Maze follower robot
- 1. Maze follower robot Vikas kumar Eckovation Robotics
- 2. Research • Maze follower robot can be made as making some extension in the line follower robot as maze is made of lines and two basics sensors are needed to follow the line. • Now, to identify other paths like intersection of more than 1 path we need other sensors. Possible cases could be intersection of left and straight turn, left, right and straight turn and right and straight turn. We could use one sensor to identify for if there is any right turn and one sensor for if there is any left turn. • If the left sensor turns on there is a left path(or with a straight path) and if the right sensor turns on there is a right path(or with a straight path). If both the sensor turns on then there is a intersection(having both left and right path) or it could be end of Maze. • To identify between end and intersection(having both left and right path) the robot will move couple of inches forward so if still all the sensor are on then the maze has ended.
- 3. To choose between multiple path if there is any we have to follow the algorithm like left hand or right hand algorithm. If robot encounters more than one path then it either take the left path or right path depending on the algorithm chosen. If all the sensors are off at a point then there is dead end and robot has to reverse his direction and follow the algorithm.
- 4. Components • Bread board It is required to make the circuit as it provides platform for junction of multiple wires and circuits. • Arduino uno It has a microcontroller that can be programmed so that it can behave as a maze follower robot. It takes input from the sensors and provides output to the motor driver module according to the programming. • 4 Ir sensors It is used to detect the path that the robot have to travel and send the signal to Arduino Uno • L289N Dual bridge motor driver It is a motor driver module that is used to drive motors of the robot according to the path input that is being provided by Arduino uno and it also helps in controlling the speed of robot. • Connecting wires It is used to complete the circuit and provide the connection between different components • 9w battery It is used for providing power supply to the Motor driver module.
- 7. Procedure to make the robot • First we need a body in which two wheels with the motor can be fixed so that it can move like a robot car. • Then we need to insert the wires from motor to the Motor driver module in the indicated slot as output . • Now we need four IR sensors that has to be placed in the front of the robot so that it can respond to the path made for the robot. Vcc terminal of the sensors should be connected to 5v of Arduino and ground terminal of sensor should be connected to the ground of Arduino. The outputs of the sensor should be connected to 2(rightmost sensor) to 5(leftmost sensor) Arduino digital pins in order. • Digital pin of Arduino from 11 to 6 should be connected to EnaA to EnaB of motor driver module in order. • Two red led should be connected to A3 and A4 of Arduino. • A 9watt battery is required to give power to motor driver module and +ve terminal of battery should be connected to +9v terminal of motor driver module and –ve terminal should be connected to ground of motor driver module. • Power bank is needed to power the Arduino.
- 8. Issues faced during the assembly and solution • The robot was not moving in any of the condition provided by sensor. It can be fixed by changing the 9watt battery used to power the motor driver module as it is not getting sufficient power. • Robot could not identify the path perfectly and it often changes the path which it has to travel We need to make sure that the middle two sensor come inside the black line used to make the path of maze. • Robot does not follow the path make sure that Arduino works properly by checking individual pin by running test code for that pin. Also motor driver module and ir sensors should be checked that if it is working properly or not.
- 9. Extra items needed that was not provided in the kit • Sensors: More sensors were needed to complete the robot as the kit provides only two • L289N dual bridge motor driver module: The L289 motor driver module provided in kit is simple one and the speed of motor can not be controlled by that module so we need dual bridge motor driver module which helps to control the speed of robot at different points accordingly.