So far we have had a discussion on a simple line follower robot. Approached by many at a beginner level, the line follower provides a lot of practical working knowledge in the field of robotics. Now I am thinking that you have taken you shot at a line follower, and would like to mention another well known robot, the photopopper. Though not really difficult to make, the photopopper provides little more inroads to what we call biologically inspired intelligence.
As a definition, the photopopper is a robot that follows light. Sounds cool right, just what the insects seem to do speaking on a very crude level. So let us see how to go about making a photopopper and even the similarity it has with a line follower robot.
Well again you will need a microcontroller for the 'brain' part of the robot. You will also need light sensors (google them to see the different modules available on the internet.) Now how many sensors to put totally depends on how you want to code it. Two sensors at the front like eyes can be a good start. Now, the sensors are interfaced to the controller. As we discussed, the code should be such that it will generate certain pin configurations and through a motor driver circuit make the bot move accordingly. A slight difference in the algorithm is that in case of the line follower, the bot never had to search for a line. Here, we need to initiate the code where the bot is maybe rotating or moving in a pre-planned path searching for the first glimpse of light and once that is detected, maybe moves towards it.
So basically simple robots have a particular process of development: Use good sensors, interface them to the controller, write the code accordingly and get the bot to move! Common mistake, don't forget the motor drivers ! Simple...you have your own photopopper robot. And just to make it more realistic, you can model or paint the chassis to look like a bug or an insect :)
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