E-Puck Robot Control And A* Navigation

A common problem in autonomous route planning and controls is to implement efficient motor control, sensor feedback, and route planning algorithms to allow a robot to successfully navigate and traverse a line grid maze from a start point to a different destination point in an efficient manner. We present an E-Puck controller that utilizes ground sensor feedback to perform a variety of functions; detect nodes (cross-sections), detect lines just past nodes, provideBraitenberg line tracking functionality, and allow for left and right turns on a line grid. In addition, we present an AStar algorithm that is utilized to efficiently solve for a route from a start node to an end node in a line grid maze. Finally, we present tuned parameters for node detection, line just passed node detection, line following, turning logic, and ground sensor threshold parameters resulting in a stable system.