Robots-For-All (IEEE - HI)

Goals

The goals of this program are to teach participants communication, problem solving, programming and debugging skills while having fun playing with autonomous robots. These goals are met by enabling the participants to program their robots using either Python or the Arduino environments. Support is available from other participants at regular meetings that provide time to interact and exchange ideas as well as run their robots in one or more challenges.

Communications

Interaction with other participants at regular scheduled meetings to discuss inovations and solve problems.

Short presentations on the customizations done to a robot.

Problem Solving

The challenges may sound or look easy but are more complicated due to the limited sensor input and processing involved. In discussions with other participants new algorithms and processing techniques are learned and debugging help is provided.

Programming Skills

Playing with autonomous robotics will teach the following low level programming skills:

• Autonomous robot operation
• Interfacing to the analog world
• Mapping algorithms
• Maze solving algorithms
• Network communications
• State machines
• Synchronization, including:
  • Interrupt handling
  • Memory barriers
  • Atomic operations
• Free RTOS, including:
  • Tasks
  • APIs
• C++ Programming
  • Classes
  • Data structures
  • Programming structures (functions, subroutines, if-then-else, for, do-while, while)
  • Logical operations (AND, OR, NOT, XOR)
  • Binary, hexadecimal
• Debugging techniques
• Reading data sheets
• Reading schematics