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Team Spot operates through the Robotics Academy. We are designing a group of robots capable of cooperative work. Our robots are designed to work in a team to locate a spot of light on a HIT table and communicate back the position of this light. We have HIT tables located both at Tufts and at a separate institution in New Zealand. The HIT tables are connected to a computer and project what is seen on the monitor. When the HIT tables are operating locally, they project an image developed on the local computer screen onto a translucent surface above the projector. On this surface, the robot locates the spot of white light on an otherwise black screen. Additionally, as there is also a HIT table in New Zealand, students or researchers there can create scenarios that the Tufts robots can solve. The HIT tables also have a camera above the translucent surface. This allows students in New Zealand to see the results of a trial at Tufts using the constant video feed associated with the HIT table. Thus, these HIT tables will allow students in Medford, Massachusetts to compare the results of the robotic searches with students in New Zealand.
This project was designed to be more than a novelty for students world wide. It was also designed as an innovative way to supplement the science curriculum. More on this in the future!
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