Edge Detecting Arduino Zamboni
The Goal
The goal for this project is to create an edge detecting "Robot" that will drive and turn by itself using an ardunio.
The "robot" itself is meant to look creative and meant to symbolize something about yourself or your interests.
The Idea
My idea for the robot is to make it look like a zamboni. Growing up I loved watching hockey and creating a working zamboni seems like an interesting creative spin on the project.
I would like my Zamboni to function with two utrasonic sensors on the front of it and once an edge is detected I would like to program the zamboni to move back a few inches and turn to the left and continue forward.
Inspiration for Design
To get inspiraton for the design of the zamboni I searched the internet for a design that caught my eye.
To make it I will need :
•Cardboard box
•Lots of paint
•Some spray paint
•Arduino Chasis kit
Coding
I first started coding and wiring my ptototype on Tinkercad as it was easier for "trial and error" and also to test and prototype on the go whether its on a bus, at a restaurant etc.
After I had a working prototype on Tinkercad I moved to physical prototyping which I thought would be easy but I ran into alot more probelms then I thought .
Problem Solving
Once I wired my prototype my zamboni would drive and attempt to stop but would not stop fast enough and kept falling off the table. To attempt to fix this I reduced speed on the arudino. Unfortunatly it still woudln't stop fast enough, so this time I extended my sensors so theyre farther away from my robot.
I did this by putting the sensors on mini cardboard arms (kind of looked like claws) that stuck out from the robot which resulted in the edges of the table to be detected sooner giving the zamboni a little more time to stop and to my surprise it worked.
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Finished Product
Finnaly I have the finished design, I decided to print off some logos to put on the zamboni to make it a little more realistic and personalised. I also gave my zamboni a driver for some added detail
This project taught myself alot about prototyping and improved my problem solving skills drastically as I ran into nearly every problem possible while making this. But also learned how to identify and create a solution for each problem as well as what measures to put in to ensure the problem did not happen again.
It also connected the art of design to real life prototyping as its one thing to be able to come up with a design but another whole challenge to make that design come to life.
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