Technology and Technology

What is a line follower? Line follower is a machine that can follow a path. The path can be visible like a black line on a white surface (or vice-versa) or it can be invisible like a magnetic field. Why build a line follower? Sensing a line and maneuvering the robot to stay on course, while constantly correcting wrong moves using feedback mechanism forms a simple yet effective closed loop system. As a programmer you get an opportunity to ‘teach’ the robot how to follow the line thus giving it a human-like property of responding to stimuli. Practical applications of a line follower : Automated cars running on roads with embedded magnets; guidance system for industrial robots moving on shop floor etc.   I started with building a parallel port based robot which could be controlled manually by a keyboard. On the robot side was an arrangement of relays connected to parallel port pins via opto-couplers. The next version was a true computer controlled line foll...