Week 1 - 3/2/2017

This 2^nd year project is a line following robot with a micro-controller. This is based of first’s year project an builds up on it by adding in a micro-controller so that the control of this project is much more efficient and this allows the  robot to be more adaptable by responding differently when moving of track. Example would be the addition of the ultrasonic sensor module. The Arduino controls the remaining systems. We would have 2 inputs going into the Arduino which is the sensor circuit and the ultrasonic sensor circuit.

Fortunately for our group all of the parts arrived on time so we could begin work immediately on the project. We started with building the robotic platform and decided on the following deign base:

Whilst we had an initial design for the sensor circuit, which was comprised of a LED and LDR pair with a comparator acting as logic circuit. The voltage from the LDR varied with different light intensity as expected, and so when on a white background the sensors will acknowledge this and with being connected to the motor drive circuit will set the wheels in motion. When the sensors read the black background the motors and therefore wheels will stop. But in our first attempt at combining the sensor circuit the difference between the voltage obtained on a white and black surface were not very large. This made setting the reference voltage difficult which would be needed to ensure the path is taken too properly and followed for the whole track. This problem was later solved somewhat towards the end of the lab session, as we re-tested the circuit and adjust the layout (tested on a breadboard) but throughout the next week we conducted some independent research, to help us carry out a more effective sensor circuit.

 

 Also with the mobile platform we received a switch, although in our original plans and design there was no plan to include a switch but this could become a helpful adaptation to the project as a whole. Although not a necessity if we have time over the next few sessions it would be good to implement this.

Furthermore we have made a slight change in the approach to building the line following robot by swapping the micro-controller from a programmable IC chip to an Arduino as it made integrating the Ultrasonic sensor circuit into the line following robot much easier.