MAZE FOLLOWING ROBOT

The robot is a fully autonomous machine that is able to sense its surroundings and perform actions independently.  Autonomous robots have been used in a wide variety of applications from bomb disposal to grass cutting and from space exploration to factory assemblies. The micro-mouse robot showcases many different capabilities of the engineering domain.  The construction of a micro-mouse robot involves the use of circuit building, computer language programming, electro mechanical aspects and power supplies.  For the robot to act autonomously trade-offs must be made between power, speed, weight and maze solving algorithms (the software needed to get to the goal).  Autonomous robots are being developed rapidly in the society we live in and to understand the basic principles that underpin these theories is valuable for any aspiring engineer.

Objectives

The individual objectives are to:

Build a robot that can navigate safely to a given grid reference within the maze.

To be able to memorize and ignore dead ends and navigate safely back to the start of the maze.

To provide a LED map display to the user defining right and wrong paths.

These objectives must be accomplished by sticking to a 50.00 budget, therefore careful consideration of the type of components must be utilised. Deliberation must be managed successfully to find the best component at a suitable price. Meetings with the supervisor are arranged on a weekly basis to discuss progress and any issues or problems that may occur.

There are certain deadlines to meet throughout the year and the project will be on display during the Project Open Day on the 25th April 2014 to students, lecturers and possible future employers.