Although it is one of the classics of robotics for beginners, the line follower robot, made at high level, is quite complex. On Youtube you can see line follower running at 3 m / s and more, with optimization and maximum performance research that achieves discrete levels. Usually a line follower competition is based on pure speed and the path is quite linear and simple, with large curves and wide straights. In this case the hardware part is the most important, because the sw part is quite simple to build. it is important to find the right compromise between the mechanical parts and the engine, to make it running as fast as possible. Unfortunately requires a lot of money, because the engine performance search or the wheels with special tires can be very expensive.The alternative is based on paths that are rather difficult or very twisted, with right angles, intersecting lines, lines breaks, obstacles and so on. In this case the HW is much less important. More important is the algorithm and then the sw. The ability of the robot builder is to build a powerful algorithm that allows the robot to drive fast in every situation. The robot that I have realized, that is able to face a tortuous path made of curves at 180° rather than tight coils, trying to have a good speed. The robot ,according to tradition, was home built. It is also already equipped with an infrared sensor front in case you wish to use it in a path with obstacles. It ‘s built with the following elements:
- Chassis 5 mm PVC foam (few cents)
- Arduino Nano (about 40 euros)
- Drive Pololu 50:1 HP (about 30 euros both)
- Pololu motor bracket (both about 6 euros)
- Caster wheel Pololu 3.8 “plastic (about 3 euros)
- Pololu Wheels 42×19 (both about 10 euros)
- Motor driver SparkFun TB6612FNG (about 9 euros)
- Sharp IR Distance sensor 4-30 cm (about 15 euros)
- Sensor line Pololu QT-8RC (about 12 euros)
- 7.4V 900mAh Battery Li-Po (about 9 euros)
- some screws and wires
Details, pictures and code here: http://robottini.altervista.org/microbot-advanced-line-follower
Line Follower
- Actuators / output devices: Pololu 50:1 HP
- CPU: Arduino 2009
- Power source: Li-Po 7.4V 900mAh
- Sensors / input devices: Pololu QT-8RC
- Target environment: indoor
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/microbo-t-advanced-line-follower