This week I have been focusing heavily on what my midterm will look like. Sana and I are going to work together; we had a brief meeting last week to see where our thoughts aligned. Personally, I felt strongly that I’d like to make something that can move, and I found a line-following sensor that really appealed to me. Sana also seemed really excited about this idea, and she then built upon the idea of a line following robot by suggesting the point of interaction is the audience drawing a path. Maybe the “car” follows a path drawn through an obstacle course, or the locations it visits activate other sensors for something to happen. I would also like this to be wireless if possible.

Components we would need:

• Line finding sensor
• DC motors
• a speed controller?
  • I am unsure if a speed controller for the motors would be necessary or if there is some sort of programming with the arduino that can have a similar effect.
• Will the Nano be enough compute power for something like this?
• LIPO batteries or some other power source for the motors separate from what can be sent from the arduino. (why I think a speed controller may also be important)
• Wheels - two wheels each hooked up to motors, with a third in back that can swivel?
• Frame to hold all of this stuff

Visually I really love the idea of making this “car” into a rock, as a sort of over complicated Pet Rock 2.0. This would be achieved with one of the any 3D scans of rocks I have gathered over the summer. The shell would sit nearly flush to the ground, hiding most of the innards.

Here is a little list of notes typed up by Sana directly after our meeting, which I am adding details to : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_wKS8DSte2sBC7tNMTb06YSP5UjnT-AA4L8mZBzMias/edit?usp=sharing