BEST Robotics

Manual and autonomous control.

I led our coding team in building manual and autonomous features for our BEST Robotics robot. I wrote Python controls for multiple driving modes, a forklift and deployable claw, and a controller designed to compensate for stick drift. Our autonomous code uses camera-based AprilTag navigation and motor encoders.

Changing modes should have a clear boundary.

When a driver changes modes, the code first stops the drive motors and holds the forklift motor. Switching driving styles also sends a stop command before updating the display.

def toggle_mode():
    global mode
    global display_screen

    # flipping command
    if mode == "manual":
        mode = "auto"
    else:
        mode = "manual"

    drive (0,0) # stop motors when switching modes
    forklift_motor.stop(HOLD) # stop forklift motor when switching modes
    display_screen = "main"
    update_display()

Redesigning the forklift after practice.

After a rough practice day, I worked on a three-person committee to redesign our forklift approach for better speed and reliability.

Controls are in place; autonomy is developing.

Manual control

The code implements three driving styles, speed selection and stop commands during mode changes.

Vision

The camera detects AprilTags and displays their identifiers and image positions.

Autonomous work

The autonomous code combines AprilTag navigation and encoder movement. I'm developing the route logic and validating repeatable movement on the assembled robot.

Next validation

Calibrate the encoders, then check mode transitions and repeatable route behavior on the assembled robot.