Week 4: Finishing Phase 1

At the end of Week 3, we had finished adding the touch sensors to the robot and had tackled several challenging concepts. Along the way, the lessons were improved and I learned quite a bit through the process. Writing the extension to the touch sensors also marked the beginning of a sequence of programs that would build up to the final Phase 1 robot program. We were on our way!

On Monday, the students were shown a demonstration of the next robot, which featured an added color sensor. Like the previous robot, it drove forward until it hit an object, at which point it aligned itself. However, this new robot checked if the object was black before stopping and beeping. If the color was not black, the robot backed up, turned and continued the search.

Back in the United States...

Greetings from the US!

Today marks nearly a whole week after my departure out of Cape Town International Airport. How the time has flown! It is surprising to think that my time in Cape Town has already come to an end. In the blur of the past few weeks, I am afriad this blog has fallen...well...incredibly behind. So, I would like to take some time to catch up - to share with you the second month of my Cape Town trip.

I suppose at this point, the blog can no longer be viewed as a way to simply share the current events of the robotics project and to describe "how things are going". However, I do hope it can serve to share how the project proceeded and finished. Furthermore, I hope it can even serve as a bit of an archive, to remember the events of this trip for years to come.

Well, I certainly enjoyed and cherish my trip to Cape Town and the work I was able to participate in there. I hope you enjoy reading about the work accomplished and memories made! :D

Warmly,
David

Sunset at Clifton Beach

On Saturday (June 18, 2011), we all took a trip to Clifton Beach to watch the sunset. In fact, it was Frankie's first day with us - she arrived in the morning! Our house met up with some other volunteers and together we all headed out from Wynberg to Cape Town and the beach. In Cape Town, we bought some food and drinks to take with us.

We all sat on the beach for a while and some folks took naps. I took a book I've been meaning to read for years, and managed to get through a bit while sitting on one of the large rocks. It was generally a peaceful and relaxing time as we waited for the sunset.

Week 3: Finishing up the touch sensor

At the moment, I don't remember my third week very vividly, so I may have to post some additions or even corrections later. Nevertheless, I will do my best to describe the week!

As I recall, the computer technician arrived on Monday to set up the lab server and configure all the desktops. It was great to see the new lab reaching completion. However, we had to cancel class that day so that he could finish configuring the machines we were using.

Furthermore, I forgot to copy the student files before he began and we lost all the students' programs! Fortunately, all their programs up to this point were identical and I was able to get them from my personal copy of the programs. I realized a running backup of their files would be needed, especially as they began on programs of their own.

In the afternoon, I chatted with my dad on Skype to discuss how to help the students understand the touch sensor program that had caused them some trouble the week before. This program was meant to begin a sequence of programs that would introduce the sensors one at a time and end with the final Phase 1 program. Over the course of our chat, we discussed these programs and re-structured them to be conceptually simpler, and thus better for instruction.

I was initially quite hesitant to have the students copy a new program for the touch sensor. I was worried that a sense of "starting over" would frustrate and discourage them. In the end, however, I decided to go forward with it. I hoped that they would feel this was an acceptable move considering the difficulty they had experienced earlier. While we were at it, we added one line to provide a new feature - the robot would now beep after it stopped!

A trip up Table Mountain

On Sunday (June 12, 2011), I went to a church service with Lecia and Leslie and afterwards Bilal, Maja and I decided to venture up Table Mountain. The day was clear and warm - excellent conditions for the hike. On the train ride to downtown Cape Town, we ran into some other volunteers who were also planning on going up Table Mountain. Together we grabbed a taxi to the mountain base.

A trip to The Castle of Good Hope and the District Six Museum

On Saturday (June 11, 2011) we took a trip to the Castle of Good Hope, a former Dutch fort. Again we took a train to the downtown area of Cape Town and from there walked to the castle. The castle is actually nested within the city!

Week 2: The first week of class

At the end of my first week here in Cape Town, the robotics kits were prepared and we were ready to begin class. I forgot to write about this in my previous post but a student contract was also written up during that time.