<div dir="ltr"><br><div><div dir="ltr"><div>My original response is stuck in moderator approval - here's a version intended to skate in under the attachment size limit...</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Nice find at FedEx - would be cool to compare prices..</div><div><br></div><div>Note that source files for club courses, as well as instructions we used to print can be found in our GitHub repo:</div><div><br></div></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div dir="ltr"><div><a href="https://github.com/dprg/Contests/tree/master/Line%20Following" target="_blank">https://github.com/dprg/Contests/tree/master/Line%20Following</a></div></div></blockquote><div dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div>In terms of creating smaller sample courses. I like Power Point, but then you'd need to recreate each of the core elements.</div><div><br></div><div>If you start with the GitHub repo, you can easily manipulate the SVG source files using Inkscape. The club course files already have versions of all the key elements already snapped to a grid. That makes it relatively easy to copy / paste and rotate as you wish. Plus, Inkscape makes it easy to export in whatever ppi and format that you need.</div><div><br></div><div>Another alternative is the course creator tool that Ron Grant started in Processing. It's very cool and quite usable. Ping me or Ron if you're interested...</div><div><br></div><div>For a small version of the challenge course, I've attached source file and a small screenshot for the 7x9 practice version I made and use at my house.</div></div></div><div><br></div><blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div><div><img src="cid:ii_jootyq4b2" alt="image.png" width="556" height="427"></div></div></blockquote></blockquote><div><br></div><div><div>Alternatively, feel free to use the attached 'airplane friendly' version. It takes just $42 to print via stickers & banners, then you have to cut one strip in two. At that point, you have a course with all the key elements of the challenge course, but in a form factor that fit's into a 2 foot roll, which easily fits in a checked luggage bag... And, as the course is already in strips, you can overlay the strips to combine elements and explore 'corner' cases...</div><div><br></div></div><blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><blockquote style="margin:0 0 0 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div><div><div><img src="cid:ii_joou034h3" alt="image.png" width="267" height="562"></div></div></div></blockquote></blockquote><div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>I won't make it to RBNO this week, but look forward to catching up after Thanksgiving...</div><div><br></div><div>- Enjoy!</div><div>Carl</div><br class="m_512658233039008550gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Mon, Nov 19, 2018 at 1:40 PM jsampson--- via DPRGlist <<a href="mailto:dprglist@lists.dprg.org" target="_blank">dprglist@lists.dprg.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div class="m_512658233039008550m_-822888403728695611m_-2850384929905057349ydpa6fb04f8yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div><div>Hi Clay,</div><div><br></div><div>Just a few thoughts. </div><div><br></div><div>I don't know how the current maze is constructed. Maybe you have considered all of what I have to say...</div><div><br></div><div>The large sheets of paper are easiest transported by rolling them up. But then it may be difficult to get them to lay down flat. You could glue them to poster board. But then the size gets unwieldy (assuming you go with the 36" x 48").</div><div><br></div><div>Assuming the prints will be white paper, consider how long it will take to get them dirty enough that they are not usable.You really can't clean the paper with a damp cloth.</div><div><br></div><div>Also check what the printing technology is. If it is ink jet then check to see if it is waterproof. A small drop of water can quickly mess up an ink jet print. Maybe spray it with a drafting spray matte. Or a spray polyurethane. But check a sample before commiting to a full size project because those may mess up the print also. If they are sprayed with a coating then maybe they will be washable.</div><div><br></div><div>But in general it seems like a good idea.</div><div><br></div><div class="m_512658233039008550m_-822888403728695611m_-2850384929905057349ydpa6fb04f8signature"><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px">Jeff Sampson </div></div></div>
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<div> <span><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Message: 1<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2018 17:49:48 +0000<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">From: Clay Timmons <<a href="mailto:clay-timmons@outlook.com" style="color:rgb(25,106,212);text-decoration-line:underline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">clay-timmons@outlook.com</a>><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">To: "<a href="mailto:dprglist@dprg.org" style="color:rgb(25,106,212);text-decoration-line:underline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">dprglist@dprg.org</a>" <<a href="mailto:dprglist@dprg.org" style="color:rgb(25,106,212);text-decoration-line:underline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">dprglist@dprg.org</a>><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Subject: [Dprglist] Idea - Line following practice courses<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Message-ID:<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> <<a href="mailto:CY1PR15MB07951BC915D79A1B3067AC0489D80@CY1PR15MB0795.namprd15.prod.outlook.com" style="color:rgb(25,106,212);text-decoration-line:underline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CY1PR15MB07951BC915D79A1B3067AC0489D80@CY1PR15MB0795.namprd15.prod.outlook.com</a>><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> <br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">I was at FedEx dropping off a package and I noticed they have a large format printer. Aha! An idea popped into my brain. Print a small scale test course on the wide paper. The prices are very reasonable.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">I've been working on the line following courses and have tried a couple options for testing at home. First I make some test courses out of white posterboard and black electrical tape. I found that electrical tape is difficult to get to nice 6" radius curve and it is very shiny and can easily have bright glare from reflected background lights. I also borrowed the official club course. While this is the best for testing it had a couple drawbacks. The challenge course is very large and fun to fit that large cardboard tube into my tiny car. I also only had one place in my house where I could get the 7'x13' course on a wood floor.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">FedEx, Staples, Office Depot all offer "blueprints" / "architectural" prints in color or black and white in standard sizes including 24"x26" and 36" x 48". Here are some links.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Staples <a href="https://www.staples.com/sbd/content/copyandprint/engineering-prints.html" style="color:rgb(25,106,212);text-decoration-line:underline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.staples.com/sbd/content/copyandprint/engineering-prints.html</a><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Office Depot <a href="https://www.officedepot.com/configurator/pod/#/product/blueprints" style="color:rgb(25,106,212);text-decoration-line:underline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.officedepot.com/configurator/pod/#/product/blueprints</a><<a href="https://www.officedepot.com/configurator/pod/" style="color:rgb(25,106,212);text-decoration-line:underline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.officedepot.com/configurator/pod/</a>><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">I plan to design and print some test course on paper. My idea is not to reproduce the exact DPRG course layout but to print smaller simplified versions for testing purposes.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">For the beginner / novice I'm thinking a simple oval. If your robot can follow a straight line and a curve with the 6" radius it "should" be able to complete the DPRG course.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">[cid:<a href="mailto:image001.png@01D47FFC.2F30F210" style="color:rgb(25,106,212);text-decoration-line:underline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">image001.png@01D47FFC.2F30F210</a>]<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">For the advanced course I came up with this layout which has all the "elements" of complexity as described in the DPRG line following rules.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Offset, 90 degree, Gap S, 6" Gap, Notch.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">[cid:<a href="mailto:image002.png@01D47FFD.47D9DA60" style="color:rgb(25,106,212);text-decoration-line:underline" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">image002.png@01D47FFD.47D9DA60</a>]<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">I'm working on my idea for a simplified version of the challenge course. The challenge course has many complexities and it will be tricky to get them all into a 36" x 48" course. For me personally I know where my robot struggles so that is what I really want in a test course.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">I just wanted to share my thoughts for any feedback. I plan to be at RBNO tomorrow evening and would love to have some help on a working out a simplified challenge test course.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">I could also use some help laying out the course to get a PDF file for printing. I used PowerPoint to cobble together my ideas but really need a drawing package like inkscape or adobe. I have an artist friend who is a whiz with adobe and could knock this out easily but if anyone in the club can help with this let me know.<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Cheers,<br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><br></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">-Clay Timmons-</div></span><br></div>
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