Mobile Museum: Nail to Nail

The system

Eight robots and stations connected to one master controller. The master runs seven operating modes and broadcasts the current mode to every unit on three signal lines. The Coding Story acts as the museum's control centre, as Sweden's standard requires live monitoring.

Demo script

The full demonstration runs through all seven modes in about six minutes. Team members play the visitor, the staff, and the thief; the judges simply watch. Every Coding Story scene is triggered by a robot or sensor.

Every Coding Story scene

Backdrops must use bold shapes, high contrast, and large blocks of colour with no fine detail or small text, because uploaded images lose quality.

Artefact passports

Each artefact's barcode links to a passport record. The record tells the arm how gently to grip, tells the cases how much light is allowed, tells the climate bay what range to hold, and holds the story in every language. Try scanning one below. The descriptions are placeholders to replace with your chosen artefacts.

Journey log for the selected artefact

Sample data showing how the passport traces any problem to one leg of the journey, as real condition reports do.

Raid response

Your research shows the pattern: raids now take three to eight minutes, so alarms only help if physical barriers delay thieves until help arrives. Nail to Nail is designed around delay. These are target times for the team to test and measure, not results yet.

Every feature, matched to a real standard

This table is the answer to "Is it realistic?" Each row is a real requirement from your research, and the column on the right shows which robot meets it. Show it to your professor and use it in your judging presentation.

Technical features

These are the engineering points to explain to judges. Each one is something real systems do, scaled to competition size.

int mode = 0;
int caseWeight = 0;
int expectedWeight = 186;
int tolerance = 2;

void loop() {
  mode = digitalRead(MODE_A) + digitalRead(MODE_B) * 2 + digitalRead(MODE_C) * 4;
  caseWeight = readCaseWeight();

  if (mode == MODE_OPEN) {
    if (caseWeight < expectedWeight - tolerance) {
      raiseAlarm();
    }
  }
  else if (mode == MODE_CLOSED) {
    if (glassHit() == 1 && secondSensor() == 1) {
      dropVault();
      closeShutter();
    }
  }
  else if (mode == MODE_UNPACK || mode == MODE_PACK) {
    if (caseWeight < expectedWeight - tolerance && digitalRead(ARM_HOLDING) == LOW) {
      raiseAlarm();
    }
  }
}

SCAN                  laptop asks arm to read passport
ID,MM-A01             arm reports barcode
GRIP,5                laptop sets max grip (newtons)
MOVE,CRATE,1          pick from crate slot 1
MOVE,STATION          place on condition turntable
CHECK,PASS            laptop: photo and weight match
MOVE,CASE,1           place in case 1
OK                    arm confirms each step
FAULT,GRIP            arm: force limit reached early

Build plan

Build the riskiest and most memorable parts first. The core system works on its own; the escort rover is a stretch goal that adds polish but can be cut.

1. Confirm the rules and the Coding Story triggersCheck what hardware IRO Creative allows, and confirm that robots can change Coding Story scenes through a signal input. Everything below depends on both.
2. Choose the three artefacts and make the replicasFix their sizes and weights before designing the crate slots, gripper, cases, or vaults. Put each passport barcode on the artefact's base or mount where the wrist scanner can read it.
3. Build the Curator Arm and passport lookup firstThe arm is the heart of the system. Get it scanning, gripping within each profile's limit, and placing in all positions reliably, 50 times in a row.
4. Build one vault caseUse a spring-damped drop released by a servo catch pin, then a motor to raise it back. A drop is much faster than lowering with a motor. Prove the under-two-second target, then build the other two.
5. Build the condition stationWebcam, turntable, and load cell, with Python comparing each photo and weight against the last record.
6. Build the Security Hub and mode linesGive every unit a test switch that sets the mode by hand, so sub-teams can test their unit alone before integration.
7. Build the climate crate bay and the truckSelf-levelling platform, climate sensors, and actuators, then the line-following truck with expanding walls.
8. Build the kiosk and record the narrationThree artefacts in four languages gives twelve audio tracks and twelve Coding Story scenes. Ask native speakers to check the translations and record them if possible.
9. Integrate, then rehearse the six-minute demoRun the full script end to end, time every mode, and decide what to do if any unit fails.
10. Stretch: build the escort roverAdd it only once the core system runs reliably.

Facts to verify

Most of these come from your research notes. Check each one against its original source before the meeting, especially the recent heist details, which may have changed since your notes were written.