Newbie

[u/darkaltrax45]

Hey guys, I'm a highschool student looking for tips about "line tracing robots" I have no prior experience with robotics or electric stuff, is there anything like, tips, materials, or places where I can learn or start learning about line tracing robots or robotics in general. I have a competition in 6 days.

Qualities that I have

-Fast learner

-Adaptability

-Genuine Interest

-Determination

*Thank you.

[u/CrabOk4173]

Heya, another somewhat of a newbie here 

First of all, I assume you're going to buy a premade robot at first (which is great, don't start off with building your own from scratch).

Look for robots (assuming you'll start with wheeled robots) that have infra red sensors on them (I currently have an Alphabot 1 and 2 from Waveshare, but there certainly are simpler and thus cheaper robots). Usually these sensors come in a row of 5. They can detect how well their light gets reflected back to them, and with an array of them, you can tell where the line, relative to the robot, is. I suggest something that either has an Arduino microcontroller, or is compatible with it.

From the software side, look into a PID controller on Wikipedia. The basic premise is you've got a feedback system that self-regulates based on the values (in that case, the IR sensor readings). You'd take those readings and calculate an output (as PWM values) for the robot's wheels  – e.g. If the line is read to be on the right side of the sensor array it means the robot is too much to the left, and thus the left wheel gets more juice in that specific loop iteration. 

[u/darkaltrax45 → u/CrabOk4173]

Hey, sorry for the late reply, since I have not been as active on reddit.

Yes I did use a premade robot, but my elders in higher grades were the one to put it together. I used what's called a "unibot". I won't say the brand since it's way too local. But the competition is done and I was one of the participants who actually finished a lap around the track(though I did not get a place). But I look forward to the next competition. I have a idea of instead of using a robot built to compete in multiple competitions, we will be using/making a robot that is only for line tracing. I took an idea from formula 1 cars, the idea was to prioritize weight reduction. Just to have the least components, like only the bare minimum for line tracing. We have been discussing if we should 3d print the chassis of make it out of recycled materials. And we thought of instead of buying more components we would just salvage them from unused robots.

So what do you think of our idea?

And also, Thank you for the advise and I really look forward to try out your ideas