Line Following Robot

Inspiration

I attended a workshop on using an arduino to build a line following robot.

What it does

The robot uses IR Sensors to follow a line, adjusting course with the line.

How I built it

I built it using an arduino uno, a breadboard, 9V battery, three IR Sensors, a motor driver and a car body kit provided at the CreatED hackathon, held by the Embedded and Robotics Society (EaRS) at Appleton tower Edinburgh.

Challenges I ran into

I had a lot of trouble getting the IR sensors to detect the line correctly, as the sensitivity of the sensors caused them to operate at unusual distances from the line or not detect it at all. However I received help adjusting the potentiometers on each of the three sensors which caused the robot to perform correctly. Unfortunately when I next tested it and all the times afterwards I could not get the sensors to operate correctly to detect and follow the line. However I realised later that the surface on which I had been testing the robot was causing confusion as it was dark enough to trick the sensors into believing it was still following the black tape. When I then tested this on a line of black tape on a completely white surface it operated perfectly.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am proud to have used hardware and software for the first time, making something which operated according to code I had written.

What I learned

I learned how to program arduino uno boards and how to use breadboards to set up electronic circuits.

What's next for Line Following Robot

Unfortunately since all of the equipment used was provided at the hackathon, I don't have access to it, however given the chance I would like to figure out how to make the sensors work correctly.

Built With

• c