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Agile on wheels: The line follower robot race

Bonus Session

Experience agility through hardware: deliver a working robot early, improve it via fast feedback, and learn how testing and team roles keep speed safe.

Timetable

8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. Wednesday 18th

Room

Room D5+D6

Agile Methodologies

Audience

ATD attendees who want a fun experience. No robotics experience required.

Required

Laptop with USB. We will provide a setup guide before the session.

Key-Learnings

  • Apply Scrum ways of working to a physical product: backlog, slicing, Definition of Done, and short inspect and adapt loops.
  • Build a practical test strategy for sensors + control: quick checks, exploratory runs, and using data to tune behavior.
  • Practice effective team roles and collaboration (PO/SM/Dev/Test) to reduce handoffs and make quality a shared responsibility.

A practical hardware and software workshop where agile teams build and test a line-following robot in short sprints, culminating in the best ATD race!

In this Bonus Session, participants form small agile teams and build a line-following robot that must complete a taped “race track” on the floor. Teams use a control board reading two digital line sensors and driving two DC motors. Instead of aiming for the perfect robot from the start, teams work in short sprints: they create a backlog, agree on a Definition of Done, deliver a walking skeleton quickly (robot moves and detects the line), and then iterate on reliability and speed.

We’ll make testing visible and practical: quick sensor sanity checks, “pit-stop” regression runs between changes, and exploratory track sessions to surface edge cases (sharp turns, crossings, inconsistent lighting, battery effects). Teams learn to use feedback (measurements and observations) to improve behavior by tuning parameters and improving build and wiring quality.

We keep agility tangible by slicing work into small stories, making risks explicit, and using a lightweight test checklist as part of the team’s Definition of Done.

Co-facilitated by two hosts, Sara (agile facilitator) and Pablo (pit engineer), we end with a friendly race and a retro on how roles, teamwork, and quality practices changed outcomes under time pressure. Participants leave with a repeatable pattern for turning uncertainty into learning.

Related Sessions

There are currently no related sessions listed. Please check back once the program is officially released.