The Heat-Seeking Robot

A Design Project for Introduction to Engineering
Developed by Dr. Antonio Garcia
(adapted from Dr. Chell Robert's ECE 100 robot assignment)
Arizona State University

Constraints and Conditions

1.       The arena will be laid out on a relatively flat cement floor that will measure about 20 feet wide. There will also be obstacles: 3 inch diameter by 6 inch tall cylinders.

2.       You are being supplied a kit for building your robot. You are not confined to the components in your kit.

3.       The kit includes a micro-processor, a bread-board 3.75"x1.75"x0.25", two 60 rpm servo motors, several sensors, all the electrical components to control the servo motors, and a battery pack (2.75"x2.50"x .75") that will hold 5 AA batteries. These components together weigh approximately 0.25 Kg.

4.       You will make at least one trial run and record sensor data in the provided HOBO data logger and analyze the data with graphs in Excel.

5.       Previous experience indicates that a preferable target total weight should be around .5 Kg.

6.       A toggle switch will be provided to turn on and off the robot.

7.       Two bump sensors (small switches) will be provided.

8.       An electrical diagram and some control subroutines will also be provided.

9.       The force used to power the robot must be supplied (directly or indirectly) from the batteries.

10.   The device may in no way harm the floor or anything in the lab.

11.   You must not damage any robotic components on your device or on another team’s device.

12.   You may not use gasoline or chemical reactions.

  Lesson   |   Instruction to Students |  Constraints and Conditions   |  Heat-Seeking Robot Assignment Checklist

©2002, Antonio Garcia
These materials may be duplicated for educational purposes if properly credited.