Re: Reflected Signal Problem

[Joyce Poon <poonj@ecf.utoronto.ca>]

Wait... I think there is a very obvious & simpler solution to the
reflected signal problem.  I should have showered before writing those
emails then maybe I wouldn't be so stupid... :) 

I guess we could just have an algorithm that goes something like: 

	if looking directly at beacon signal & keep hitting obstacle
		we are at a reflective surface! 

I guess since the game ends when the robot makes the tag, we can just have
the robot bounce off the obstacle maybe 3 times and if it's not turned off
after that, then we will say that it is at a reflective surface and it
will go in a new direction. 

But there is a disadvantage to this -- we might be misled from the very
beginning by the reflection (ie we won't find out that we are looking at a
reflection until we hit the mirror).  So our poor robot will try so
hard to reach the illusive signal thinking all its efforts will
ultimately result in success, only to be crushed by defeat when it does
reach the signal (sort of like the ODE midterm...)! 

I guess the real question is whether we want to look-ahead sensors for
reflective surfaces, which means the bumper-level sensors idea should be
on the wish list for now. 

Joyce :)