_       _       
  (_) ___ | |_ ____
  | |/ _ \| __|_  /
  | | (_) | |_ / / 
 _/ |\___/ \__/___|
|__/               

Quad Quest elevated robot track

Introduction

Quad Quest was an event that took place in the lobby of the Central Quad building in TU Dublin's Grangegorman campus on Saturday 3rd June 2023. Participants completed a series of challenges, each related to an academic discipline based in that building. Mayank Parmar, Finbarr O'Meara and I created the electrical engineering exhibit, which consisted of an elevated track and a set of autonomous robots that drive along it. Each robot uses an infrared reflective proximity sensor to detect the edge of the track. The sensor is mounted on a flexible arm that extends from the front of the robot. The challenge for visitors was to position the sensor so that the robot drives along the track without falling off.

Event photos

Laser cutting patterns

Inkscape SVG files:

• quad_quest_robot.svg 93.5 kB
• quad_quest_track.svg 235.2 kB

Laser cutting PDF files:

• quad_quest_robot.pdf 13.9 kB
• quad_quest_straights_and_feet.pdf 1.8 kB
• quad_quest_tight_corners_and_feet.pdf 2.1 kB
• quad_quest_towers.pdf 6.5 kB
• quad_quest_wide_corners.pdf 1.6 kB

Basic example code

void setup()
{
  pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(6, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(7, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(8, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
  //return 0;
  if (analogRead(0) > 512) motors(0,1);
  else motors(1,0);
}

void motors(int left, int right)
{
  digitalWrite(5, right > 0);
  digitalWrite(6, right < 0);
  digitalWrite(7, left > 0);
  digitalWrite(8, left < 0);
}