2022

OceanBots
Spike Prime/Robot Inventor
with Python Game Workshop
This file can be found under the eAcademy > Workshops page on the website

www.robofest.net robofest@ltu.edu 248-204-3568

Room J233 Taubman Complex, LTU

21000 West 10 Mile Road, Southfield, MI 48075, USA

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2022 Workshops
Presented by

Lawrence Technological
University
Computer Science
Course Overview

• 2022 Robofest competition OceanBots

• Autonomous robot that get points by moving Turtles and Trash objects

• Workshop Robot introduction

• Using the Workshop Robot to solve the OceanBots challenge

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2022 Robofest Competition

● Video overview
● Key tasks
Task 0: Finding the edge of the table
Task 1: Following the edge of the table
Task 2: Stop line following when you reach a corner
Task 3: Stop line following when you reach a given distance
Task 4: Turning the robot
Task 5: Aligning the robot to an edge
Task 6: Building Functions
Task 7: Gyro Turns

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LEGO Spike Prime robot used
Right Motor: B
Color Sensor: E Spike Prime
Hub

Left Motor: A
Color Sensor: D

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Remember the connections!

● Left Motor connects to A

● Right Motor connects to B
● RH Color sensor connects to E
● LH Color sensor connects to D

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Software Versions Used

• Examples used Version 2.0.4

• Download
• https://education.lego.com/en-us/downloads/spike-prime/software

• Presentation and all example programs are available at robofest.net under

Tech Resources

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Hub Overview Bluetooth

Ports

Scrolling Display

Keys Center (Power)

button

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Start a New Program

● Create new program using icon or “File>new project”

● Select “Python” option

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Connect to Hub

● Two options
○ USB Cable
○ Bluetooth
● Follow instructions in software

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Hub Settings

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Configure Motors And Sensors

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 Task 0

Finding the edge of the table

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Task 0: Example Solution

https://youtu.be/goFLg-SG1lo

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 Task 1

Following the edge of the table

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Following The Edge Of The Table
● Use the zig-zag method to follow the edge of
the table

● Edge following is also referred to as line

Right Edge

Left Edge
following

● The zig-zag method requires the use of a

sensor determine when the robot is on or off the
table

Tabl
e
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Following The Edge Of The Table

● Get color sensor values to determine when the robot is on or off the table.
We will use the color sensor in Reflective Light Intensity mode.

● Color Sensor 1 Color Sensor 2

○ On table = ______ (99) On table = ______ (99)
○ Off table = ______ (5) Off table = ______ (5)

Color Sensor
Readings

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Following The Edge Of The Table

● For light sensor #2 settings example

○ On table = 40
○ Off table = 0
○ Median threshold = (99+5)/2 = 52

● Two cases
○ Light sensor reading > 52. On table.
○ Light sensor reading < 52. Off table.

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Simple Line Following Algorithm

Follow using RIGHT

side of robot

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https://youtu.be/RGB8nKO5How
How to improve our line following algorithm

● The zig-zag method can cause a bumpy response

● To improve the response, you can use a 3-level line follower (concept shown
below)

Off On Off On
Table Table Table Table

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How to improve our line following algorithm

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 Task 2

Line following to the corner of the table

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Line following to the corner

● One method of line following to the corner is to follow the edge of the table
with one color sensor and detect the end of the table with a other color
sensor
○ Sensor 1 used to locate the end of the table
○ Sensor 2 used to follow the edge of the table

Color sensor
2
Color sensor
1

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Line following to the corner
● Couple comments regarding moving around the table
○ It is possible to travel around the edge of the table with only one color sensor,
but it is more difficult and potentially less reliable than using two colors
sensors
○ Black tape is used to denote zones. We can use the black tape to line follow
to the end of a zone.

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Line following to the corner

● Recall our line following program

○ Let’s modify the program to stop when the robot reaches the end of the table

Using this program, the robot will line follow

continuously. How can we make the robot
stop when it reaches a corner?

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Line following to the corner

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 Task 3

Line following a given distance

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Line following a given distance

● Approach
○ Modify LineFollowStop to stop when the robot travels a given distance

● Tools needed
○ Line following
○ Measure distance traveled

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Measuring Distances

● How do we measure distance traveled?

● Let’s determine how far the robot travels moving forward for 2
seconds
Compute distance traveled
by measuring the number
of rotations of the wheel

Distance

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Measuring Distances

● Use the wheel geometry

PI = 3.14

Radius

How can we use

this information?

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 Measuring Distances

● For each rotation of the wheel, the

robot travels (Wheel Diameter) x (PI)
■ Distance = (Wheel Diameter) x (PI) x
(# Rotations)
■ Distance = (5.5 cm) x (PI) x (#
Rotations)
■ Distance = (17.28 cm) x (#
degrees/360)
● Note: Right side motor (B) moves in
positive direction, Left side motor (C)
side moves in negative direction

https://youtu.be/IsRGvC7vaMI
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Measuring Distances
● Example
○ Let’s program the robot to line follow for 30 cm
■ Distance = 30 cm
○ Number of rotations
■ Distance = (Wheel Diameter) x (PI) x (# Rotations)
■ Distance = (Wheel Diameter) x (PI) x (# degrees/360)
■ Solve for (# degrees)

Distance x 360
(# degrees) =
(Wheel Diameter) x (PI)

30 cm x 360
(# degrees) = = 626 degrees
(5.5 cm) x (PI)
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Line following a given distance

● Line follow a desired distance

https://youtu.be/ooJ1LFSHgDk

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 Task 4

Turning the robot

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Turning The Robot

● For our example here, we wish to turn the robot 90 degrees

● There are several methods for turning a tripod robot. We will focus on two
methods
○ “Spin” turn

○ “Swing” turn

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90 Degree Spin

● Let’s have the robot spin 90 degrees CCW

● The robot will rotate about center of the drive wheels

Starting Position Final Position

Center of
drive
wheels
X
Robot

Robot
X
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90 Degree Spin

● To spin 90 degrees CCW

● Set the steering to -100. This causes:

○ Right wheel to rotate forward
○ Left wheel to rotate reward
○ Equal and opposite rotations

● Now, we need to determine the correct number of rotations

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90 Degree Spin

● You can determine the proper number of rotations mathematically;

however, the result typically needs some adjustment due to lash in the
motors

● For today’s class, we will use trial and error to find the number of rotations
that cause the robot to turn 90 degrees

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90 Degree Spin
● We can use the following code to spin the robot

● For our sample robot, it takes 0.55 rotations to spin the robot 90
degrees

https://youtu.be/k5cqhPFShFc

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90 Degree Swing

● Let’s have the robot swing 90 degrees CCW

● The robot will rotate about a locked wheel (denoted by red X)

Starting Position Final Position

Robot
X
Robot

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90 Degree Swing
● To swing, we lock the left motor and power the right motor to turn the
robot

● For our sample robot, it takes 1.0 rotations to swing the robot 90 degrees
https://youtu.be/OlCKeLEf9Us

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 Task 5

Aligning the robot to an edge

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Aligning the robot to an edge

● In some situations we desire align with robot to an edge of the table as

shown below
● Assuming the starting position below, how can we program the robot to reach
the final position that is aligned with the edge of the table?

Robot
Starting Position Final Position

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Aligning the robot to an edge
● Travel until RIGHT color sensor reaches the edge, swing robot until it is
aligned with the edge

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Align if either side detects edge first

https://youtu.be/998DFfMUXw0

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 Task 6

Creating Functions

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Functions

● Solving the Robofest Game challenge will typically require a fairly large
program (around 100 lines is not unreasonable)
● Very large programs can be difficult to understand, navigate and use
● To alleviate this issue, the software has the ability to create custom code
that can replace sections of your program

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Create Function to Find Edge of Table

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 Task 7

Gyro Turns

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More Precise Turns with a Gyro

● Spike Prime has a built in

Gyro sensor
● Gyro sensor can be used for
turns

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Turning with Gyro
Right Turn Left Turn

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Putting It All Together
● In this course we learned about
– Finding the edge of the table
– Following the edge of the table
– Stop line following
– When you reach a corner
– When you reach a given distance
– Turning the robot
– Aligning the robot to an edge
– Building Functions
– Gyro turns

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Little Robots, Big Missions

Questions?

robofest@LTU.edu
LTU Computer Science
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2022 Workshops
Sponsored by

Lawrence Technological
University
Computer Science