Working with Dr. Clark, my research project will involve learning and implementing various JavaScript libraries to create an interactive game teaching user’s about robotics. The main library I will use is a 2D game framework called phaser.io. With phaser.io I will achieve certain project goals, such as building a robotic car with extendable wheel-legs, allowing users to create and configure their own unique robotic cars, and a health bar for keeping track of a vehicle’s health during game play. To complete some of these project goals, the project will rely on both Matter.js, a 2D physics engine for the web, and Svelte.js, a library for building user interfaces. This is not an exhaustive list of libraries I will use and only serves as a guide to current project goals. The goal is to create an interactive environment allowing users to build a robot with transformable wheels to traverse a different terrains.

Terrains may be pre-built or generated at random; since specifics are lacking on this, I will leave the option of doing either or both open. Another slight unknown is how the user interface will play out. We have discussed no specifics regarding how a user interface should or will be used but the goal is to utilize best practices as much as possible. I consider unknowns a part of the project since one cannot plan out an approach which leads to project completion before beginning the project.

I will deal with these unknowns when confronted during the project. Ultimately, we would like the user to specify the robot design from a slider menu and the terrain the robot will encounter. The environment will be a side scrolling game allowing the user to engage significantly longer with the aim of keeping the users high health score for a given session on a given terrain displayed to the user.

Dr. Clark requires weekly updates using a provided template. A mid-term self-evaluation and a final project summary make up the additional requirements. We are also scheduled to meet once a week but have not selected a date/time yet.