15
Lesson 15: Advanced miniAuto Features
Unlocking your robot's full potential
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will:
- Implement line following algorithms
- Use camera for basic AI vision
- Control robotic gripper attachment
- Create complex autonomous behaviors
Skills Developed:
- Computer vision basics
- PID control algorithms
- Advanced robotics integration
Lesson Content
1 Line Following with PID Control (20 minutes)
Line Following Concepts:
- • Use infrared sensors to detect dark lines
- • Calculate error from center of line
- • Apply PID control for smooth following
- • Handle intersections and line breaks
// Line following with PID control
#define BASE_SPEED 120
#define KP 0.5 // Proportional gain
int lastError = 0;
void followLine() {
int leftSensor = miniAuto.getLineSensor(LEFT);
int rightSensor = miniAuto.getLineSensor(RIGHT);
int error = calculateLineError(leftSensor, rightSensor);
float correction = error * KP;
int leftSpeed = BASE_SPEED - correction;
int rightSpeed = BASE_SPEED + correction;
miniAuto.setMotorSpeeds(leftSpeed, rightSpeed);
} 2 Camera and Color Tracking (20 minutes)
Vision Applications:
- • Object detection and recognition
- • Color tracking and following
- • Visual navigation
// Basic color tracking
void trackColoredObject() {
camera_fb_t* fb = esp_camera_fb_get();
int objectX, objectY;
bool found = detectColor(fb, &objectX, &objectY);
if (found) {
int error = objectX - (fb->width / 2);
if (abs(error) < 20) {
miniAuto.moveForward(100);
} else if (error < 0) {
miniAuto.turnLeft(80);
} else {
miniAuto.turnRight(80);
}
}
esp_camera_fb_return(fb);
} 3 Robotic Gripper Control (15 minutes)
Gripper Applications:
- • Pick and place operations
- • Object sorting and manipulation
- • Interactive object handling
// Gripper control functions
void pickUpObject() {
miniAuto.moveForward(80);
delay(1000);
miniAuto.closeGripper();
delay(500);
miniAuto.moveBackward(80);
delay(500);
}
void deliverObject() {
navigateToDeliveryZone();
miniAuto.openGripper();
delay(1000);
}
4 Mission-Based Autonomous Systems (10 minutes)
Complex Behavior Integration:
- • Combine multiple sensors and actuators
- • Create mission-based state machines
- • Implement error recovery
Hands-On Activity (25 minutes)
Project: Advanced Autonomous Robot
Create an advanced robot combining line following, vision, and gripper control.
Requirements:
- • Implement line following with PID control
- • Add color detection and tracking
- • Include gripper control for objects
- • Create mission-based behavior
Assessment & Homework
Quick Check:
- • Line following implementation
- • Vision system integration
- • Gripper control mastery
Homework:
Competition Preparation
Prepare your robot for the final competition by optimizing all systems and creating a comprehensive autonomous behavior program.