Infrared tracking

self-propelled car
National Taiwan University of
Science and Technology

Mechanical Engineering
working principle
• The infrared emitter emits an infrared signal to the ground track, and
the infrared light is induced by the photoelectric crystal to reflect the
intensity of the light and is converted into a voltage value.
• The microcontroller controls and corrects the direction of the self-
propelled car so that the vehicle can automatically run on the track.

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Components

• Infrared tracking module

• Arduino board
• Motor drive circuit
• Motor parts
• DC-DC boost module
• Battery
• DuPont line
• Universal wheel
• Bread board

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Infrared tracking module
TCRT5000

• Three-wire TCRT5000 infrared tracking module

• Arrange spacing 1.5~2 cm
• The distance between the infrared sensor and the ground
can’t be more than 2 cm.
• When the induction is black, the value is 0.
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STM32

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Motor drive circuit
Motor drive module L298N

• UNO outputs small current

• L298N principle ：
Packing two sets of bridge
circuits into a chip and
adding a voltage regulator
IC
• It can drive two DC
motors or one stepper
motor and control the
speed and direction

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 Motor control
Control motor uses L298N motor drive board to switch motor steering

There are 4 input pins on the L298N motor drive board for control.
IN1, IN2 are a group, IN3 and IN4 are one set, which can control
two motors respectively.
Taking IN1 and IN2 as examples, the motor control logic is as
follows
紅外線Ｌ 2 紅外線Ｌ 1 紅外線Ｃ 紅外線Ｒ 1 紅外線Ｒ 2 控制

1 0 1 前進

0 1 1 快速左轉
1 1 0 快速右轉
0 0 1 慢速左轉
1 0 0 慢速右轉
1 1 1 停止
0 0 0 停止

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Motor parts
Miniature metal deceleration DC motor, motor base, wheels
• Small volume
• Large torque
• Low power consumption
• Metal gears are not easy to abrasion
• No-load speed could be 200 rpm/min At 6V

• motor base

• 66mm diameter rubber wheel

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Battery and battery case

• Four No. 3 batteries in series

• Output voltage : 6V
• Use DC-DC boost module output to 9V

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萬向輪
常見的三種自走車萬向輪

• pros ： without the oversteering problem

• cons ： Not suitable for outdoor or grass,
otherwise it is easy to get stuck
• pros ： Low cost
• cons ： The rotation is not smooth,
the self-propelled car is easy to get stuck,
and can't go straight back.
• Combine four small steel balls with a
large steel ball
• pros ： Long-term use will not rust,
smooth rotation
• cons ： Higher price 11
DuPont cable

Male connector Female connector

• Often used with breadboards and modules
• Replace the wire welding between components
• Eliminate welding troubles and quickly complete
electronic circuit connections

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Breadboard
或叫免焊萬用電路板 solderless breadboard

• It is a commonly used substrate in electronic circuit design.

Unlike printed circuit boards, it does not take soft soldering. It
is more convenient to modify.

External Internal connection

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Material selection
Install all components on the car to make it work smoothly
Material pros cons
Dense board Low cost, good cutting Sawdust
PMMA board Low cost, plasticity Cutting in minor
Popsicle stick Low cost, high Not solid
variability
Choose
by yourself
⋮

• Notice: Please use a non-conductive material

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for the mechanism
L298N and STM32 wiring

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Final results acceptance
• Make the infrared tracking self-propelled car automatically run
on the pre-drawn black track

• Example as follow

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THANK YOU
For Listening

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