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Capstone Project: Coral Reef Cleanup

Introducing the Coral Reef Cleanup Challenge 

Every year, 8 to 12 million metric tons of harmful plastic waste pollutes oceans around the world. In this challenge, you will code the VR Robot to clean the coral reef, making the ocean a healthier and safer habitat for marine life. 

Watch the video below to discover more about the Coral Reef Cleanup Challenge.

Challenge Details

  • The VR Robot is equipped with a solar charger and a battery. 
  • The battery's charge only lasts a few minutes. You must collect as much trash as possible before the battery drains completely.
  • The robot must not collide with the coral reef. If it does, the mission will immediately end.
  • The VR Robot is also equipped with a Distance Sensor, an Eye Sensor, a Bumper Sensor and a Location Sensor.
  • Once the battery is drained, the VR Robot will stop moving and the total amount of trash collected will be displayed.

 

This Challenge Document provides important details about the Coral Reef Cleanup Challenge.

Available Resources

Challenge Rubric

Your team's performance will be evaluated using a rubric containing the following categories: planning and brainstorming, pseudocoding, coding and execution, teamwork and collaboration, and mission success.

Coral Reef Cleanup Challenge Rubric

 

A summary of each category, along with an overview of exemplary work in each category, is provided below.

An icon of a pencil writing notes on a piece of paper, indicating planning.

Planning and Brainstorming

A solid plan is essential for successfully coding the VR Robot to clean up as much trash as possible from the ocean floor.

Exemplary planning and brainstorming:

  • Results in a list of several innovative, comprehensive ideas for solving the challenge.
  • Shows that the group has collaboratively discussed the pros and cons of each idea.
  • Reflects the varied perspectives of all team members.

An icon of a bulleted list indicating Pseudocoding.

Pseudocoding

Pseudocoding is the process of breaking down your ideas for cleaning up trash with the VR Robot into human-readable steps before you begin to code. 

Exemplary pseudocoding includes:

  • Incorporating many features of the VR Robot so it is used to its full potential.
  • Thorough and efficient path planning.
  • Detailed comments.
  • Steps that are in logical order.
     

An icon of the outlines of code blocks indicating Building and Testing a project.

Coding and Execution

The Coding and Execution category evaluates the success of your coding project.

Exemplary Coding and Execution means the project:

  • Cleans as much trash as possible from the ocean floor.
  • Is highly efficient.
  • Includes comments for each section.
  • Has been thoroughly tested.
     

An icon of three people with a glowing light bulb above them, indicating teamwork and collaboration.

Teamwork and Collaboration

Teamwork and Collaboration is how well your team communicates and works together.

Exemplary teamwork and collaboration means:

  • Team members actively support each other.
  • All team members contribute to discussion and play a role in solving the challenge.
  • Communication is ongoing, clear and productive.

An icon of an award badge indicating successful completion of a mission.

Mission Success

This category considers how your group optimized your coding project for the VR Robot to collect trash.

Exemplary mission success means:

  • A great deal of trash has been collected, including hard-to-reach pieces.
  • Advanced strategy for collecting trash is apparent.
  • The VEXcode project is optimized to include efficient path planning and decision making. 

Phase 1: Planning

The Coral Reef Cleanup Challenge can be solved using a three-phase process. The first phase is planning. The goal of this phase is a list of several ideas you could use to code the VR Robot to clean up as much trash as possible.

  • Review the Challenge Document with your team. Be sure everyone fully understands the goals and requirements of the challenge before brainstorming ideas. If you have questions about the challenge, ask other groups, or your teacher.
  • Collaborate with your team to come up with a list of several ideas for coding the VR Robot to clean up as much trash as possible. Record your ideas so you can look at them later.
  • Narrow your team's list down to the top ideas.
  • Your team's planning and brainstorming will be evaluated on how well you work together to make a detailed list of creative solutions.

An example notebook page with ideas listed is shown. There are several colors and sketches, and squiggly lines to indicate writing. Arrows, cross outs, and highlights show the iterative nature of the planning phase.

When your group is finished, check in with your teacher by sharing your list of ideas. Do not move on to the next phase until your teacher has approved your ideas. 

Phase 2: Pseudocoding

After your plan has been reviewed by your teacher, the next phase is pseudocoding.

  • Begin by recording the high-level steps needed to solve the challenge in human-readable language. 
    • These steps should become the comments in your coding project.
  • Break down your high-level steps into the individual behaviors the VR Robot will need to complete to clean up as much trash as possible.
  • Your pseudocoding will be evaluated on how clearly it is written, whether the steps are detailed and in the right order, and whether you are using several of the main functions of the VR Robot (such as managing the battery life).

A handwritten diagram and pseudocode for driving the VR Robot to pick up trash. The diagram shows a robot at the start position with a directional path indicating movement forward, a turn to the right, and then forward again. Below the diagram, the pseudocode reads: "Start. 1. Drive to the first piece of trash. a. Drive forward. 2. Drive to the next piece of trash. a. Turn right. b. Drive forward." The steps are clearly marked and correspond to the robot's path shown in the diagram.

When your group is finished, check in with your teacher by sharing your pseudocode. Do not move on to the next phase until your teacher has approved it. 

Phase 3: Building and Testing

The next phase of the process is building and testing your project.

  • Use your pseudocode to build and test each behavior the VR Robot needs to complete to clean up as much trash as possible.
  • Test as you go! Do not try to build the entire project at once before testing. This will make it easier to troubleshoot any issues.
  • Iterate on your project frequently to increase the amount of trash the VR Robot can clean up. 
    • Refine your plan and pseudocode as needed to improve on your ability to clean up the ocean floor.
  • Your team's coding and execution will be evaluated by how much trash the VR Robot cleans up with as few errors and as many optimizations as possible. 

A sample VEXcode VR program begins with a "when started" block, followed by a comment block reading "Drive to the first piece of trash" and a block to Drive forward for 800mm. The next comment reads Drive to the next piece of trash with blocks to turn right for 90 degrees and drive forward for 700 mm. A green checkmark icon is displayed on the right side, indicating successful command validation or completion.

Final Review

Once your team has coded the VR Robot to collect as much trash as possible, meet with your teacher to review your progress throughout all of the phases of the challenge. You will complete the rubric together. It will evaluate your team’s planning, pseudocode, coding project, collaboration, and mission success.

Coral Reef Cleanup Challenge Rubric

Wrap Up Reflection

Once you have completed the Coral Reef Cleanup Challenge, it is time to reflect on your process and progress. First, answer the questions below in your engineering notebook. Then, meet again as a team to share and discuss your answers with one another.

  1. How many kilograms of trash were you able to collect in the challenge? What actions or decisions do you think contributed to this outcome? What improvements could you make to your project?
  2. What role did you play in your group while solving the challenge? What contributions did you make that helped your team to solve the challenge? What could you do to be a better group member?
  3. What did you learn about how you learn when solving this challenge? 
  4. How could you apply the knowledge and the skills you gained from this challenge to solve problems in the future?