Eureka! Institutional Repository

The subject of this project is the cruise control of a small robotic vehicle. In order to meet the needs of the project, a small robotic vehicle has been constructed and programmed. It is able to keep its speed steady either at a straight or at an incline surface without straying from its route. Moreover, it is able to detect obstacles in the proximity ahead and change its course accordingly, namely it has been programmed to follow moving obstacles and immobilizing upon meeting a fixed barrier. Cruise control has been achieved with PID controllers which had been implemented using an Arduino board and designed by extracting the system’s mathematical model. The ability to detect objects is provided by a supersonic sensor which is mounted at the front part of the vehicle and, proportionally to its readings, the controllers setpoints change accordingly. Finally, the project is constructed in a way to offer freedom of future expansions such as position control, odometry and wall or line following.