Areabot

A robot rover to cover a closed area efficiently

AreaBot is a robot designed to move around a closed arena and cover as much ground as possible in the least amount of time.  The application would be similar to a robot vacuum or lawn mowing robot.

The robot evolved as I added more refined behaviors to its profile.  It started as a behavior-based proving ground with only two behaviors CRUISE and BUMP ESCAPE.  The robot moved around bumping into walls and spinning away.  Later versions demonstrated wall following techniques and more complex rooms to cover.  The wall following increased the chances the robot would move from chamber to chamber to cover multiple, connected rooms.

This robot was a success.  Its simple design and simple behaviors showed behavior-based programming implementation on the NXT and used only a simple bumper and the Ultrasonic sensor.

Read more detailed articles to learn more about AreaBot: Here

AreaBot Experiments and Code

Version Description	Download the Code
Basic bumper robot relying on CRUISE and BUMP ESCAPE to travel within the area.	bbAreaRover.zip
WALL FOLLOWING was introduced in this version of the robot utilizing the Lego Ultrasonic sensor to allow the robot a better chance of covering the area along a wall.	bbAreaRover2.zip
BUMPER WALL FOLLOWING and US CORNERING behaviors were added to this robot with no additional sensors to demonstrate building on top of existing behaviors and adding more robust wall following and area coverage in multiple chambers separated by a small door.	bbAreaRover3.zip