AUTONOMUS LINE FOLLOWER ROBOT USING SIMPLE NPN

TRANSISTORS
1
H. Bharathi,2Marella Ramesh
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering,
MLR Institute of Technology,
Hyderabad, 500043,
INDIA.
bharathiadi@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: For detecting these specific markings or

This paper proposes a new model for line
follower Robot built using Transistors; it
starts with two NPN transistors and the
geared DC motors with low cost circuit,
which processes sensor signals. The line or
path may be considered as a physical black
painted line on the floor or a complex path
marking scheme. The basic circuit of this
line follower has been designed using two
parts, line sensors and supporting hardware
electronics. The Hardware consists of a
Light weight Chassis, D.C. Motors, Plastic
or metal Wheels with grippers, etc. The
main concept used here is the “Transistor as
a switch”
Key words: Transistors, IR Sensor, Geared
Motor.
INTRODUCTION:
A line following Robot, which is basically a
Robot expected to follow a line or a path
laid by the user. Here the line or path to be
followed may be a painted black line on the
floor or a typical path marking mechanism
similar to embedded lines, Laser guide
markings.
lines various sensing mechanism can be
adopted. The same scheme could be
applicable from simple inexpensive line
sensing circuit to expensive vision systems.
We can choose a specific scheme based
upon the sensing accuracy and flexibility
opted. Normally, the line follower Robot is
one of the self operating mobile vehicle, that
goes along a line marked, on any surface.
The path can be a defined as visible black
line on a white or light shade colour surface.
The working mechanism of the line follower
is as follows:
1. Captures, the line position with optical
sensors mounted on the front projected end
of the Robot In most of the cases multiple
photo-reflectors are used and in some
specific applications image sensors are used
for image processing. Hence, the line
sensing mechanism should poses higher
resolution and robustness
2. Steering the Robot to fallow the line with
the precise and simple steering mechanism.
This is just a servo operation; any phase
compensation will be required to stabilize
tracking motion by applying digital PID
filter or any other servo algorithm.
3. The speed is controlled with respective to
the line path. Generally the speed is reduced
while passing through a curve or bends due
to the friction between the tire and the
ground. Well-designed mechanisms, thereby
can improve the power of rolling
mechanism, which intern increases the speed
of the Robot. Consequently, the speed and
power performance of the line follower
Robot will be improved, too.
BLOCK DIAGRAM:
Fig.1: Block diagram of a Line Follower
Robot using the transistors
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM:
Fig.2: Circuit diagram
Line following Robot has been pressed in
service in semi-automatic to fully-automatic
plants. In such areas these Robots function
as material carrier to deliver items from one
manufacture point to another. Line follower
Robot is the one which go along a clear
visual line, marked or embedded on the
floor. In general case, the visual line is the
path to be followed by the Robot; it will be a
black line on a white background. In
contrast, white line marked on a black
background will also work out. Certain
special purpose Line Follower Robot, as the
name suggests, is an automated guided
vehicle, which uses invisible magnetic field
as its track. In certain situations such as
cross over, where Robot can have more than
one path as an option, in such situations
predefined path must be followed by the
Robot. Here the Robot must need to go far
90 degree turn around and also poses
junction counting capabilities.
Line Follower Robot Structure:
The Structure consists of
1. IR Sensor
2. NPN Transistor
3. Geared Motor
IR Module:
A precise IR Sensor module has adaptive
capability of the ambient light, consists of a
separate infrared transmitter and receiver.
An IR module is a reliable and affordable
electronic device which emits Infrared
radiation in order to capture some aspects of
its surroundings. Heat of a distant object is
detected and measured by an IR sensor; it
also detects its relative motion. Such types
of IR sensors are limited to measure infrared
radiation, rather than emitting.

Fig.3: IR Module
Transistor:
A transistor is a semiconductor device used
to switch or amplify AC/DC electrical
signals and thereby controls power.
transistor is built using semiconductor
material (N-type, P-type), normally with at
least three terminals (Emitter, Base, and
Collector) to connect with the external
circuit. Generally Transistors are made from
pure Silicon or Germanium with proper
amount of doping impurities to get required
characteristics as a semiconductor.(Main
application of this transistor is that it act as
switch and amplifier.
Fig.4: NPN-Transistor
Geared Motor:
The combination of a motor with a reduction
gear train mechanism is referred as “Geared
motor". These are generally assembled in
one unit for minimizing the size. The torque
can be increased by reducing the gear, which
reflects in reduction of speed of the motor,
otherwise to increase the speed it is vice-
versa. A "Geared Motor" can be realised
using an AC or DC motor with a gearbox. A
gear motor adds mechanical gears to alter
the speed/torque of the motor for an
application.(
A
Fig.5: Geared Motor
Working Methodology:
It consists of an IR-LED and Photo diode
set. IR-LED is controlled by the switching
ON and OFF the transistor. The IR LED
emits Infra red light by choosing proper
biasing. This IR radiation is reflected by
white surface (line) and the reflected IR
radiation is incident on the photodiode. If
more amount of IR radiation incident on, the
resistance of the photodiode decreases,
which leads to an increase in current through
it. The photo diode is connected to the base
of a transistor and as a result of increased
current through the photo diode, the
transistor conducts and thus the motor
connected to the collector of the transistor
gets closed path for the supply and rotates.
The Photo diode offers high resistance, if a
black colour on the path encountered by the
sensor arrangement, as no IR light is
reflected there by the transistor is cut off,
which results the motor stops rotating.
Fig. 6: Proto type model for line follower
Fig.7: Path for Line Follower
Thus the whole system can be controlled
using a simple Photo diode-Transistor
arrangement.
Applications of line follower Robot:
 Industrial Applications: These
Robots can be deployed as self-
controlled goods carriers, which can
replace traditional conveyer belts,
with ON/OFF switches.
 Automobile applications: These
Robots can be put into service as
automated cars running on roads
with embedded magnets in its body.
 Domestic applications: These can
also be used at homes for domestic
purposes like floor cleaning etc.
 Guidance applications: These
Robots can be used in public places
like Exhibitions, Shopping malls,
Museums, Zoo, Public Transport
terminals etc to provide path
guidance.
Advantages:
 Robot movement is automatic
 It is used for short or long distance
applications based on battery back-
up capacity.
 Simplicity of building.
 Fit and forget system
 Used in Home, Industrial
automations etc.
 Less cost compare to all other line
following Robots.
Conclusion:
As described in this paper, a line follower
Robot is easy to obtain and it comes in a
large variety from simple transistor
controlled Robot. The easiest and cheapest
Robot is the transistor based Robot whose
sensor are IR Sensors. The advantage of this
Robot is the affordable price and its
simplicity of construction and maintenance,
but there are major disadvantages like the
slow speed and instability on different line
thickness or thin patterns. In conclusion,
these type of transistor based Robots, we
could have some advantages in line [13] http://www.Yenka.com
following tasks especially at the junctions,
as it doesn’t have a microcontroller, in such
case unexpected resets can occur and the
device lose all its current settings and
reboots with default values. The Speed of
line follower Robot can be raised by
increasing the rpm of motor, with increase in
rating (AH) of the storage battery.

References:

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KanoneOloum Publication, 2008.

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http://www.tjrc.ir/roles.asp in date
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[7] http://www.AllDataSheet.com

[8] http://www.ermicro.com

[9] http://www.ermicro.com/blog/?p=1097

[10] http://www.hobbielectronika.hu

[11] http://www.letsmakeRobots.com

[12] http://www.makemagazine.com