At this point, we can put the motion and the range sensing capabilities of the robot to good use. For autonomous motion (no remote control), the robot needs to use its range sensor to detect obstacles and avoid them by turning to another direction. The next sketch does that by moving… Read more »
A relay can be used, for example, to control the power to a small home appliance. I used this Arduino 2-Channel Relay Module (AC 250V 10A / DC 30V 10A) to control multiple appliances by replacing the mechanical on/off switch of a regular power bar with this relay. The control of the relay by… Read more »
I have created this wiring diagram for the connections between the motor controller, motors, and sensor shield. I’ll update it later to include other components. And here is an update that includes the servo motor and the range sensor. And here are the detailed pin assignments for all modules: Pin… Read more »
This is a fun program that shows how easy it is to create interesting animations using Processing language.
JSim is a Java-based discrete event simulator of an M/M/s queue system. The source includes a library of classes that can be used to modify the application to simulate other types of queue systems as well. JSim source files can be downloaded from https://sourceforge.net/projects/jsim/. A brief description of the main classes… Read more »
Thomas Schelling showed, in 1971, that a small preference for one’s neighbors to be of the same race could lead to total segregation. This model is used as an example to show how such individual behaviour can bring about such undesirable social conventions without the need for evil master plan… Read more »
Once the motors were connected to the motor controller (see previous post), I started working on writing the code for basic robot movement. The basic motor commands are: onFwd/onRev: move each motor independently in the forward or reverse direction off/stop: stop either motor gradually (float) or abruptly (break) fwdRight/fwdLeft: turn the robot by running the two… Read more »
An ad hoc node refers to a device in a wireless ad hoc network. Ad hoc networks (or more accurately, mobile, multi-hop, wireless networks) are a class of networks that does not depend on any central administration or infrastructure in its operations. Unlike wired networks, an ad hoc network could… Read more »
The motor controller module is based on L298N driver. The documentation for the module was hard to find but there are many boards that are based on the same driver. So, I was able to piece the information together and figure out how to use the module. L298N Controller Module L298N is a high voltage,… Read more »
The robot kit includes an ultrasonic range sensor (HC-SR04), a 2kg-torque servo motor (TowerPro SG90), and a plastic holder that is supposed to attach the motor to the robot top plate and provide a base to attach the sensor. Unfortunately, the items are not totally compatible with each other, so I had… Read more »