"ROBORANA" AND HOW IT WAS CONSTRUCTED

          "ROBORANA" was mainly constructed during our Mechatronics classes. The design brief was to build an automated robot that could find it's way through
a maze without any assistance. The robot uses infrared sensors to sense where the walls are then sends that information to the picaxe.
          The picaxe module is basically a small computer. It  recieves information  from  inputs such as those from the infrared sensors then uses that information
to run outputs such as the motor and gearbox. The gearbox that was used uses two motors that run independitly from one another, so each wheel can rotate
different to the other one. A program had to be written on a computer using the picaxe software supplied with the module which tells the wheels what to do
when the input sensors send the information to the picaxe. Examples are if the robot has a wall in front of it the robot will turn left or right, or if it has a wall next to
it the robot wil travel in a straight line following the wall.
          The sensors used in the robot are infrared sensors which have two parts. There is an emitter sensor and a receiver sensor. These sensors work on the 
principal of the emitter sending out infrared signals to find things like a wall which then bounce of that wall and go back to the receiver to tell the robot how far 
away from the wall it is or if there is no wall there at all. The sensors are mounted on a circuit board with other components like resistors and capacitors to make 
the circuit work properly.
          The base that everything is attached to is made from a clear polycarbonite. A  model is made first using the Inventor drawing program, then all the sizes
from that model are put into a cnc program .  The cnc then cuts the pattern out of the polycarbonate. The design i created was used so there were no sharp edges    and it had nice smooth curves so the robot could not snag or get caught on any corners.
          The front wheel is a castor wheel that was purchased from Bunnings. I purchased that wheel because it was a good general use wheel that should suit
the robot perfectly and it was very cost efficient. 
          I also manufactured a battery bracket and cover for the circuit board so the electronics would not be damaged. These parts were made in the college's
workshop using there facilitys and metal.
          The main problems i encounted in making the robot were writting the program and trying to fine tune the program so the robot would run the best it
could run through the maze without any  problems. The building of the circuit board was also slightly difficult but with a little help from my teacher i got the
circuit built.