Build Your Own Combat Robot

250 Build Your Own Combat Robot
One of the simplest techniques you can employ for improving sensor input is
based on simple statistics. If the sensor has an occasional bad reading, try averaging
several readings, and perhaps toss out the high- and low-value ranges; then adjust
within the microcontroller as part of the software or firmware driving the sensor
on the robot.
Another simple and effective technique is to use hoods or shades over light detectors
to avoid bright directional lights. Just about every robot competition has
problems with lighting because the light in the arena is not identical to the light in
the robot development environment.
Having to clean up sensor data when another robot is using the same sensor that
your robot is using can be tricky. For example, your sensor might pick up the transmitted
infrared light from your opponent’s sensors. This may give false distance or
proximity readings to your bot. To overcome such a problem, you can use an infrared
receiver sensor, such as an infrared phototransistor, and take a measurement
just before using the GP2Dxx sensor. If the transistor detects an infrared signal,
there is a chance that another robot is transmitting a signal toward your robot. If the
transistor doesn’t detect the presence of any infrared light, you can safely turn on
your GP2Dxx sensor. To add more reliability, you could use the phototransistor to
take another measurement just after the GP2Dxx measurement reading has been
completed. The second reading will be used to determine whether your opponent
has turned on his robot’s sensor while you were using your sensor.
As you can see, the overall sensor package becomes more complicated as you
attempt to improve the reliability of the sensors. Most important, don’t assume
that a sensor is perfect or that its output is perfect. Figure out a way to observe the
output from the sensors directly while operating in the competition environment
for test runs. You can often adjust to the output of a sensor after you know how
the sensor is behaving.
Sensors can create much more sophisticated robotics behaviors that don’t rely
on constant human input to keep the robot going. The most robust robots typically
have the most robust sensor input dictating the behavior of the robot.
S emiautonomous Target and Weapon Tracking
When you begin competing in robot combat matches, you will discover that it is a
lot harder to get your robot positioned to deliver the deadly blow than it was when
you were at home beating up garbage cans. This is because the garbage cans are
not attacking you, there are no screaming crowds to distract you, and there is no
3-minute time limit to win. With all of this excitement happening during a match,
when you finally get your robot positioned and the opponent is in the sweet spot
for the attack, you could miss an opportunity because it took you too long to flip
the attack trigger on your remote control. This sort of predicament is frustrating
to the beginning combat warrior. If you look at videos of past combat events, you
will notice that missing the opponent is a common problem for many beginning
robot combatants. The experienced veterans always seem to hit their mark.