We are sending this technical report on 'MOSES II: The return of the mouse' to

you because you requested information on how it was built, the control systems

in use and the materials used. So, here it is!

MOSES II

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This robot was built entirely by us without the use of any kits. This is why it

was made with lego. While I was originally doubtful about the merits of plastic

blocks for use in this project, Andrew and Hugh (who built the case) soon

persuaded me otherwise. The chassis was made of lego technic with circuit boards

providing some of the support. The robot was moved by two analogue DC motors. We

put on two sliders underneath to minimize friction and avoid damage to the

chassis. This we think worked quite well. The device was powered by six AA

batteries which provided 7.2 volts. The three sensors were a combination of

superbright LEDs and LDRs, held together with sticky tape.

Control

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The control system was provided by the PIC16C84 microprocessor which ran the

program that Tom and I wrote. The program was created in assembler and simply

took the inputs of the three sensors and decided what to do. The motors were

controlled by the chip, which provided pulses in varying ratios to change

speeds. We rather liked this system which we thought of without help.

Um, I think that's all. Smile, be happy and remember that depression gets people

nowhere!

Thankyou for helping in that most marvellous of competitions,

Michael Hearn and friends