Velocity Arena · Gotham Tech
You already have an equation for how far your bot drives. Now run it backwards: given a target line on the floor, find the drive time that stops your bot right on it.
You need your Distance Lab equation, the Target Challenge code on your bot, and the target line your teacher tapes down.
From the Distance Lab. It looks like distance = speed × time + start-up. Here speed is your bot's cm per second from the Distance Lab (a number like 38) — not the 1–17 Speed stat you set in the code.
Your equation gives distance when you know the time. But the target gives you the distance and asks for the time. So solve it the other way:
Start from distance = speed × time + start-up. Set the distance to your target. Undo the start-up (subtract it), then undo the speed (divide by it). What's left is the time.
Your start-up is a negative number, so subtracting it actually adds — e.g. target − (−7) = target + 7. Keep the sign and let the arithmetic handle it.
To hit the line exactly, you tell the bot your drive time in milliseconds and download. In the Target Challenge code, you change only the ★ line.
If you missed, why? Change one thing — a better speed number, a better start-up, or fix a crooked drive — and aim at a new target. Keep going.
| Round | Target (cm) | Time we set (s) | Where it stopped (cm) | Miss (cm) | The one thing we changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 4 |
Each round: new target → new time → new ms → change the ★ line → Download → drive. The shaded columns are the ones you set and measure.
Your teacher calls out a surprise target nobody has practiced. Everyone works out the time, programs the exact milliseconds, and drives. Closest to the line wins. Best of 2 — you get two tries and your closest one counts.
Everyone aims at the same target and everyone programs the exact time — so the winner is whoever's equation and measuring were sharpest. Fair and square.
On Thursday, a visitor tries your Target Challenge. You teach them to hit the line using your equation. Write the one sentence you'll open with — no jargon:
"To make the bot stop on the line, take the target distance, , then . That gives you the number of seconds to drive."
a. Which teammate did you teach?
b. Did they hit the target after one explanation?
c. Where did they get stuck? Rewrite that part of your explanation: