Light chasing robot car

Kaiyrkanov Yerassyl, Askarov Zhalgas, Kassenov Temirlan

Lab Section 8, Yerassyl.kaiyrkanov@nu.edu.kz
Lab Section 8, zhalgas.askarov@nu.edu.kz
Lab Section 8, temirlan.kassenov@nu.edu.kz

1. Introduction

The aim of the project is to build a robot capable of following a light source using
light-dependent resistors (LDRs) for sensor feedback and collision detecton using bumper
switch. The robot will consist of a chassis with wheels and motors, onto which the VEX
ARM Cortex, sensors and bumper switch will be mounted. The LDRs and bumper switch
will be positioned on the front of the robot to detect the direction of the light source and to
detect collision. The robot will then use this information to adjust its movement and follow
the light source as well as stop the robot when collides with objects.

1. Materials and Methods

1) VEX ARM Cortex
2) Two 2-wire vex motor 269
3) Two wheels
4) Free Spinning wheel
5) Two VEX LDRs
6) Vex battery holder
7) Six AA battery
8) VEX Bumper switch
9) Steel plates and angles (chassis)
10) Six fixing elements
11) Two steel rods
 2. Results
The picture below shows the schematics of the connection between the elements:

Figure 1. Robot scheme

Figure 2. Robot from above Figure 3. Robot from back

Figure 4. Robot from front

The video footage of the robot was uploaded to YouTube, it can be accessed by clicking
the link - https://youtube.com/shorts/XAE_bGsaB4c?feature=share
3.1 Description of construction
The robot chassis was constructed by use of metal plates and bolts. Inside of the
chassis consists of VEX ARM Cortex and two 2-wire 269 VEX motors along with wires
that connect all components to VEX ARM Cortex. The LDRs, bumper switch and VEX
battery holder are located outside the chassis with the purpose of data collection
(SensorValues of LDRs and bumper switch) and battery change availability.
Two 2-wire 269 VEX motors were connected to pins 1, 10 (which are the only motor
pins that support 2-wire motors). Each motor has a steel rod attached to them, which is
fixed by 3 fixing elements – 1 inside of the chassis and 2 outside of the chassis. Fixing
element inside of the chassis ensures that the rod is fixed to the motor and does not leave
the motor when you try to pull it from it. Two fixing elements outside of the chassis are
used to lock the wheel in one position, preventing it from moving sideways.
VEX battery holder has 6 AA batteries inside of it and is connected to the “power”
section of the VEX ARM Cortex. Batteries inside of the VEX battery holder can be
replaced by removing the shell and putting the batteries to the designed polarities.
Two VEX LDRs and VEX Bumper switch are connected to analog ports 1 and 2 and
digital port 6 respectively. The elements themselves are located in front of the robot
(motor wheels side) with VEX Bumper switch in the middle and VEX LDRs on the sides
of it.
The free rotating wheel is being used for stabilization purposes and is located at the
back of the robot and fixed by metal angles.

3.2 Description of work

The robot was constructed in a way that cables are not visible, and all are located
inside of the chassis. It works by comparing the sensor values of 2 LDRs for 3 cases: 1)
There is a small difference between sensor values, which means the robot will go straight;
2) Left side LDR’s value is greater than the right side, which means there is a brighter
light source on the left, so robot turns to the left by left side wheel going in reverse and
right side wheel going forward; 3) Right side LDR’s value is greater than the left side,
which means there is a brighter light source on the right, so robot turns to the right by
right side wheel going in reverse and left side wheel going forward. The robot has an
emergency stop feature, when the robot meets the obstacle, it detects the collision by
means of the bumper switch, which changes its SensorValue to 1 when it is being pushed.

3. Software
The code of the robot was written on ROBOTC and was uploaded on github, which
can be accessible by clicking the link - https://github.com/dilsnausy/ROBT-206-final-
project-

4. Discussion and Conclusions

The goal of this project was to create a light following robot, for which we used VEX
ARM Cortex using motor pin 1 and 10 for 2-wire motors, analog pin 1 and 2 for LDRs,
digital pin 6 for bumper switch (pin 6 works in limit switch behavior). However, we had
several problems while working on the project. One problem is that we wanted to use
more than 2 motors for our robot, however, VEX ARM Cortex supports only 2 2-wire
motors, which made us use additional free spinning wheel for back support of the car. The
solution for that could be the use of VEX servo module or another 3-wire motor.
With this project, we wanted to create a light following robot, which changes its
direction relative to the power of the light source and added a feature of is emergency stop,
that occurs in case of collision with the obstacle. r
5. Student Contributions

Yerassyl Kaiyrkanov was responsible for coding, and testing.

Temirlan Kassenov was responsible for constructing the robot, report writing and
debugging.

Zhalgas Askarov was responsible for reconstruction, time management and project
management.