strategy
what we wanted to do
We had grand plans. During our original brainstorming sessions we assumed that eventually we'd have beacon sensing completely figured out and working smoothly. So we worked out a strategy that would allow us to get the most Samoleans. We decided on the following order of operations (which assumes we would have a collector area divided into two collectors, A and B):
We had grand plans. During our original brainstorming sessions we assumed that eventually we'd have beacon sensing completely figured out and working smoothly. So we worked out a strategy that would allow us to get the most Samoleans. We decided on the following order of operations (which assumes we would have a collector area divided into two collectors, A and B):
- Collect 5 BotCoins from Server, 3 in Collector A and 2 in Collector B
- Go to BitInstant and confirm it's available
- IF IT IS, drop 3 coins
- proceed to Mt. Gox and check if available
- IF AVAILABLE drop remaining 2 coins
- IF NOT AVAILABLE proceed to Kraken and drop 2 coins
- if BitInstant is NOT AVAILABLE, proceed directly to Kraken and drop 5 coins
- Harvest more BotCoins from Server.
- When timer notes the 2 mins is almost over (20 sec left?), proceed to either Kraken or BitInstant (depending on step 2)
what we actually did
First, we need to figure out what side of the board we are on -- the left orientation (exchanges on the left, server on the right) or the right orientation (exchanges on the right, server on the left). To do that, we first search for the server by rotating in place and using our wide range beacon. Once we find the server, we rotate again to find the exchanges, and therefore know which orientation we are in.
We then rotate back to find the server again. Rather than heading straight for the server itself, we rotate slightly away from the server (different directions for left or right orientation) so that we don't run straight into it, but hit the tape instead.
After making that angle correction, we drive straight until we hit the tape. When we hit the tape, we stop, rotate until we see the server with the short range IR (for greater precision), and drive straight towards the server. When one of our front bumpers is activated (in the case that we don't hit the server perfectly dead on), we rotate a bit to straighten out until both of our bumpers are depressed. When both of our front bumpers are activated, we begin a button pushing sequence in which the bot moves backwards and forwards 38 times to collect 8 coins (with room for two missed button presses).
Once the button press sequence finishes, we drive straight backwards towards the largest exchange. When both back bumpers are depressed, we know that we are at the exchange, and we activate the servo in order to raise the ramp and dump the coins.