13. Proportional Control

Blindfold one teammate. He or She has to get across the room as quickly as they can and stop exactly on a line drawn on the ground

The rest of the team has to give the commands.

When your teammate is far away, the blindfolded person must move fast and take big steps. But as he gets closer to the line, if he keeps running, he will overshoot. So, you have to tell the blindfolded teammate to go slower and take smaller steps.

13.1. What does proportional mean?

The robot moves proportionally – moving more or less based on how far the robot is from the target distance

For a line follower, the robot may make a sharper turn if it is further away from the line

Proportional Control can be more accurate and faster

The Pseudocode for every proportional control program consists of two stages:

Computing an error -> how far is the robot from a target

Making a correction  make the robot take an action that is proportional to the error (this is why it is called proportional control). You must multiply the error by a scaling factor to determine the correction.

13.2. What Proportional Control Looks Like

The Pseudocode for every proportional control program consists of two stages:

Computing an error -> how far is the robot from a target

Making a correction -> make the robot take an action that is proportional to the error (this is why it is called proportional control). You must multiply the error by a scaling factor to determine the correction.

How Far Is the Robot From The Line?

– Reflected light sensor readings show how “dark” the measured area is on average
– Calibrated readings should range from 100 (on just white) to 0 (on just black)
– Light Sensor Measured Area:

Line Following
– Computing an error -> how far is the robot from a target
– Robots follow the edge of line -> target should be a sensor reading of 50
– Error should indicate how far the sensor’s value is from a reading of 50

Making a correction -> make the robot take an action that is proportional to the error. You must multiply the error by a scaling factor to determine the correction.
– To follow a line a robot must turn towards the edge of the line
– The robot must turn more sharply if it is far from a line
– How do you do this: You must adjust steering input on move block

Challenge 1 Dog follower

Use proportional control with the ultrasonic sensor to get the robot to stay 15cm away from the human at all times (even when the human moves)