) when trying to transport the entire maze between our dorms and the lab.  The group initially decided that hot glue would be used to connect the cardboard pieces of the maze; however, upon arriving at the lab and attempting to construct with hot glue, it proved to be ineffective and impractical.  Currently, the group has decided that duct tape will used instead, as it will provide a more reliable adhesion between the sheets of cardboard.  The sheer size of the maze is exemplified by the figure below.

Outside Walls of the Maze Propped Up

The group will store the maze at the lab due to the impracticability of attempting to transport an object of such sheer size and frail material through the unpredictable high winds and other elements of Philadelphia.

The NXC code is coming along well.  An example of the code can be seen below.

Small Portion of NXC Coding for Robot Testing

Currently, the group is in the beginning stages of testing out the robot with the code.  Tests are still a bit rough, but much progress is being made.