Worksheet: Follow the Guidelines

Introduction to Mobile Robotics > Follow the Guidelines

Follow the steps in the online directions, and answer the questions at the appropriate times.

Construct: What is Line Tracking?

Check your understanding:

1. What is the robot looking for? The light sensors when to move based on the light and dark 2. Which way should it go when it sees light? Why? To the right. Because when its sensors darkness it goes to the left but it needs to go to the right to get back onto the dark

3. Which way should it go when it sees dark? Why? To the left. Because its currently in the dark so it goes to the left to get back onto the light.

Construct: Find the Threshold

Record and check:

4. Record the threshold value you calculated. 43 5. Classify each of the following light sensor values as light or dark, using the threshold value you calculated for your light sensor. I. 34 light II. 78 dark III. 51 dark IV. 40 light Construct: Create your Program

Check your understanding:

6. Sketch either a filled sun (light) or an empty sun (dark) to show which half of the switch block the program will run for each of the following values (if the Switch Block threshold is 45). I. 91 II. 36 III. 5 IV. 20

Construct: Control the Motors

Check your understanding:

7. Using your own calculated threshold, describe the motion that the robot will make when the light sensor reads: I. 27 right II. 38 right III. 91 left IV. 45 left Contemplate 8. The line tracking behaviour is built by organizing several smaller behaviours to run at certain times. Identify two of these smaller behaviours, and explain what they do in the program and when they are used. One is turning left towards the dark and the other is turning right towards the light

9. Mele writes this program one afternoon, tests it, and finds that it tracks a line well. However, when she comes back the next morning, it doesnt work! She places her robot on the line and runs the program, but to her surprise, the robot only swing turns to the right in a circle the whole time. Explain what the cause of this problem is, your reasoning for why this is the case, and what needs to be done to fix it. If you dont have any idea what could be wrong, explain instead what steps you would take to help Mele find and fix the issue. For each step, explain how and why you would take that step. The reason for this problem is because it is morning and the weather and the lighting are different to the afternoon hence changing the brightness of the lines. She could fix it by testing the lighting threshold again and then fix the programing according to the threshold still using the same buttons.

10. Imagine that instead of dark tape on a light surface, your classroom has dark

surfaces with light tape on them. i. Would the robot be able to follow the line using your same program? You would need a slightly different program. You would program it to find the dark instead of finding the light Would it behave exactly the same, or slightly differently? Explain. It would do the same behaviour because it is still programmed to follow the line

ii.

11. Now think about the physical placement of your light sensor on the robot. i. Is the placement of the light sensor important? Yes

ii.

What happens if you raise or lower the light sensor? If you raised it higher it would have a bigger view of the ground and it wouldnt move the same and it would get confused as it sees dark and light at the same time

iii.

What happens if you place it in the rear of the robot instead of the front, but dont change your program? It would still move the robot forward if you programmed it to because it just needs to be at the furthest point from the robot

Continue: The Flip Side

Answer the following:

12. Why does this behaviour track the right side of the line instead of the left? Because the light from the sensor reflects onto the right side so it moves to the right 13. When might this behaviour be useful? This behaviour is useful if you want the robot to move to the right first