To develop a microcontroller based obstacle avoiding robot

Object Required

Components namely Arduino Uno, DC motors, servo motor, ultrasonic sensor, chassis, wheels, motor driver shield, battery, jumper wires

Principle

The project is based on the principle of embedded systems, microcontroller and robotics

Theory

1. Introduction

Robotics is an integral part of communicating in today’s world. With the progress in technology, this branch of engineering and its applications are increasing. In today’s world, robotics is a rapid growing and exciting field. Obstacle avoidance is one of the most important parts of robotics. Without this the movement of robot would be very obstructive and crumbly. Obstacle avoidance can be defined as the capability of a robot to identify any obstacles in its way and thus make its own obstacle free path.

2. Details of the developed robot

In this project, a robot following in the footsteps of the aforementioned obstacle avoiding robot has been undertaken and is developed successfully. Here, the emphasis project was to create a robot that would move in accordance to the programme code fed into it and create a free space. Also, it should navigate from any obstacle in its path. This kind of obstacle avoiding robot is very beneficial in industries where automated supervision is required.

2.1 Components used

The several components and equipment that were used for the development of the obstacle avoiding robot were Arduino Uno, DC motors, servo motor, ultrasonic sensor, chassis, wheels, motor driver shield, battery, jumper wires.

3. Construction

3.1 Electrical assembly

Electrical assembly comprises of the circuit design of the robot. Components were properly mounted on respective positions. This included wiring and layout. To L298N, two motors namely left motor and right motor were connected. Transmitter circuit was implemented individually to provide power supply independently. For power supply, a chargeable 11.1 volt DC battery was used. Output pin of ultrasonic sensors was connected to micro-controllers pin. The servo motor was also connected with the respective pins. The motor driver shield is the area where the most of the components are interlinked. Thus, there are interconnections of various components that had properly been made and to achieve these interconnections, several jumping wires were preferred ahead of soldering.

3.2 Mechanical assembly

After the interconnections of various components with the help of jumping wires was achieved, the components were assembled together.

Mechanical construction represents the process of assembling the chassis. Firstly, the designing of the chassis was done after consideration of various components and their probable locations on the chassis. To the DC motors, the rotating wheels were aligned for the correct movement of the robot. The servo motor was then attached towards the front end. After all this was done, the software is inserted into the Arduino and the functioning robot was achieved.

4. Working of the robot

When the ultrasonic signals emitted by the robot hit a surface or an obstacle, they return back and the receiver identifies this signal. The echo pin is high or logic one from the time of sending the signal and receiving or detecting it. This time can be transformed to distance using proper calculations. The aim of this project is to apply an obstacle avoiding robot using ultrasonic sensor and Arduino. When the power of robot is turned on, both the motors employed in the robot run normally and the robot moves forward. Throughout this time, the ultrasonic sensor continuously computes the distance between the robot and the surface of the obstacle. Both the motors of the robot run normally and the robot moves forward. This information is processed by the Arduino. If the distance between the robot and the obstacle is less than 15 cm, the left wheel motor is reversed in direction and the right wheel motor is operated normally.   

Conclusion

In today’s world, there can be many places those are dangerous for humans to reach or even impossible for humans to reach. In such cases, robots can be very beneficial. The robots are required to collect information about their ambience and surroundings to avoid obstacles in their path in those challenging environments. For outer space exploring robots, this is even more essential because there can be a delay of seconds or minutes between the control station on earth and the robot. In ordinary environments also, humans require that robots which can identify and avoid obstacles. For example, an industrial robot in a factory is expected to avoid workers so that it won’t hurt them. In conclusion, obstacle avoidance is widely researched and applied in the world, and it is probable that most robots in the future should have obstacle avoidance function. An obstacle avoidance robot was developed keeping the working principle of ultrasonic sensor under consideration. Various components like Arduino Uno, DC motors, servo motor, ultrasonic sensor, chassis, wheels, motor driver shield, battery, jumper wires were accommodated. The programming was done in Arduino Uno such that the robot avoided any obstacles in its path. The electrical and mechanical assemblies have been explained for the same. Overall, the robot performed very well.

Published Date

13 Aug, 2018