Category Archives: Uncategorised

P21 has had a dicky back wheel since it fell off the roof during filming of the Obstacle Course for PiWars at Home. The motor runs, but the speed is not well controlled, so I assume the problem is related to the encoder. After the competiton I dismantled the back axle, reseated the connectors, andContinue reading “Is this the cause of P21’s dodgy wheel?”

Each year, Sidmouth (in the southwest of England) has a science festival.  This, year it takes place between the 8th and the 17th October 2021. We like to go to the festival for the rocket car contest. If you’re an avid follower of our blog, you may recall that our entries won the rocket carContinue reading “Sidmouth Science Festival”

The waiting is over; the results of Pi Wars 2021 at Home have been announced. And I’m delighted to announce that we won the Advanced Category! Here’s a link to the results, the videos we submitted for our entry and some extra videos that were made by P21’s camera as the robot performed the challenges.Continue reading “The Results”

We don’t want to gloat or anything, but we just uploaded the last video to YouTube. Time for a GnT in the sunshine! (Actually, totally gloating. 🙂)

Argh! First the bad news: we may have been too ambitious when filming the obstacle course. PiDrogen has taken a significant tumble and is now in “dry dock”. I can’t tell you what happened right now (you’ll have to wait to see the out take at the end of our obstacle course video at theContinue reading “The Bad News & the Good News”

Yikes!  It’s June.  18 days left.  Better get on with it. When we record the obstacle course, we plan to be running PiDrogen’s recording strategy.  This records a video from the robot’s camera and marks it up with various information, a bit like a Head Up Display (HUD).  See below. The HUD reports the headingContinue reading “The Obstacle Course”

Sorry!  I forgot to update the blog on the new catapult arm. (See my previous blog entry). Sadly, it didn’t make a difference on the Feed the Fish game.  But I’ll explain it anyway. Nerf Rival balls are obviously made with a mold which has two hemispherical parts.  It is clear to see the seamContinue reading “YACA5 Update”

I’ve fallen into the trap of searching for the Holy Grail of Feed the Fish: that is 15/15 shots.  I’ve done so many “takes” that the course has gone darker (from tyre rubber) where the robot makes a right-angle turn to line up on the aquarium!  This is my latest attempt at designing a moreContinue reading “Yet Another Catapult Arm”

I’m rather proud of our aquarium. Here’s a picture: It is a 3D printed frame into which you can slot two (or three) iPads.  The red circle on the bottom is a target for the robot to align on. The outside of the box is the regulation 200mm, but the hole in the top isContinue reading “Take a look at our Aquarium!”

I built the new catapult (that I talked about in my last post) and tested it. Immediately I could see many of the improvements that were expected of the new design: It is easy to adjust. It fires straight. The turntable moves as expected (+/- 30 degrees). The new design is much easier to installContinue reading “Testing the new Catapult”