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Design and building of a line follower robot

Franklin Jara, Francisco Mendez, Jessica Galvez, Dayana Carrillo


Escuela Superior Politcnica de Chimborazo
Riobamba, Ecuador
Franksk8_jara@hotmail.com, , ,
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A. The Sensors

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(key words)

I. INTRODUCTION
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II. LINE FOLLOWER ROBOT STRUCTURE

This robot can be divided into several parts:


Sensors
Processor (Arduino)
Actuators (Motors and wheels)
Chassis
The electrical circuit of some line follower robots can
compare the analog signal received form sensors and then
transmit the result to the processor in digit '0' or '1' and some
of them send the analog signals to the processor directly and
the processor ought to convert them to digital form. Anyway,
the analog signals must be converted to the digital form and
then the processor can process them.
The main elements of electrical structure are sensors, Analog
to Digital Converter, Processor and Motor Driver.

Fig.1. The sensor array reflectance


This kind of robot uses Infrared Ray sensors to find the path
and direction; Infrared Ray sensors contain a match infrared
transmitter and infrared receiver pair. White surfaces generally
reflect well, but while black surfaces reflect poorly.
If the receiver receives the reflection ray, it means that the
robot is on white and if it cannot receive it, so the robot is on
black. These devices work by measuring the amount of light
that is reflected into the receiver. Because the receiver also
responds to ambient light, the device works best when well
shielded from ambient light, and when the distance between
the sensor and the reflective surface is small (less than 10mm).
IR reflectance sensors are often used to detect white and black
surfaces. White surfaces generally reflect well, but while black
surfaces reflect poorly.
The sensor array reflectance fig.1 is used as sensor detector
lines but can be used as a proximity sensor or reflectance
general purpose, the module brings eight infrared light
emitters and receivers (phototransistors) each pair is separated
in steps of 0.375 "(9.525mm) each phototransistor is
connected to a resistor pull - up to form a voltage divider for
obtaining an analog output voltage in the range from 0 VDC VIN (which typically is 5VDC).
B. Processor (Arduino)

The Arduino is already pre-built out of the box; that will be


used later when we finally build the program and test out the
robot. This is the brain of the robot; this will hold the code that

will allow the robot to follow the line and this will have most
of the signal connections plugged in from the motor control
board and sensors.
Arduino is a family of single-board microcontrollers, intended
to make it easier to build interactive objects or
environments. The hardware consists of an open-source
hardware board
designed
around
an
8
bit Atmel AVR microcontroller or a 32-bit Atmel ARM.
Current models feature a USB interface together with six
analog input pins and 14 digital I/O pins that can
accommodate various extension boards.
Software:
The Arduino integrated development environment (IDE) is
a cross-platform application written in Java, and derives from
the IDE for the Processing programming language and
the Wiring projects. It is designed to introduce programming
to artists and other newcomers unfamiliar with software
development. It includes a code editor with features such
as syntax highlighting, brace matching, and automatic
indentation, and is also capable of compiling and uploading
programs to the board with a single click. A program or code
written for Arduino is called a sketch.

Usually there are two movement systems for robots:


1. Wheel
2. Tank system
It is better to use wheels for line follower robots. We can use
three wheels. Two of them are joined to the motors and
installed rear the robot and the other wheel is free and
installed front of the robot as a passive caster. Like Fig. 2
which can be seen in below.

C. The Actuators (Motors and wheels)


The movement system is an important part of a robot and its
objective is how to move robot from one point to another
point. This system has some details which show us how to use
motors and wheels. There are many kinds of motors and
wheels. Our choice is dependent on the robot function, power,
speed, and precision.

Fig.2 Front and rear wheels


Ball Caster

We used two servo motors because, Servo motors have been


around for a long time and are used in many applications.
This will be the front-turning wheel that will allow the robot
to swivel one way or the other without scraping the chassis.
The ball caster is easy to mount; add the spacer to give it
enough height so that the platform stays level with the ground
(or you can leave it out as long as the sensors that will be
mounted are not too close to the ground).
They are small in size but pack a big punch and are very
energy efficient. Because of these features, they can be used to
operate
remote-controlled
or
radio-controlled toy
cars, robots and airplanes. Servo motors are also used in
industrial applications, robotics, in-line manufacturing,
pharmaceutics and food services. But how do the little guys
work?
The servo circuitry is built right inside the motor unit and has
a positionable shaft, which usually is fitted with a gear (as
shown below). The motor is controlled with an electric signal
which determines the amount of movement of the shaft.

D. The Chassis and Body

Fig.3 fiberglass chassis

There are some good materials for designing robots such as


wood, plastic, aluminum and brass alloys. We must pay
attention to the resistance, weight and mechanical ability for
choosing one of them. There are some agents that we can use
them to choose a good body, ability to perforate, incision,
flexibility and etc.
In the designed robot, fiberglass fig.3 has been used for
chassis because of its lightweight and being strong enough for
our project. All components can be installed on the circuit
fiber to decrease the weight. For example, motors can be fixed
under the fiber and other segments can be installed on the
fiber.

The appearance of robot, definitely, is not important. It is


noted that the performance is much more important than other
things. We have reached to this point that it is better not to use
any types of glue for installing components. Therefore, the
components can be installed just by screws.
III. CONCLUSIONS:
IV. REFERENCES:
[1] Mehran pakdaman, M. Mehdi Sanaatiyan, Mahdi Rezaei
Ghahroudi, A line follower robot from desing to
implementation: Technical issues and problems, Babol,
Iran.
[2] Raimund Edlinger, Michael Zauner, Walter Rokitansky,
Electronic Platform for Small Robots in Education,
Stelzhamerstr. 23,4600 wels, Austria.

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