Summer WIP

It's time for Christmas break!  The last few days have been quite hectic with all the exams, but I made it through.  Although I really should be relaxing right now (or maybe freaking out because MIT early action decisions are coming out this Saturday), I found a song that I started working on this past summer, but I never had the chance to finish.  Since I left all my recording equipment back at the school, I won't have the ability to finish it over the break.  Bummer!  Instead, I decided to upload what I have and let you guys enjoy the work in progress.

This song, called June WIP (for now), is a rock song that incorporates heavily distorted guitar, booming bass, and powerful drums.  I really had fun getting this song started.  I hope to get this song to where it's actually a song by finishing it up and adding vocals to it in the near future.

Anyways, enjoy!

Djikstra Algorithm Navigation Software

When you're on the road and want to go somewhere, usually you want to take the shortest route.  What's better than to have a program find it for you?  This week, I completed a program that does just that, given enough databases.

Coded in C++, this program uses the Djikstra algorithm to calculate the shortest distance and path from the source city to all possible destinations.  All the user needs to do is input the source city and it will calculate the shortest distances to all other cities that are available in the database (input.txt in the same folder as the executable file).

The download link to the file is below.  It contains a sample database that I created, and therefore the mileages are not accurate.  To install it, extract the contents of the zip file anywhere as long as the exe and input.txt are in the same directory.  The program should provide you with enough directions to get you started.  Simply type in the name of a city that appears on the command window.

Enjoy!

Download the program here.

FTC Robotics

Now that we're finished with Zero Robotics, it's time for us to focus on FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge).  We plan on participating in a statewide tournament in February to qualify for the national championship. 

We went through a lot of design changes in the past few days to prepare for the scrimmage that took place yesterday at Aiken High School in Aiken.  The scrimmage was definitely a fun and very informative experience.  We learned about many technical problems that could arise during the match, and took immediate steps to fix them.  We also got used to the rules of the game and as a driver, I had the chance to see how good my skills were in operating the robot.  To be honest, they need work, but we still have plenty of time to play around with the bot. 

Overall, however, our robot worked quite well.  We went over there thinking, "We are going to get dominated by the other teams," but I am fortunate to say that we were wrong.  Our strongest point was the autonomous movement.  It was not reliable and the robot managed to perform what we wanted it to do for the autonomous period only half the time.  However, I think I figured out how I can go about fixing that issue, so I'm glad we had to chance to figure that out before the actual tournament.

I don't think our robot is very flashy in terms of the design, but it is a very high-capability robot in terms of scoring if we can learn how to navigate the field.  Focusing on the two high-scoring objects on the field, the bowling ball and the magnet balls, we can score tens of points quickly if we can efficiently harvest these objects.

The people were pleasant as well.  The referees were very informative and forgiving and helped us tremendously in understanding the rules.  The players were very professional.  Despite the stress that built up due to technical problems, they treated one another with respect and amiability.

The event eventually came to an end, and we packed up our robot and began our three-hour drive back home.  We learned a lot of things through this scrimmage.  I have high hopes for this tournament.  Maybe we can push ourselves to go farther than we were able to with Zero Robotics.  It'll take a ton of effort, but I think we can do it.   

Zero Robotics - The End

It's been a lot of work put into programming a bot for the zero robotics competition, but it came to an end today.  We placed 14th among teams from all over the world in the semifinals, and cannot advance to the finals (11th among the U.S competitors.  We had to be within top 9 among the U.S. alliances to advance.)  It's been fun, and although I am sorely disappointed, I'm glad we made it this far!  I wish I had known about this the year before.  It was hard to find time to work on this competition with rigorous schoolwork, so few of us who were able to work on it.  I'm sad, but I have to be happy with what I've earned.

So, congratulations to the finalists and best of luck to you!