Skip to content

Light Following Robot

Github Repository

Description

I created a light following robot as part of the BYU ECEN 301 course. The labs were divided into 6 parts as described below:

  • Lab 1: Introduction to Arduino
  • Lab 2: State machine for light following robot
  • Lab 3: Battery pack, and battery voltage indicator
  • Lab 4: Capacitive proximity sensor
  • Lab 5: Light direction finder
  • Lab 6: Light-Following Robot

More information about the project and see the code on the class github.

Key Takeaways1

  • Ability to write computer code that implements simple state machines on a microcontroller.
  • An understanding of analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters and their implications for embedded computing.
  • The ability to interface microcontrollers to a variety of sensors and actuators, including DC and servo motors.

Timeline

Duration: Jan 2025 - Apr 2025

Total time: 25 hours

Time commitment: 1-2 hours per week

Result

I created videos for each of the 6 labs to document my progress. Checkout the full playlist:

Robot Videos

Here is the final video of the functional light-following robot car:

Final lab 6 video

Technical Skills

Microcontrollers

Learned how to write code for simple state machines and interface microcontrollers to a variety of sensors and actuators.

Electronic Circuits

I learned how to analyze DC and AC circuits using the basic laws of electronics. I learned how to use diodes, transistors, and operational amplifiers. I also gained the ability to use electronic instruments to test and debug electronic circuits.

  1. Taken from Course Learning Outcomes ↩