Line Following
           Robot




By,
Priyank Patil
Department of Information Technology
K. J. Somaiya College of Engineering
Mumbai, India
Line Follower


Contents

      1. Summary

      2. Introduction
         2.1.    What is a line follower?
         2.2.    Why build a line follower?
         2.3.    Background
         2.4.    Prerequisites
         2.5.    The AVR microcontroller

      3. Overview
         3.1.   Block Diagram and Architectural Overview
         3.2.   The Algorithm

      4. Implementation
         4.1.  Sensor Circuit
         4.2.  Motor Interface and Control Circuit
         4.3.  Source Code

      5. Possible Improvements

      6. References and Resources
         6.1.   Books and Links
         6.2.   Tools of the trade
         6.3.   Electronic shops
         6.4.   Parts and Prices




                                                           Page 2 of 17
Line Follower


Summary
      The purpose of this document is to help you build a Line Following Robot.

      Starting with an overview of the system the document would cover implementation
      details like circuits and algorithms, followed by some suggestions on improving the
      design.

      The ‘Reference and Resources’ page has a list of relevant books, websites, electronic
      shops and commonly used parts & their prices.




                                                                                  Page 3 of 17
Line Follower




Introduction
What is a line follower?
        Line follower is a machine that can follow a path. The path can be visible like a black
        line on a white surface (or vice-versa) or it can be invisible like a magnetic field.

Why build a line follower?
      Sensing a line and maneuvering the robot to stay on course, while constantly correcting
      wrong moves using feedback mechanism forms a simple yet effective closed loop
      system. As a programmer you get an opportunity to ‘teach’ the robot how to follow the
      line thus giving it a human-like property of responding to stimuli.

       Practical applications of a line follower : Automated cars running on roads with
       embedded magnets; guidance system for industrial robots moving on shop floor etc.

Prerequisites:
        Knowledge of basic digital and analog electronics.
        (A course on Digital Design and Electronic Devices & Circuits would be helpful)
        C Programming
        Sheer interest, an innovative brain and perseverance!

Background:
                 I started with building a parallel port based robot which could be controlled
       manually by a keyboard. On the robot side was an arrangement of relays connected to
       parallel port pins via opto-couplers.
                 The next version was a true computer controlled line follower. It had sensors
       connected to the status pins of the parallel port. A program running on the computer
       polled the status register of the parallel port hundreds of times every second and sent
       control signals accordingly through the data pins.
       The drawbacks of using a personal computer were soon clear –
       It’s difficult to control speed of motors
       As cable length increases signal strength decreases and latency increases.
       A long multi core cable for parallel data transfer is expensive.
       The robot is not portable if you use a desktop PC.

             The obvious next step was to build an onboard control circuit; the options – a
       hardwired logic circuit or a uC. Since I had no knowledge of uC at that time, I
       implemented a hardwired logic circuit using multiplexers. It basically mapped input from
       four sensors to four outputs for the motor driver according to a truth table. Though it
       worked fine, it could show no intelligence – like coming back on line after losing it, or
       doing something special when say the line ended. To get around this problem and add
       some cool features, using a microcontroller was the best option.




                                                                                  Page 4 of 17
Line Follower




The AVR microcontroller:

              “Atmel's AVR® microcontrollers have a RISC core running single cycle
      instructions and a well-defined I/O structure that limits the need for external
      components. Internal oscillators, timers, UART, SPI, pull-up resistors, pulse
      width modulation, ADC, analog comparator and watch-dog timers are some of
      the features you will find in AVR devices.

      AVR instructions are tuned to decrease the size of the program whether the code
      is written in C or Assembly. With on-chip in-system programmable Flash and
      EEPROM, the AVR is a perfect choice in order to optimize cost and get product to
      the market quickly.”

      -http://www.atmel.com/products/avr/

      Apart form this almost all AVRs support In System Programming (ISP) i.e. you
      can reprogram it without removing it from the circuit. This comes very handy
      when prototyping a design or upgrading a built-up system. Also the programmer
      used for ISP is easier to build compared to the parallel programmer required for
      many old uCs. Most AVR chips also support Boot Loaders which take the idea
      of In System Programming to a new level. Features like I2C bus interface make
      adding external devices a cakewalk. While most popular uCs require at least a few
      external components like crystal, caps and pull-up resistors, with AVR the
      number can be as low as zero!

      Cost: AVR = PIC > 8051 (by 8051 I mean the 8051 family)

      Availability: AVR = PIC <8051

      Speed: AVR > PIC > 8051

      Built-in Peripherals: This one is difficult to answer since all uC families offer
      comparable features in their different chips. For a just comparison, I would rather
      say that for a given price AVR = PIC > 8051.

      Tools and Resources: 8051 has been around from many years now, consequently
      there are more tools available for working with it. Being a part of many
      engineering courses, there is a huge communitiy of people that can help you out
      with 8051; same with books and online resources. In spite of being new the AVR
      has a neat tool chain (See ‘References and Resources‘). Availability of online
      resources and books is fast increasing.
      Here, 8051 > AVR = PIC




                                                                            Page 5 of 17
Line Follower


Overview




                                         Block Diagram

The robot uses IR sensors to sense the line, an array of 8 IR LEDs (Tx) and sensors (Rx), facing
the ground has been used in this setup. The output of the sensors is an analog signal which
depends on the amount of light reflected back, this analog signal is given to the comparator to
produce 0s and 1s which are then fed to the uC.

                              L4   L3   L2   L1 R1 R2         R3   R4
                       Left                  Center                     Right
                                          Sensor Array

Starting from the center, the sensors on the left are named L1, L2, L3, L4 and those on the right
are named R1, R2, R3, R4.
Let us assume that when a sensor is on the line it reads 0 and when it is off the line it reads 1

The uC decides the next move according to the algorithm given below which tries to position the
robot such that L1 and R1 both read 0 and the rest read 1.

                              L4   L3   L2  L1 R1 R2 R3 R4
                              1    1    1   0    0    1   1     1
                       Left                  Center               Right
                              Desired State L1=R1=0, and Rest=1




                                                                                    Page 6 of 17
Line Follower


Algorithm:

1.    L= leftmost sensor which reads 0; R= rightmost sensor which reads 0.
      If no sensor on Left (or Right) is 0 then L (or R) equals 0;
      Ex:
                           L4 L3 L2 L1 R1 R2 R3 R4
                           1     0     0     1    1    1     1     1
                    Left                     Center                  Right
                                         Here L=3 R=0

                             L4   L3    L2     L1 R1 R2      R3   R4
                             1    1     0      0    0    0   0    0
                      Left                     Center                  Right
                                            Here L=2 R=4

2.    If all sensors read 1 go to step 3,
      else,
      If L>R Move Left
      If L<R Move Right
      If L=R Move Forward
      Goto step 4

3.    Move Clockwise if line was last seen on Right
      Move Counter Clockwise if line was last seen on Left
      Repeat step 3 till line is found.

4.    Goto step 1.




                                                                               Page 7 of 17
Line Follower


Implementation
Sensor Circuit:

The resistance of the sensor decreases
when IR light falls on it. A good
sensor will have near zero resistance
in presence of light and a very large
resistance in absence of light.
We have used this property of the
sensor to form a potential divider.
The potential at point ‘2’ is
Rsensor / (Rsensor + R1).
Again, a good sensor circuit should
give maximum change in potential at
point ‘2’ for no-light and bright-light
conditions. This is especially
important if you plan to use an ADC
in place of the comparator


To get a good voltage swing , the value of R1 must be carefully chosen. If Rsensor = a when no
light falls on it and Rsensor = b when light falls on it. The difference in the two potentials is:

                                          Vcc * { a/(a+R1) - b/(b+R1) }




Relative voltage swing = Actual Voltage Swing / Vcc
                       = Vcc * { a/(a+R1) - b/(b+R1) } / Vcc
                       = a/(a+R1) - b/(b+R1)


                                                                                       Page 8 of 17
Line Follower



The sensor I used had a = 930 K and b = 36 K. If we plot a curve of the voltage swing over a
range of values of R1 we can see that the maximum swing is obtained at R1= 150 K (use calculus
for an accurate value).
There is a catch though, with such high resistance, the current is very small and hence susceptible
to be distorted by noise. The solution is to strike a balance between sensitivity and noise
immunity. I chose value of R1 as 60 K. Your choice would depend on the ‘a’ and ‘b’ values of
your sensor.

If you found this part confusing, use a 10K resistor straightaway, as long as you are using a
comparator it won’t matter much.

Motor Interface and Control Circuit:




The 8 sensors are connected to PORTA.

You need not connect anything to AVCC and AREF, it is required only if ADC is used.

The L298 Motor Driver has 4 inputs to control the motion of the motors and two enable inputs
which are used for switching the motors on and off. To control the speed of the motors a PWM
waveform with variable duty cycle is applied to the enable pins. Rapidly switching the voltage
between Vs and GND gives an effective voltage between Vs and GND whose value depends on
the duty cycle of PWM. 100% duty cycle corresponds to voltage equal to Vs, 50 % corresponds
to 0.5Vs and so on. The 1N4004 diodes are used to prevent back EMF of the motors from
disturbing the remaining circuit. Many circuits use L293D for motor control, I chose L298 as it
has current capacity of 2A per channel @ 45V compared to 0.6 A @ 36 V of a L293D. L293D’s
package is not suitable for attaching a good heat sink, practically you can’t use it above 16V


                                                                                      Page 9 of 17
Line Follower


without frying it. L298 on the other hand works happily at 16V without a heat sink, though it is
always better to use one.




                                   Internal Schematic of L298




                Truth Table for controlling the direction of motion of a DC motor


                                                                                    Page 10 of 17
Line Follower


Source Code
/*****************************************************
Project : Line Follower
Version :
Date    : 2/19/2006
Author : Priyank
Company : Home
Comments:

Chip type           : ATmega16
Program type        : Application
Clock frequency     : 7.372800 MHz
Memory model        : Small
External SRAM size : 0
Data Stack size     : 256
*****************************************************/

//#define debug 1
#include <mega16.h>
#include <delay.h>
#ifdef debug
#include <stdio.h>
#endif

#define   FWD 0xAA
#define   REV 0x55
#define   R 0x22
#define   L 0x88
#define   CW 0x99
#define   CCW 0x66
#define   STOP 0x00
#define   B 0xFF
#define   RSPEED OCR1AL
#define   LSPEED OCR1BL
#define   SPEED0 255
#define   SPEED1 0
#define   SPEED2 0
#define   SPEED3 0
#define   MAX 3
#define   HMAX 1

void move (unsigned char dir,unsigned char delay,unsigned char power);
unsigned char i,rdev,ldev,ip,delay,dir,power,dirl,history[MAX],hcount=0,rotpow;

#ifdef debug
unsigned char rep=0,prev=0;
#endif

void main(void)
{

// Input/Output Ports initialization
// Port A initialization
// Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In


                                                            Page 11 of 17
Line Follower


// State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T
PORTA=0x00;
DDRA=0x00;

// Port B initialization
// Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In
// State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T
PORTB=0x00;
DDRB=0x00;

// Port C initialization
// Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In
// State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T
PORTC=0x00;
DDRC=0xFF;

// Port D initialization
// Func7=In Func6=In Func5=Out Func4=Out Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In
// State7=T State6=T State5=0 State4=0 State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T
PORTD=0x00;
DDRD=0x30;

// Timer/Counter 0 initialization
// Clock source: System Clock
// Clock value: Timer 0 Stopped
// Mode: Normal top=FFh
// OC0 output: Disconnected
TCCR0=0x00;
TCNT0=0x00;
OCR0=0x00;

// Timer/Counter 1 initialization
// Clock source: System Clock
// Clock value: 921.600 kHz
// Mode: Fast PWM top=00FFh
// OC1A output: Non-Inv.
// OC1B output: Non-Inv.
// Noise Canceler: Off
// Input Capture on Falling Edge
TCCR1A=0xA1;
TCCR1B=0x0A;
TCNT1H=0x00;
TCNT1L=0x00;
ICR1H=0x00;
ICR1L=0x00;
OCR1AH=0x00;
OCR1AL=0xFF;
OCR1BH=0x00;
OCR1BL=0xFF;

// Timer/Counter 2 initialization
// Clock source: System Clock
// Clock value: Timer 2 Stopped
// Mode: Normal top=FFh
// OC2 output: Disconnected
ASSR=0x00;
TCCR2=0x00;


                                                            Page 12 of 17
Line Follower


TCNT2=0x00;
OCR2=0x00;

// External Interrupt(s) initialization
// INT0: Off
// INT1: Off
// INT2: Off
MCUCR=0x00;
MCUCSR=0x00;

#ifdef debug
// USART initialization
// Communication Parameters: 8 Data, 1 Stop, No Parity
// USART Receiver: On
// USART Transmitter: On
// USART Mode: Asynchronous
// USART Baud rate: 57600
UCSRA=0x00;
UCSRB=0x18;
UCSRC=0x86;
UBRRH=0x00;
UBRRL=0x07;
#endif

// Timer(s)/Counter(s) Interrupt(s) initialization
TIMSK=0x00;

// Analog Comparator initialization
// Analog Comparator: Off
// Analog Comparator Input Capture by Timer/Counter 1: Off
ACSR=0x80;
SFIOR=0x00;

while (1){

#ifdef debug
if(rep<255)
rep++;
if(prev!=PINA) {
prev=PINA;
printf("%ur",rep);
for(i=0;i<8;i++)
printf("%ut",(prev>>i)&0x01);
rep=0;
}
#endif

if(PINA!=255){
         rotpow=255;
        ldev=rdev=0;

         if(PINA.3==0)
         rdev=1;
         if(PINA.2==0)
         rdev=2;
         if(PINA.1==0)
         rdev=3;


                                                             Page 13 of 17
Line Follower


         if(PINA.0==0)
         rdev=4;

         if(PINA.4==0)
         ldev=1;
         if(PINA.5==0)
         ldev=2;
         if(PINA.6==0)
         ldev=3;
         if(PINA.7==0)
         ldev=4;

         if(rdev>ldev)
         move(R,0,195+12*rdev);
         if(rdev<ldev)
         move(L,0,195+12*ldev);
         if(rdev==ldev)
         move(FWD,0,200);
         }

else     {
         for(i=0,dirl=0;i<MAX;i++) {
         if(history[i]==L)
         {dirl++;}
         }
           if(rotpow<160) {rotpow=160;}
           if(rotpow<255) {rotpow++;}

         if(dirl>HMAX)
         {move(CW,0,rotpow);}
         else
         {move(CCW,0,rotpow);}
         }
};
}

void move (unsigned char dir,unsigned char delay,unsigned char power) {
PORTC=dir;
if(dir==L || dir==R) {
        hcount=(hcount+1)%MAX;
        history[hcount]=dir;
        }
LSPEED=RSPEED=255;//power;
//delay_ms(delay);
}




Possible Improvements:
       -Use of differential steering with gradual change in wheel speeds.
       -Use of Hysteresis in sensor circuit using LM339
       -Use of ADC so that the exact position of the line can be interpolated
       -Use of Wheel Chair or three wheel drive to reduce traction.
       -General improvements like using a low dropout voltage regulator, lighter chassis etc

                                                                                 Page 14 of 17
Line Follower


References and Resources
Books:
         Programming and Customizing the AVR Microcontroller – Dhananjay V. Gadre
         Parallel Port Complete – Jan Axelson

Links:
         Atmel Corp.
         Makers of the AVR microcontroller
         http://www.atmel.com

         AVRbeginners.net
         http://www.avrbeginners.net/

         AVR assembler tutorial
         Tutorial for learning assembly language for the AVR-Single-Chip-Processors
         AT90Sxxxx from ATMEL with practical examples.
         http://www.avr-asm-tutorial.net/

         One of the best sites AVR sites
         http://www.avrfreaks.net

         WinAVR
         An open source C compiler for AVR
         http://sourceforge.net/projects/winavr

         PonyProg
         A widely used programmer. Support for newer chips is added periodically. Can also
         program PICs and EEPROMS
         http://www.lancos.com/prog.html

         Basic Electronics
         http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/

         Williamson Labs
         Nice animated tutorials, articles and project ideas.
         http://www.williamson-labs.com/home.htm

         Small Robot Sensors
         http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rjg/websensors/robot_sensors2.html

         Robotics India
         An Indian site devoted to robotics. Must see
         http://www.roboticsindia.com/

         Seattle Robotics Society
         http://www.seattlerobotics.org/




                                                                                 Page 15 of 17
Line Follower


         Line Follower ROBOT
         Award winner from VingPeaw Competition 2543, the robot built with 2051, L293D, and
         four IR sensors. Simple circuit and platform, quick tracking and
         Easy to understand program using C language.
         http://www.kmitl.ac.th/~kswichit/LFrobot/LFrobot.htm

Tools: AVR Studio
       For writing code in assembly and simulation of code. Current versions has AVR-GCC
       plug-in to write code in C.

         Compilers: IAR, Image Craft , Code Vision AVR, WinAVR

         Programmers: Pony Prog, AVR Dude, AVRISP and many more.

         Evaluation Boards: STK200, STK500 from Kanda Systems
Shops:
         Motors:
         1. Mechtex - Mulund, Mumbai
         2. Servo Electronics - Lamington road, Mumbai Phone:56346573
         3. Bombay Electronics - Lamington Road, Mumbai

         Electronics:
         1. Visha Electronics - Lamington road, Mumbai
            [Programmer for 8051, PIC and AVR available]
            Phone: 23862650 / 23862622

         2. Gala Electronics - Lamington road, Mumbai

         3. Chip Components - Lamington road, Mumbai
            Telephone: 56390468 / 56587005

Parts and Prices:


                             Part                     Approximate Price in Indian Rupees
          Visible Light Leds                        1.00
          White or Bicoloured                       5.00
          IR LED                                    3.00
          IR Sensor                                 7.00
          Capacitor (small values)                  0.25 to 2.00
          Capacitor (large values / electrolytic)   2.00 to 20.00 Or more
          Resistors (1/4 W)                         0.25
          Variable Resistor (Preset)                2.50
          Variable Resistor (Pot)                   8.00
          Microcontrollers                          40 to 450
          AT89C2051 (8051 Core)                     40
          AT89C51 (8051 Core)                       60
          AT89S52 (8051 Core)                       150
          PIC16F84A (PIC Core)                      120


                                                                              Page 16 of 17
Line Follower


        ATmega8 (AVR Core)                            90
        ATmega16 (AVR Core)                           150
        ATmega32 (AVR Core)                           300
        ATmega128 (AVR Core)                          425
        Transistors                                   1.50 to 15 or more
        Low power Eg: BC547                           1.50
        Power Transistor Eg: TIP31C                   15.00
        Connectors                                    1.00 per pin
        Optocoupler (MCT2E)                           8.00
        Common Tools
        Soldering Iron                                150 (typical) to 400
        Solder metal                                  25.00
        Solder Flux                                   5.00
        Desoldering Wick                              5.00
        Breadboard                                    80.00 to 100.00
        Wire Stripper                                 25.00
        Common ICs
        Voltage Regulators (78XX),                    5.00
        LM324,IC555 etc
        MAX232                                        20.00
        ULN 2003 / ULN 2803                           14.50
        TSOP17XX                                      17.00
        L298, L293, L293D                             70.00
        IC Programmers
        Homemade (Support fewer devices,              20.00 to 80.00
        support only serial programming, not as
        rugged)
        Eg: PonyProg ( http://www.lancos.com )        2500 to 25000

        Readymade (Support many chips, support
        parallel programming, easy to use,
        rugged)

        Wireless Modules                              700.00
        Parallel Port / Serial Port Add on Card for   500.00
        PC
        Universal PCB                                 10.00 to 50.00




You may drop your feedback at priyank.patil@gmail.com .

Priyank Patil
KJ Somaiya CoE – Information Technology
VidyaVihar,
Mumbai


                                                                             Page 17 of 17

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7380969 Line Follower Using At89c51
Metro Train Automation & display System

Follower

  • 1. Line Following Robot By, Priyank Patil Department of Information Technology K. J. Somaiya College of Engineering Mumbai, India
  • 2. Line Follower Contents 1. Summary 2. Introduction 2.1. What is a line follower? 2.2. Why build a line follower? 2.3. Background 2.4. Prerequisites 2.5. The AVR microcontroller 3. Overview 3.1. Block Diagram and Architectural Overview 3.2. The Algorithm 4. Implementation 4.1. Sensor Circuit 4.2. Motor Interface and Control Circuit 4.3. Source Code 5. Possible Improvements 6. References and Resources 6.1. Books and Links 6.2. Tools of the trade 6.3. Electronic shops 6.4. Parts and Prices Page 2 of 17
  • 3. Line Follower Summary The purpose of this document is to help you build a Line Following Robot. Starting with an overview of the system the document would cover implementation details like circuits and algorithms, followed by some suggestions on improving the design. The ‘Reference and Resources’ page has a list of relevant books, websites, electronic shops and commonly used parts & their prices. Page 3 of 17
  • 4. Line Follower Introduction What is a line follower? Line follower is a machine that can follow a path. The path can be visible like a black line on a white surface (or vice-versa) or it can be invisible like a magnetic field. Why build a line follower? Sensing a line and maneuvering the robot to stay on course, while constantly correcting wrong moves using feedback mechanism forms a simple yet effective closed loop system. As a programmer you get an opportunity to ‘teach’ the robot how to follow the line thus giving it a human-like property of responding to stimuli. Practical applications of a line follower : Automated cars running on roads with embedded magnets; guidance system for industrial robots moving on shop floor etc. Prerequisites: Knowledge of basic digital and analog electronics. (A course on Digital Design and Electronic Devices & Circuits would be helpful) C Programming Sheer interest, an innovative brain and perseverance! Background: I started with building a parallel port based robot which could be controlled manually by a keyboard. On the robot side was an arrangement of relays connected to parallel port pins via opto-couplers. The next version was a true computer controlled line follower. It had sensors connected to the status pins of the parallel port. A program running on the computer polled the status register of the parallel port hundreds of times every second and sent control signals accordingly through the data pins. The drawbacks of using a personal computer were soon clear – It’s difficult to control speed of motors As cable length increases signal strength decreases and latency increases. A long multi core cable for parallel data transfer is expensive. The robot is not portable if you use a desktop PC. The obvious next step was to build an onboard control circuit; the options – a hardwired logic circuit or a uC. Since I had no knowledge of uC at that time, I implemented a hardwired logic circuit using multiplexers. It basically mapped input from four sensors to four outputs for the motor driver according to a truth table. Though it worked fine, it could show no intelligence – like coming back on line after losing it, or doing something special when say the line ended. To get around this problem and add some cool features, using a microcontroller was the best option. Page 4 of 17
  • 5. Line Follower The AVR microcontroller: “Atmel's AVR® microcontrollers have a RISC core running single cycle instructions and a well-defined I/O structure that limits the need for external components. Internal oscillators, timers, UART, SPI, pull-up resistors, pulse width modulation, ADC, analog comparator and watch-dog timers are some of the features you will find in AVR devices. AVR instructions are tuned to decrease the size of the program whether the code is written in C or Assembly. With on-chip in-system programmable Flash and EEPROM, the AVR is a perfect choice in order to optimize cost and get product to the market quickly.” -http://www.atmel.com/products/avr/ Apart form this almost all AVRs support In System Programming (ISP) i.e. you can reprogram it without removing it from the circuit. This comes very handy when prototyping a design or upgrading a built-up system. Also the programmer used for ISP is easier to build compared to the parallel programmer required for many old uCs. Most AVR chips also support Boot Loaders which take the idea of In System Programming to a new level. Features like I2C bus interface make adding external devices a cakewalk. While most popular uCs require at least a few external components like crystal, caps and pull-up resistors, with AVR the number can be as low as zero! Cost: AVR = PIC > 8051 (by 8051 I mean the 8051 family) Availability: AVR = PIC <8051 Speed: AVR > PIC > 8051 Built-in Peripherals: This one is difficult to answer since all uC families offer comparable features in their different chips. For a just comparison, I would rather say that for a given price AVR = PIC > 8051. Tools and Resources: 8051 has been around from many years now, consequently there are more tools available for working with it. Being a part of many engineering courses, there is a huge communitiy of people that can help you out with 8051; same with books and online resources. In spite of being new the AVR has a neat tool chain (See ‘References and Resources‘). Availability of online resources and books is fast increasing. Here, 8051 > AVR = PIC Page 5 of 17
  • 6. Line Follower Overview Block Diagram The robot uses IR sensors to sense the line, an array of 8 IR LEDs (Tx) and sensors (Rx), facing the ground has been used in this setup. The output of the sensors is an analog signal which depends on the amount of light reflected back, this analog signal is given to the comparator to produce 0s and 1s which are then fed to the uC. L4 L3 L2 L1 R1 R2 R3 R4 Left Center Right Sensor Array Starting from the center, the sensors on the left are named L1, L2, L3, L4 and those on the right are named R1, R2, R3, R4. Let us assume that when a sensor is on the line it reads 0 and when it is off the line it reads 1 The uC decides the next move according to the algorithm given below which tries to position the robot such that L1 and R1 both read 0 and the rest read 1. L4 L3 L2 L1 R1 R2 R3 R4 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 Left Center Right Desired State L1=R1=0, and Rest=1 Page 6 of 17
  • 7. Line Follower Algorithm: 1. L= leftmost sensor which reads 0; R= rightmost sensor which reads 0. If no sensor on Left (or Right) is 0 then L (or R) equals 0; Ex: L4 L3 L2 L1 R1 R2 R3 R4 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 Left Center Right Here L=3 R=0 L4 L3 L2 L1 R1 R2 R3 R4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Left Center Right Here L=2 R=4 2. If all sensors read 1 go to step 3, else, If L>R Move Left If L<R Move Right If L=R Move Forward Goto step 4 3. Move Clockwise if line was last seen on Right Move Counter Clockwise if line was last seen on Left Repeat step 3 till line is found. 4. Goto step 1. Page 7 of 17
  • 8. Line Follower Implementation Sensor Circuit: The resistance of the sensor decreases when IR light falls on it. A good sensor will have near zero resistance in presence of light and a very large resistance in absence of light. We have used this property of the sensor to form a potential divider. The potential at point ‘2’ is Rsensor / (Rsensor + R1). Again, a good sensor circuit should give maximum change in potential at point ‘2’ for no-light and bright-light conditions. This is especially important if you plan to use an ADC in place of the comparator To get a good voltage swing , the value of R1 must be carefully chosen. If Rsensor = a when no light falls on it and Rsensor = b when light falls on it. The difference in the two potentials is: Vcc * { a/(a+R1) - b/(b+R1) } Relative voltage swing = Actual Voltage Swing / Vcc = Vcc * { a/(a+R1) - b/(b+R1) } / Vcc = a/(a+R1) - b/(b+R1) Page 8 of 17
  • 9. Line Follower The sensor I used had a = 930 K and b = 36 K. If we plot a curve of the voltage swing over a range of values of R1 we can see that the maximum swing is obtained at R1= 150 K (use calculus for an accurate value). There is a catch though, with such high resistance, the current is very small and hence susceptible to be distorted by noise. The solution is to strike a balance between sensitivity and noise immunity. I chose value of R1 as 60 K. Your choice would depend on the ‘a’ and ‘b’ values of your sensor. If you found this part confusing, use a 10K resistor straightaway, as long as you are using a comparator it won’t matter much. Motor Interface and Control Circuit: The 8 sensors are connected to PORTA. You need not connect anything to AVCC and AREF, it is required only if ADC is used. The L298 Motor Driver has 4 inputs to control the motion of the motors and two enable inputs which are used for switching the motors on and off. To control the speed of the motors a PWM waveform with variable duty cycle is applied to the enable pins. Rapidly switching the voltage between Vs and GND gives an effective voltage between Vs and GND whose value depends on the duty cycle of PWM. 100% duty cycle corresponds to voltage equal to Vs, 50 % corresponds to 0.5Vs and so on. The 1N4004 diodes are used to prevent back EMF of the motors from disturbing the remaining circuit. Many circuits use L293D for motor control, I chose L298 as it has current capacity of 2A per channel @ 45V compared to 0.6 A @ 36 V of a L293D. L293D’s package is not suitable for attaching a good heat sink, practically you can’t use it above 16V Page 9 of 17
  • 10. Line Follower without frying it. L298 on the other hand works happily at 16V without a heat sink, though it is always better to use one. Internal Schematic of L298 Truth Table for controlling the direction of motion of a DC motor Page 10 of 17
  • 11. Line Follower Source Code /***************************************************** Project : Line Follower Version : Date : 2/19/2006 Author : Priyank Company : Home Comments: Chip type : ATmega16 Program type : Application Clock frequency : 7.372800 MHz Memory model : Small External SRAM size : 0 Data Stack size : 256 *****************************************************/ //#define debug 1 #include <mega16.h> #include <delay.h> #ifdef debug #include <stdio.h> #endif #define FWD 0xAA #define REV 0x55 #define R 0x22 #define L 0x88 #define CW 0x99 #define CCW 0x66 #define STOP 0x00 #define B 0xFF #define RSPEED OCR1AL #define LSPEED OCR1BL #define SPEED0 255 #define SPEED1 0 #define SPEED2 0 #define SPEED3 0 #define MAX 3 #define HMAX 1 void move (unsigned char dir,unsigned char delay,unsigned char power); unsigned char i,rdev,ldev,ip,delay,dir,power,dirl,history[MAX],hcount=0,rotpow; #ifdef debug unsigned char rep=0,prev=0; #endif void main(void) { // Input/Output Ports initialization // Port A initialization // Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In Page 11 of 17
  • 12. Line Follower // State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T PORTA=0x00; DDRA=0x00; // Port B initialization // Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In // State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T PORTB=0x00; DDRB=0x00; // Port C initialization // Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In // State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T PORTC=0x00; DDRC=0xFF; // Port D initialization // Func7=In Func6=In Func5=Out Func4=Out Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In // State7=T State6=T State5=0 State4=0 State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T PORTD=0x00; DDRD=0x30; // Timer/Counter 0 initialization // Clock source: System Clock // Clock value: Timer 0 Stopped // Mode: Normal top=FFh // OC0 output: Disconnected TCCR0=0x00; TCNT0=0x00; OCR0=0x00; // Timer/Counter 1 initialization // Clock source: System Clock // Clock value: 921.600 kHz // Mode: Fast PWM top=00FFh // OC1A output: Non-Inv. // OC1B output: Non-Inv. // Noise Canceler: Off // Input Capture on Falling Edge TCCR1A=0xA1; TCCR1B=0x0A; TCNT1H=0x00; TCNT1L=0x00; ICR1H=0x00; ICR1L=0x00; OCR1AH=0x00; OCR1AL=0xFF; OCR1BH=0x00; OCR1BL=0xFF; // Timer/Counter 2 initialization // Clock source: System Clock // Clock value: Timer 2 Stopped // Mode: Normal top=FFh // OC2 output: Disconnected ASSR=0x00; TCCR2=0x00; Page 12 of 17
  • 13. Line Follower TCNT2=0x00; OCR2=0x00; // External Interrupt(s) initialization // INT0: Off // INT1: Off // INT2: Off MCUCR=0x00; MCUCSR=0x00; #ifdef debug // USART initialization // Communication Parameters: 8 Data, 1 Stop, No Parity // USART Receiver: On // USART Transmitter: On // USART Mode: Asynchronous // USART Baud rate: 57600 UCSRA=0x00; UCSRB=0x18; UCSRC=0x86; UBRRH=0x00; UBRRL=0x07; #endif // Timer(s)/Counter(s) Interrupt(s) initialization TIMSK=0x00; // Analog Comparator initialization // Analog Comparator: Off // Analog Comparator Input Capture by Timer/Counter 1: Off ACSR=0x80; SFIOR=0x00; while (1){ #ifdef debug if(rep<255) rep++; if(prev!=PINA) { prev=PINA; printf("%ur",rep); for(i=0;i<8;i++) printf("%ut",(prev>>i)&0x01); rep=0; } #endif if(PINA!=255){ rotpow=255; ldev=rdev=0; if(PINA.3==0) rdev=1; if(PINA.2==0) rdev=2; if(PINA.1==0) rdev=3; Page 13 of 17
  • 14. Line Follower if(PINA.0==0) rdev=4; if(PINA.4==0) ldev=1; if(PINA.5==0) ldev=2; if(PINA.6==0) ldev=3; if(PINA.7==0) ldev=4; if(rdev>ldev) move(R,0,195+12*rdev); if(rdev<ldev) move(L,0,195+12*ldev); if(rdev==ldev) move(FWD,0,200); } else { for(i=0,dirl=0;i<MAX;i++) { if(history[i]==L) {dirl++;} } if(rotpow<160) {rotpow=160;} if(rotpow<255) {rotpow++;} if(dirl>HMAX) {move(CW,0,rotpow);} else {move(CCW,0,rotpow);} } }; } void move (unsigned char dir,unsigned char delay,unsigned char power) { PORTC=dir; if(dir==L || dir==R) { hcount=(hcount+1)%MAX; history[hcount]=dir; } LSPEED=RSPEED=255;//power; //delay_ms(delay); } Possible Improvements: -Use of differential steering with gradual change in wheel speeds. -Use of Hysteresis in sensor circuit using LM339 -Use of ADC so that the exact position of the line can be interpolated -Use of Wheel Chair or three wheel drive to reduce traction. -General improvements like using a low dropout voltage regulator, lighter chassis etc Page 14 of 17
  • 15. Line Follower References and Resources Books: Programming and Customizing the AVR Microcontroller – Dhananjay V. Gadre Parallel Port Complete – Jan Axelson Links: Atmel Corp. Makers of the AVR microcontroller http://www.atmel.com AVRbeginners.net http://www.avrbeginners.net/ AVR assembler tutorial Tutorial for learning assembly language for the AVR-Single-Chip-Processors AT90Sxxxx from ATMEL with practical examples. http://www.avr-asm-tutorial.net/ One of the best sites AVR sites http://www.avrfreaks.net WinAVR An open source C compiler for AVR http://sourceforge.net/projects/winavr PonyProg A widely used programmer. Support for newer chips is added periodically. Can also program PICs and EEPROMS http://www.lancos.com/prog.html Basic Electronics http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/ Williamson Labs Nice animated tutorials, articles and project ideas. http://www.williamson-labs.com/home.htm Small Robot Sensors http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rjg/websensors/robot_sensors2.html Robotics India An Indian site devoted to robotics. Must see http://www.roboticsindia.com/ Seattle Robotics Society http://www.seattlerobotics.org/ Page 15 of 17
  • 16. Line Follower Line Follower ROBOT Award winner from VingPeaw Competition 2543, the robot built with 2051, L293D, and four IR sensors. Simple circuit and platform, quick tracking and Easy to understand program using C language. http://www.kmitl.ac.th/~kswichit/LFrobot/LFrobot.htm Tools: AVR Studio For writing code in assembly and simulation of code. Current versions has AVR-GCC plug-in to write code in C. Compilers: IAR, Image Craft , Code Vision AVR, WinAVR Programmers: Pony Prog, AVR Dude, AVRISP and many more. Evaluation Boards: STK200, STK500 from Kanda Systems Shops: Motors: 1. Mechtex - Mulund, Mumbai 2. Servo Electronics - Lamington road, Mumbai Phone:56346573 3. Bombay Electronics - Lamington Road, Mumbai Electronics: 1. Visha Electronics - Lamington road, Mumbai [Programmer for 8051, PIC and AVR available] Phone: 23862650 / 23862622 2. Gala Electronics - Lamington road, Mumbai 3. Chip Components - Lamington road, Mumbai Telephone: 56390468 / 56587005 Parts and Prices: Part Approximate Price in Indian Rupees Visible Light Leds 1.00 White or Bicoloured 5.00 IR LED 3.00 IR Sensor 7.00 Capacitor (small values) 0.25 to 2.00 Capacitor (large values / electrolytic) 2.00 to 20.00 Or more Resistors (1/4 W) 0.25 Variable Resistor (Preset) 2.50 Variable Resistor (Pot) 8.00 Microcontrollers 40 to 450 AT89C2051 (8051 Core) 40 AT89C51 (8051 Core) 60 AT89S52 (8051 Core) 150 PIC16F84A (PIC Core) 120 Page 16 of 17
  • 17. Line Follower ATmega8 (AVR Core) 90 ATmega16 (AVR Core) 150 ATmega32 (AVR Core) 300 ATmega128 (AVR Core) 425 Transistors 1.50 to 15 or more Low power Eg: BC547 1.50 Power Transistor Eg: TIP31C 15.00 Connectors 1.00 per pin Optocoupler (MCT2E) 8.00 Common Tools Soldering Iron 150 (typical) to 400 Solder metal 25.00 Solder Flux 5.00 Desoldering Wick 5.00 Breadboard 80.00 to 100.00 Wire Stripper 25.00 Common ICs Voltage Regulators (78XX), 5.00 LM324,IC555 etc MAX232 20.00 ULN 2003 / ULN 2803 14.50 TSOP17XX 17.00 L298, L293, L293D 70.00 IC Programmers Homemade (Support fewer devices, 20.00 to 80.00 support only serial programming, not as rugged) Eg: PonyProg ( http://www.lancos.com ) 2500 to 25000 Readymade (Support many chips, support parallel programming, easy to use, rugged) Wireless Modules 700.00 Parallel Port / Serial Port Add on Card for 500.00 PC Universal PCB 10.00 to 50.00 You may drop your feedback at [email protected] . Priyank Patil KJ Somaiya CoE – Information Technology VidyaVihar, Mumbai Page 17 of 17