Line Follower

[093611k]

Hi All there is a problem face while im doing the line follow. I found out that the detection by the vex line sensor is rather slow. I wonder if u guys had encounter this problem or not... If yes, i will appreciate some suggested solution... Please help!!!

I don't do VEX, but I do have experience with light sensors, which are used to follow lines. FIRST off, do you have it in an area where it has enough light? Not just light from the outside, I also mean light coming to the sensor area. If the sense itself is not receiving enough light, it may not work, and/or it may take longer to find the line, since there isn't enough light to distinguish line from no line.

As for the slowness, do you mean that the line tracking itself is slow, or that it just takes a while to recognize the line, but after it does the robot goes through it quickly.

[Tommy.Brown]

Are you sure that it is the actual line sensor itself? You might try connecting it to an Arduino to see if you get similar results. Also, you might try creating a separate thread in thread in the code so that the line sensor's code will run much faster.

[lemiant]

Let me qualify this by saying: I have no experience with vex whatsoever.

However, I have programmed quite a bit on a number of robot platforms. I find it very unlikely that the sensor is to blame, it is probably your code. Without having it in front of me I don't know what is wrong, but I would try Tom's suggestions. I just want to remind you not to jump to conclusions.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

K,
The VEX line follower uses infra red emitters and detectors. These can be overpowered in the presence of strong IR radiation such as in direct sunlight, or from security cameras close to your test station. They are programmable and to allow you to vary parameters to suit your conditions. Please follow the guidelines and keep the sensors mounted close to the line you are following, 1/8" or 3mm above the line is optimal. In the presence of strong light, it might work better if you shade the sensors so that ambient light is less of an issue.