MIE443 – Mechatronics System – Competition #1: RoboCan

This morning was the first competition for my Mechatronics System. The task was to build a robot using Lego parts and a custom programmable motherboard to “kick” cans out of a circle.

The premise of our robot is to line follow the outside circle. Once the arm reaches a can, triggered by a touch sensor, it will swing and knock it out of the circle.

I foolishly forgot to bring my camera this morning to the actual competition but I made a video of it on Monday, the day before the competition.

The logic of the robot changed ever so slightly, instead of only turning for a set amount, the robot would continue swinging its arm until the light sensors “sees” the circle. It will then swing in the opposite direction back into the proper orientation and continue moving on until it finds another can.

While this logic takes slightly longer to execute, you know it will always make it back to the moving forward direction. It does not rely on any encoder positions which can be prone to errors.

Here’s a video of the robot working on it’s old logic. If I get a copy of the robot in action from today, I’ll throw it up on youtube. The next competition is called “RoboGolf”. More info on that when the competition day draws closer.

Tags: Competition, Lego, MIE443, Roboto, UofT