[ROUGH PLACEHOLDER]
Inspiration
We wanted to build a robot that didn’t just move autonomously, but could navigate and act. Line-following robots are a classic robotics problem, but adding a ball-throwing mechanism turns it from a pure navigation task into a coordinated system that requires sensing, control, timing, and mechanical actuation to all work together. The goal was to push beyond “it follows a line” into “it follows a line and does something useful at the right moment.”
What it does
yd-bot is an autonomous line-following robot that navigates a predefined track and launches a ball at a designated location. Using optical sensors, the robot continuously adjusts its motor speeds to stay centered on the line. When it reaches a trigger point, it activates an onboard throwing mechanism to launch a ball while maintaining stability and alignment.
How we built it
We built yd-bot around a microcontroller that reads an array of line sensors and computes steering corrections in real time. A closed-loop control algorithm adjusts the left and right drive motors to keep the robot on track. The ball-throwing system is powered by a dedicated motor and is triggered through software once the robot detects the launch zone. The chassis and launcher were mechanically designed to balance speed, accuracy, and repeatability, while the electronics were laid out to handle motor noise and power spikes reliably.
Challenges we ran into
- Tuning the control system so the robot could follow the line smoothly without oscillating or overshooting
- Synchronizing the launch timing so the ball was thrown only when the robot was correctly positioned
- Managing power distribution between drive motors and the launcher without causing resets or brownouts
- Achieving consistent ball trajectory despite vibration and motion during launch
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Successfully integrating navigation and actuation into a single autonomous system
- Achieving stable, repeatable line following at speed
- Designing a reliable ball-throwing mechanism that works on the move
- Getting hardware, firmware, and mechanics to work together under real-world constraints
What we learned
This project reinforced how tightly coupled hardware and software are in robotics. Small sensor noise, timing delays, or mechanical flex can completely change system behavior. We also learned the importance of iterative testing, control tuning, and designing for power and noise early rather than treating them as afterthoughts.
What's next for yd-bot
- Next, we plan to improve throwing accuracy by adding position feedback and refining the launch control. We also want to increase navigation robustness by upgrading the sensor array and implementing more advanced control logic. Long term, yd-bot could be extended to handle multiple actions along the track or adapt to dynamically changing paths.
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