Lesson 108: Robot Controls | The Robot Doctor
Support Materials
How we can control a robot’s motors in order to follow a line, including a curved line.
Assignment: Lesson 108
Our robot wants to follow a diagonal line starting at (0,0), going through the origin and a point at (10,10).
- If the robot is at (2,3), how far away from the line is the robot? And on which side of the line is the robot?
- If the proportional gain is 15 degrees per meter, what is the commanded steering angle from the controller?
About
Learn how we can control a robot’s motors in order to follow a line, including a curved line, in this 14-minute episode. The goal of this video series is to teach the basics of Robotics: the what, why, and how—with examples—and to provide take-home problems to solve.
How do robots follow a line? How do they know how to correct for errors or disturbances as they try to follow a path? In this lesson, we will explore how a robot can use vector math to determine which side of a line it is on, and how far away the line is. We will also see how the robot can use this information as part of a Proportional Feedback Controller to constantly update the motor commands to account for any errors that may occur and successfully follow a provided trajectory.
Credits: WQED, RobotWits LLC, PA Rural Robotics, Dr. Jonathan Butzke, Carnegie Mellon University
Standards
- Motion and forces—feedback affects motion (STEELS.6-8.PS.2)
- Controllers as subsystems (STEELS.6-8.TE.6)
- Vector operations to compute deviation (STEELS.9-12.PS.2)
- Control gains and system response (STEELS.9-12.TE.6)
- Applying Pythagorean theorem (CC.2.3.8.A.3)
- Basic proportional reasoning (CC.2.1.8.E.1)
- Dot product and vector math (CC.2.3.HS.A.8)
- Graphing control response curves (CC.2.2.HS.C.8)
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