DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Project Reflection


        The project was much more demanding than anticipated, with a lot of unexpected problems and opportunities to learn.

        The most crucial part of the project was planning. Though our group had spent much time planning, more time planning may have prevented a few of the problems we had, including a few poor soldering connections, not accounting for motor vibration among the body of the vehicle, and . However, through planning we were able to avoid soldering sensitive parts and risking them breaking, to attach a smoothened bottle cap to the body to reduce friction, and to logically plan out our method of putting the circuit together.

        The act of actually building the circuit perhaps taught me the most ; I had never used a soldering iron before (see picture of burnt finger below), and my knowledge of electronic parts and their functions was minimal. It was a learning experience, and I definitely learned from it.

        Another lesson learned was the fact that sometimes it is crucial to reassess how you're going about solving a problem; soldering the mount for the audio chip proved to be a frustrating task-- that is, until we decided to hold each component in place to free up a hand and make it significantly easier. Also, the first body we used would not fit each part in it, and so we began trying to cram it in for the sake of making it fit, but after taking a step back and reassessing the problem we eventually decided to use a larger, and even lighter body.

        The fact that we had four active members in our group significantly increased the overall brain power put into it; every decision was a concious effort from each group member. Even as we split up into two groups of two, one to solder and the other to collaborate on the body, we consistently checked in with each other and discussed what was currently going on. Teamwork played a large role in that multiple ideas resulted in the best of the bunch going into our actual project.

        Seeing the motors work and power shift based upon where the light was, and watching as the backup switch was fully functional was a truly satisfying feeling. Though frustrating at times, putting the robot together was a rewarding task, and I feel as though I have learned much about engineering and the satisfaction that comes with it.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.