Light Navigation Robot
Goal
This was my first robotics projects and what got me hooked on robotics. The goal was to create a autonomous light navigating robot to complete an obstacle course.
My Work
I was the lead programmer for our robot. I wrote the code in C using an Arduino. The code would read the light levels from sensors and navigate accordingly to increase the light level and move towards the light. It also contained a case where if the bumper mechanism was triggered, an obstacle avoidance command would be inputted.
My other work was designing the sensor housings for the light sensors. There were three light sensors that helped the robot navigate. One sensor faced the ground to identify which side of the course the robot is on. The second sensor was faced forward to locate the light at the end of the course. The last sensor faced upwards to locate the center light. I used heat to bend plastic and create housings that cut out peripheral light so the sensors could get better directionality.
Result
After hours of debugging, our robot was able to clear the obstacle course in the 2nd fastest time in the class with 54 seconds.