Planet Elsa

A blog for Robotics, Ideas and Fun!

Blog

  • Project Sphinx

    Hi guys! It’s Elsa. Today, me and my dad are working on a project called Project Sphinx, because when we finish it, we are planning to make it look kinda like the sphinx. So. Our plan is to make a collar thing around my cats neck with a M5 stick. So it senses when my cats not moving (sleeping), and when he is. So when he’s moving (awake), the sphinx thingy would make a noise like opening a cat treat that he likes, and then he would come running over, and the laser would shoot and give my cat some exercise because he’s too fat.

    That’s our rough planning draft. Sorry, it’s kinda ugly.

    Our messy workspace 😅

    So that’s all for today! Yay Project Sphinx!

  • We joined the #robocup rescue line at SAC! 5th place in 12!

    It was a great experience for the girls. Although most of the participants are from high schools, Elsa and her friends are having lots of fun!

    Our coding seems to be working for the line following, color detection and obstacle detection. However we definitely need to improve the design for the ramp, and we are not really prepared for the rescue zone.

    Look forward to the Robocup America in October 2026!

  • New 5 Way Line Follower with M5Stack and a few other updates

    We have been optimizing our robot car a lot recently. There are a few new changes:

    (1) A new 5 way line follower has been added to replace the original ones because they are too big for such a competition.

    (2) The layout has been siginificantly re-adjusted – not sure if we made good choices lol

    (3) Some other sensors have been added.

    (4) We are having some challenges in recognizing color sticks. Still trying to adjust the hardware and codings.

    Time is limited for all these works!

  • M5stack bot running for the first time

    We spent a few weeks building a new #m5stack #robot car. Not as smooth as we thought but it starts running. Elsa and I found the wheels are not turning very well sometimes – however we used a pair of powerful Pololu motors and a very strong battery. Is it because of the weight?

  • New Micro:bit robot being tested!

    We made it with a bigger structure, added a new universal wheel to it, and adjusted the speed a lot because we were trying to pass the line with the gap in it. It worked out okay but it didn’t improve that much.😅

  • Micro:bit succeeds following the black line!

    Our first micro:bit robot follows the black lines!

    It was a big success!

  • New LEGO Hardware & Our M5Stack Journey

    New LEGO Hardware & Our M5Stack Journey

    LEGO just announced the new FIRST LEGO League (Future Edition) hardware. It’s always interesting to see how these tools evolve to improve the experience for kids getting into robotics. While Elsa isn’t getting this set right now, it’s definitely something we might explore down the road.

    For now, our focus is on the M5Stack that’s currently on its way to us.

    I’m looking forward to seeing Elsa explore a different side of hardware—moving into a more open, industrial-style platform. It will be a great chance to compare different ways of thinking and building. Can’t wait for the mail to arrive!

  • Micro:bit guitar

    I built this myself, isn’t it cool? If you move the adjustable panel, it will play different tunes. I even managed to play “Twinkle twinkle little star”!

  • Simulate the testing field..

    This is only phase 1 and let’s see what we can do!