In undergrad, our engineering 101 course had a team project/final to use the Lego robotics kits to make a robot “mars rover”. There was a play field, and we got points based on the ability to touch ping pong balls, carry ping pong balls, and return ping pong balls to the collection area.

Points were deducted from teams based on “material cost” (each Lego had a price) and “labor” (time to build your robot). Scores were doubled if your robot was autonomous, which was mostly achieved by following black lines on the white table, because the Lego kits included light sensors.

We got to the last day , and realized that what we had was NOT going to work. We scrapped the whole thing, and made a tiny car that just ran straight out, hit a ball, and ran straight back.

On the mission day, they moved the table out of the sub-basement and into the classroom. The change in lighting jacked up everybody’s pathfinding, so everybody’s guidance failed. We failed the cheapest and won the day.

Still can’t figure out of the test was a catastrophe or if we learned the EXACT lesson that he was trying to teach.

Texting 911 is a thing? I had no idea, I never thought about it.

Dang…now I kinda’ wanna’ see that art.

Our Wegmans always had 2 grinders, one was supposed to be dedicated to flavored beans, and the other was supposed to remain “pure”. The grinders were still there about 3 years ago when they re-organized the entire store. I don’t remember if I’ve seen the grinders after the re-model. I’ll check next time I’m there.