Final Thoughts - Adam

My job in this project was to oversee the construction of the shell and the chassis for our buggy and to addapt the design to accomodate any changes in the circuitry and program. I believe I was successful in this task as the chassis was stable and light enough for the buggy to opperate without interference and the shell was constructed and decorated to a high quality, giving the buggy more character than just motors and wires.

During the construction of the product, Rachel and I encountered minor setbacks that needed to be resolved. First, after constructing the the chassis, we discovered that we had not allowed extra space for the wires. Because of this, the motors and the breadboard did not sit in the chassis as expected, meaning that the motors were not straight and the wires kept falling out of the breadboard. Secondarly, we discovered that althought the card chosen for the chassis appeared strong enough, the weight of the motors and breadboard made the middle of the chassis sag down, tilting the wheels in the process so that they did not run true.
To solve this problem, we redesigned the chassis to give room for the wires and extensively reinforced with dowel. This allowed the wheels to run flat, rather than on edge, and made the buggy run straight. However, as chassis 2.0 was larger, changes had to be made to the size of the shell. The shell also had to be reinforced at the joints with dowel to gaurd against warping or bending of the size / shape.

Overall, i was pleased with the finished buggy as it was not just a characterless heap of mecharno which was the chassis build choice of many groups. Althought the programming did not operate as intended, i think that we have done well, as our buggy followed the line and recognised the stop and reverse symbol.

As a group, we worked well together. I am pleased to have worked with such a hard working, focused group of people. I would work with them again in the future.