Here is the Robot in action: http://www.gfycat.com/AdventurousGlisteningEuropeanfiresalamander

I dusted off my old time capsule and managed to find the video demonstration of the Robot in action: http://www.gfycat.com/AdventurousGlisteningEuropeanfiresalamander The reason it closes when my finger is close to the sensor is because the red light from the light sensor reflects back into the sensor making a brighter reading.

Oh damn yet another thought provoking idea. Thanks! I feel like nothing is perfect and every project can be tweaked if you think about it.

I never thought of feathering around the threshold. Thanks! I am fairly new to programming so these kinds of ideas are stepping into new learning grounds for me, thank you for that!

Okay, it took me some time to understand this because I am fairly new to programming but I see what you're getting at. This is definitely something to think about. You're saying having a threshold that is just like a thin line right? Thank you for adding this comment. I will have to try this out!

In each function whether the blinds open or close I have a time delay: "wait1Msec (1000);" and on top of that I have another delay right before the variable "i" changes. This will prevent chaos, but maybe I should make the motors gradually increase in speed rather than jumping straight to the required speed.

I will try and find the video demonstrating the Robot in action.

The program is run on an NXT 1.0 Programmable Brick: https://shop.education.lego.com/legoed/en-US/catalog/product.jsp?productId=5003402&isSimpleSearch=false&ProductName=NXT+Base+Set&ProductLine=LEGO+MINDSTORMS+Education+NXT

I will try to find the video demonstration. I also used AutoDesk Inventor 3D to create a small frame and blinds that worked quite well with the lego: http://www.autodesk.com/products/inventor/overview