➼ Abrar Hussain
➼ I am Abrar, an exchange student from Pakistan and a Junior at Windsor High School. I was on the robotics team this year (2022-2023) First Tech Challenge and I like tweaking things and try to know how they work which brings my interest in robotics.
➼ Matthew Murray
➼ I am Matthew, a Junior at Windsor High School and was on the robotics team of year 2021-2022 First Tech Challenge and I have great interest in technincal stuff. I would love to persue electrical engineering in my future.
Many students have to carry their backpacks on a daily basis from class to class. By using robotics, we can solve this problem by making a robot which follows the person. This project can be useful while shopping etc, as the user does not have to carry the cart all the way to the checkout and through the aisles. What if we make something that just follows that person. Our particular focus of this project is to build a lightweight (Can be modified for Heavyweights) load carrying robot with user movement. With the Followbot at their side students can simply walk they need to go, and the Followbot will carry their things behind them. Students can manually change the distance that it will follow, allowing easy use in crowded hallways. The Followbot may soon diminish the need for the common backpack.
All wires are plugged into the Arduino Uno via male pin header soldered on the end of each wire, shrinkwrapped to reduce the chance of a short circut.
All wires on the motor controller are soldered directly to the board, with shrinkwrap between each connection to reduce the chance of a short circut.
All connections are soldered and there is no possibility of a short circut. All power connections are soldered to the main breadboard, with all ground connections soldered to an external breadboard fragment. The power switch is fastened tightly into the side of the Followbot head.
Each of the requirements for this project are fufilled by the Followbot. The output display is the three LEDs that shine when a certain threshhold is reached by the potentiometer. The manual user input is fufilled via potentiometer that sets the distance that the Followbot will follow. The automatic sensor is the ultrasonic distance sensor that allows the Followbot to accuratly follow and "see" the person it is following. The actuators are the motors that move the Followbot at half the speed of smell. The programmed logic of the Followbot is the arduino uno, the brains of the Followbot. We have had many issues with the Followbot, specifically the power. We currently have three 12v battery packs wired in parellel for a grand total of 24 rechargable AA batteries. As of now, the Followbot cannot turn. At least not intentionally. We do not yet know the exact weight limit of the Followbot, all we know is the limit is somewhere between a fully loaded backpack and a human.
S.No: Name Quantity Cost
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Tetrix channels 5 * $6 = $ 30
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Arduino Uno 1*$16 = $ 16
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Ultrasonic Sensor 1*$2 = $2
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AndyMark Motors 2*$6 = $12
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AA Battery Pack 3*$4 = $12
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Tetrix Wheels 2*$6 = $12
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Potentiometer 1*$0.75 = $0.75
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LED 3*$0.16 = $0.50
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Motor Controller 1*$4 = $4
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Other Parts $14 = $10.75
Combined Total $100
We faced so many issues regarding our capstone project that are listed below with the explanation of how we overcame those issues.
- Power And Voltage Distribution We had issues of using enogh batteries but the output was not equal to the projected as we were using only two motors and those were so slow. We had discussion with Mr. Brayan from Computer Science department in Colorado State University and he helped us regarding this issue. We increased the number of batteries and put them in parallel circuit which resulted in same voltage but high current which solved our issue.
- Budget Plan We had to squeeze in out parts according to our budeget, if we had more budget we could scale it up more icreasing the percision of how it should be working and for that we need more parts, which results in more budget.
- The coding wasn't really an issue, we were able to pull code that Matthew wrote in the intro class and meld it with our needs. He assembled the code like a four year old playing with loose LEGOs. He faced one issue one which was the lights on top of the Followbot. The first light wouldn't turn off... The code never said to turn it off... Whoopsees.
Total Filament Used in Grams = 182g
For runnable code, see the programming file. https://github.com/hussainabrar24/Capstone-Project-FollowBot/blob/eae541fdf17a4008bf8139245ac5bdcd08a28d38/Programming/Capstone_Project_Code.ino
➼ Tank drive without treads
➼ Two wheeled drive
➼ U-Channel stand for holding the electronics
➼ A custom designed case for the electronics
➼ Cardboard for the base with a tetrix channel as a support
➼ Makeshift castor wheels
➼ Three battery packs (36 batteries)in parallel
