Bradley Hackett, Utah Valley University
Engineering
The Arduino microcontroller is very robust and is capable of performing a wide variety of functions to fit the needs of almost countless different projects. Many robots that are being built use a microcontroller, and the Arduino microcontroller is a good fit for many robots. The microcontroller is also standardized so it can be learned easily, and maintained easily as well, especially in a team environment. The simplicity of the Arduino offers a much more accessible design and development environment. This environment allows for very complex projects such as robotics to be approached in a manageable way. The SERA Bot is a robot which is designed efficiently and yet still has complexity, using the Arduino microcontroller. The S.E.R.A Bot is an acronym which stands for Searching Exploring Roaming Autonomous robot. The first task this robot can do is to communicate over Bluetooth to an Android tablet or phone to remotely control the robot by driving the motors or sending command signals to the Arduino microcontroller. The next task it is capable of is to use Light Dependant Resistors or LDRs to follow a light source or find the most brightly illuminated area of a room. The third task is object avoidance which is implemented using a simple ultrasonic distance sensor to detect if there is an object close in front of the robot. The last function of this robot is the ability to locate a beacon which emits a loud detectable sound, and is implemented using three amplified condenser microphones. The purpose behind this project is mainly to incorporate many simple functions to one robot. Many robots do one simple task, but the focus is to create a versatile robot, with enough complexity to be useful, but simple enough to be efficient.