Our robot was controlled using TINAH microcontroller boards. These boards are close cousins of the arduino, and were custom made for this course.
Our robot used closed loop control to navigate the course and pick up the pets. Our software implemented PID control to drive along the tape, follow the Infrared Beacon, and to move the arm to a precise angle. To combine these functions into one piece of code that allows the robot to rescue pets successfully, we used a variety of functions of the TINAH Board to make our robot transition between these functions in response to external events and input. Interrupt routines on the TINAH board allowed us to advance our robot to the next stage of operation in response to the switches on our arm and front pickup.
By using external inputs from switches and timers to transition our robot between these different control loops, we achieved reliable and autonomously controlled robot that is adaptable, and reacts to its surroundings without human control.
The video below demonstrate's one of our robot's PID control loops, which allows the robot to follow the black tape on the competition surface.