Project Description

Objective 

          The objective of the mobile robotic manipulator project is to build a complete mobile robotic system composed of the Lego NXT kit and the Ryerson Mechbot Robot. The MechBot should be capable of following a black path specified on a light background flat surface (ground). Certain objects (balls) will exist randomly on the side of Mechbot’s path. The NXT Lego kit will be used to create a robotic arm (manipulator) for detecting and acting on these objects. The manipulator should apply force on these objects in order to drive them to nearby pockets. The objective of the competition is the Mechbot to reach the end of the path in the shortest time while having pocketed all the balls.   

        The MechBot follows the specified black path and as soon as it encounters the T shape mark on the path, it stops and the robotic arm is then actuated. The arm applies some amount of force on the object to kick it into the pocket. The motion of the arm is controlled by the servo motors included in NXT kit which are controlled by the use of PID controller. Once the function of robotic arm is completed, the MechBot continues to follow the path until it detects another T shape mark on the path. The area for the location of the object was provided to allow students to design the robot arm which should be capable to adjusting itself and cover the predefined area for the ball. The predefined area helped the design project to be able to perform repetitive task within the are provided.