User:Scale/enes100/robotcar

Write problem/project Goal
The goal is to get a small car to drive without human input and be aware of its surrundings

My First Task
I am going to learn the basics of the Arduino Uno and get a car to sense objects, turn around and keep going without input.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
I learned basic programming in Arduino and wrote a program to sense the infrared sensor and output its code.

Week1 Narrative
I found tutorials on youtube of how to write code in Arduino software and made the led blink. after learning the basic code I looked at the wiring of the infrared sensor and found the colors to VCC ground and output. i hooked up the wires and the input and wrote a program to print out what the infrared sensor was reading every half second. When I found the numbers I took a remote control because the use infrared to communicate with the tv and pressed buttons to see if the numbers changed and they did when the light was pointed at the sensor the input went to 0. There are pictures below of my setup and program.

My Second Task
This week I plan on taking the input and when it changes to make the Arduino change an output.

Summary of actual work over second week
The first thing I did was get the infrared led working on the wowee bot and then i had trouble with the sensor recognizing the led reflecting off of surfaces.

Week2 Narrative
when I got the IR led working on the arduino I tried putting different surfaces in front of the sensors hoping a different surface would reflect better so the sensor could notice the IR led. With little luck I angles the bot to different angles hoping to get better responses but the sensor was not smooth and very choppy from one end of the spectrum to the other.

My Third task
Over the next weekend i'm going to continue looking into this sensor from the wowee bot and see if changing the power to the sensor would help.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
I tested to sensors further that I used from the woowee bots to come to a conclusion on the sensors.

Week3 Narrative
I tested the sensors moving the infrared sensors closer and further from the infrared led and there was little response. the data stream of numbers varies greatly on its own. I have tested to see the infrared led was working with a camera but the sensor doesn't respond even with other infrared leds not from direct or reflective light.

My Fourth task
My next task is to look into a pre-existing integrated circuit to see if I can use the same technology in the arduino.

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
I started testing a new circuit and found a great way of testing my sensors

Week4 Narrative
This week I took a circuit I knew was working that changes color when you put things in front of it using infrared technology. I tested the infrared sensor on the circuit with a multimeter and when there was a hand or other objects in front of the sensor the voltage increased, sensing the IR led (see picture on right). After looking at an existing working model I measured the voltage from the sensors I used from my wowee bot, to see if they were working properly. when I used the led that came with the wowee bot there was no change in voltage but when I used the led from the other circuit the voltage changed and the same with the IR from a remote control. I tested all parts of my system and showed how I connected the sensor to my arduino in the picture to the left.





Complete Team Page
here is how the whole team did on the project