Week 1 Robotics

Overview:

This week our team was tasked with designing a course for a robot that would emulate escaping from a natural disaster. We had to use what we know about programming in order to alter the sample code to make our robot go through the course we made successfully. We utilized the light, touch and ultrasonic sensors on our robot to navigate through the course and avoid all the obstacles and reach the end of the course.

Computer Engineering:

Computer engineering is a branch of engineering that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineering goes deeper into the hardware and software ,giving you a broad experience with components, systems, and programs. Seamlessly integrating the latest innovations, computer engineers develop new computer hardware, design and implement software applications, and enhance the capabilities of networks and communications systems.

Robotics:

A robotics engineers are the behind-the-scenes designers who is responsible for creating robots and robotic systems that are able to perform duties that humans are either unable or prefer not to complete. Robotics Engineers work in a variety of different fields in engineering including mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering. Most of the time a robotics engineer are the ones to create , a robotics engineer helps to make jobs safer, easier, and more efficient, particularly in the manufacturing industry.

Robotics is a technology in which the design, construction, and operation of robots are automation. A robot is a system which exists physically world and uses its sensors to autonomously complete a task. The sensors include, effectors, actuators, locomotion systems, on-board computer systems, and controllers.

Sensor: physical device that measures physical quantities; constitutes the robot's perception

Effector: device that has an effect on the environment

Actuator: mechanism that gives an effector the ability to carry out an action

Behavior: what the robot appears to be doing to the outside viewer

Actions: many processes carried out by a robot through code/programming in order to achieve a certain behavior

Feedback: checking and reacting to the input brought in by the sensors.

Positive Feedback increases the state or output of a system given an sensor input , while a negative feedback regulates/decreases the state or output of a system given a sensor input.

Design Plan:

Our initial plan was to utilize the ultrasonic sensor to detect an obstacle. Once an obstacle is detected we would then use what we know about the course to command the robot to go either left or right. We tried to alter some of the sample code so that we could get the robot to make the turns correctly and avoid obstacles in the process. When we ran into trouble with the inconsistency of the turns we tried our best to try and utilize the gyro censor to get more consistent and accurate turns. Although we tried our best to modify the program to get the best results, we ended up not using the sensor. We continued testing slight modifications to our course and code until we got to a combination that was the most consistent at reaching the end successfully. To make the course a bit more interesting we added a couple additional visual components to our course to make it look better.

Sensors

• Ultrasonic Sensor: This sensor works by emitting high frequency sound waves. Once the sound wave hits an obstruction, it bounces back to the sensor, indicating an obstacle.

• Light Sensor: The light sensor can detect the basic color of an object or surface by illuminating a surface with an infrared LED and measuring how much light is reflected.

Flow Chart

Because our robot was made specifically for the course, the flow chart diagram reflects distinct turns. On initialization, the robot moves forward. If an obstacle is detected, the robot either turns left or right depending on the robot's position. After a turn is made the robot continues to move forward.

Conclusion:

What we learned

• How to use light and ultrasonic sensors

• How to program

• How to build a website

• How to write a research paper in IEEE format

What we would change

• Use gyro sensor for precise turning

• Organizing code