This week we made progress towards finishing the physical aspects of the robot and placing the finishing touches in the software. We finished constructing the basket to carry the tennis balls. We ensured that the basket to fill 20 to 30 balls so that we could meet the requirements we laid out. The basket was made with waterproof plastic to make sure the basket was lightweight and waterproof. We also used the same swivel wheels as used on the arms of the robot to lift the basket off the ground. We still have to finalize how to attach the basket so that it is secure.
On the software side, we added functionality so that when no balls are detected, the robot spins in a 360-degree circle to see if there are any balls outside of its view. If so, it stops spinning and goes after those balls. If it still does not find any tennis balls, the robot stops spinning and waits until a ball is seen.
This week, we were not able to test on the tennis courts as panned because of rain. However, the weather app says that there will not be rain on Monday, so we hope to test on the tennis courts then. In the meantime, we have tested indoors and everything seems to be working as planned.