A successful Slovak company Photoneo that originated in the environment of Slovak universities is manufacturing a high quality 3D scanners. They can be used in factories and they can save people from boring and tedious work when used with automation on production lines even in situations where it was not possible before.

Figure: A high-speed solution for manipulating parts of various shapes and sizes utilizing artificial intelligence and 3D scanner. Source: photoneo.com.

In this task, we will attempt to create a simple 3D scanner from a robotic set.

Task for rabbits: A larger object (width about 50-100 cm) is placed on the floor. Its ground plan is unknown (i.e. a larger rectangular, triangular or oval box). Build a robot that can move around this object and which can determine using LEGO sensors as much information about the object as possible. The robot will display this information in some way.

Task for tigers: Build a device, on which it is possible to put or attach some smaller object (width about 15-30 cm) with an unknown shape. The device will epxlore the object by rotating it and in some way using the motors or sensors palpate or observe from as many sides as possible. Transmit the resulting data over to a computer, and visualize them on the screen, ideally in a graphical form. The scanning will be done automatically, but the operator can start its phases manually as needed.

In Slovakia, only about 40% of plastic bottles were recycled until recently. From this year, a new deposit refund scheme for plastic bottles and cans has been launched. It is expected that 90% of plastic bottles will return to the system and will be recycled.

Task for rabbits: Build and program a machine for returning of the recycled bottles. After inserting the bottle into the machine, it will verify if it has the expected mark on a designed location (i.e. a colored tape stripe). If yes, it will move the bottle into a bag with other bottles, produce a sound signal and return a token for the cash register. If not, it will refuse the bottle and make a rejecting sound.

Task for tigers: Build and program a robot for returning the recycled bottles. The machine has an openning, where you can insert a plastic bottle. The machne will verify that the bottle is as expected (it can accept different kids of bottles) - in particular that it has a proper shape and weight. If the bottle satisfies the expectations, it will move it to the bag with other bottles, produce a sound and regurn a token for the cash register. Otherwise, it will return the bottle and produce a rejecting sound.