Building Robots With Lego Mindstorms

Doing the Math • Chapter 12 223

imum value of SIZE is the total number of variables allowed by the LEGO

firmware, which is 32. Each array element counts as a variable.

Weighted Averages

We explained that simple averages have the property of smoothing peaks and val-

leys in your data. Sometimes, though, you want to smooth data to reduce the

effect of single readings, yet at the same time put more importance on recent

values than older ones. In fact, the more recent the data, the more representative

the possible trend in the readings.

Let’s suppose your robot is navigating a black and white pad, and that it’s

crossing the border between the two areas.The ...