Mobile Robotics
Mobile Robotics was, by far, my favorite class in college. Each weekly lab added to our robots functionality until it was operating essentially the same as iRobot's Roomba vacuum (though it didn't have the vacuum portion). The course followed the book Robot Programming, A Practical Guide to Behavior-Based Robotics written by Joseph L. Jones, iRobot’s first official employee. The 3-wheeled mobile robot, known as a CEENBoT, operated using the behavior-based architecture and PID control written in C.
The primitive behaviors implemented in the system were: short-range IR collision avoidance, long-range sonar collision avoidance, IR light intensity following and avoidance, IR line following, IR and sonar wall following, and PixyCam color recognition, prioritization, and following.
​
Combined, these primitive behaviors created more complex behaviors such as flocking, following the leader, hiding from intense lights, and blob detection and homing – all while avoiding collisions.
​
Unfortunately, no videos were taken of the robot in action during the course, though images were taken for reports.
 In the front of the CEENBoT is the rotating sonar for long range object avoidance. On the front corners are two infrared sensors used for wall following. The two green PCBs on the front are for close range IR object avoidance. Sitting on top of the platform is a rotating and tilting PixyCam which is used for color detection. |  Underneath the ultrasonic sensors are two infrared sensors used for either line following or stair edge detection. |
|---|