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Unread 29-01-2004, 23:42
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Re: Line Tracking Times?

Quote:
Originally Posted by KenWittlief
BTW - there was something about last years line following that made it very difficult - the half circle connected to a straight line requires accelerated acceleration to follow - in physics its called a jerk

the discontinuity from a straight line to a circle looks smooth, but its not. In fact, to follow the line perfectly last year would have required infinite acelleration (impossible)


and guess what, those bends in the line this year? same thing - you cant follow them perfectly, so your algorythm will have to take that into account - anticipate where you are going (straight, left turn, right turn....)
Interesting point...

I don't think it's realistic (or at least necessary) to follow the line "perfectly". If you use two sensors, one on either side of the line, and space them out a bit (i.e. for a 2" line put the sensors about 4" apart), then the robot will "waddle" down the line. You know that when you get to the end of the line, the robot will be within 2" horizontally of it's target. It may be pointing at a bit of an angle, but it will be there. If you combine this with some other sensory info (turn counting, timing, gyros etc), you have a pretty robust system. But not perfect...