Abstract:

The map drawing robot was designed for the sake of diving into the robot positioning argument. For a robot to navigate, it must know the environment in some way. The robot was constructed using LEGO Mindstorms’ bricks, which consists of NXT-controller, servo motors, ultrasonic/range and light sensors. The actual map that will be drawn by the robot is made of walls and corners. The robot shall follow the wall and make approximately 90˚ turns at every corner. The wall following task is done by using the range sensors whilst the servo motors are used for turning movement and distance measurement. The robot shall stop automatically when it reaches the start/stop point, by the utilization of light sensor. Subsequently, all the measured data is saved in NXT brick memory, then dump into the Visual Basic written software. The data collected in degree is converted to centimeter in order to enable the map drawing. The actual map can be visualized via visual basic whilst the perimeter of the map can be calculated as well. The applications of the map drawing robot are to measure the size of classrooms, halls and also to facilitate the interior designer activities. Apart of that, it can also be used to measure roads and flat terrains. With proper external structure modification, this robot can be used in the hazardous area as well.

Keywords:

Map drawing robot, Robot positioning, NXT-controller, LEGO Mindstroms.