CONTROL SYSTEMS

Autonomous Control

Autonomous control refers to systems that can operate and make decisions without human intervention.
These systems use sensors, algorithms, and actuators to perceive their environment, make decisions, and take actions.

Key Components of Autonomous Systems:

• Sensors: Gather information about the environment (e.g., cameras, LiDAR, ultrasonic sensors)

• Perception: Process sensor data to understand the environment

• Decision Making: Use algorithms to determine appropriate actions

• Control: Execute decisions by controlling actuators (e.g., motors, servos)

• Learning: Optionally, improve performance over time using machine learning techniques

Autonomous Control Algorithms

While there are many sophisticated algorithms used in autonomous control (such as fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, and reinforcement learning), we'll focus on a simple rule-based system for our Maqueen robot.

Rule-Based System

• A rule-based system uses a set of predefined rules to make decisions. 

• For our obstacle-avoiding robot, we'll use simple "if-then" rules based on sensor inputs.

Maqueen Robot Capabilities

Let's review the Maqueen robot's relevant sensors and actuators for this task:

• Ultrasonic distance sensor: Detects obstacles

• Motors: Control movement (forward, backward, turning)

Designing an Autonomous Control Algorithm

Our goal is to create a robot that can navigate a simple obstacle course autonomously.
Here's our algorithm outline:

WHILE True:

    move_forward

    IF obstacle is detected

        stop

        turn right 90 degrees

        IF obstacle is detected

            turn left 180 degrees

Starter Code

from microbit import *

from maqueenplusv2 import *

init_maqueen()

# Constants

FORWARD_SPEED = 50

OBSTACLE_DISTANCE = 20  # Distance in cm to detect obstacles

# Main loop

while True:

    # Your code here
    sleep(50)

Hints

• Go back to your code for reliable turns, it will be useful here

• Go back to our lesson on calibrating the ultrasonic sensor, this may be useful information