Finding an object with Ultrasonic Sensor

[Aelskao]

Hi !
I have some difficulties to find an approach an object with the ultrasonic sensor. I've made a little code to perform that, but it doesn't working. Here is it :

Code: Select all

import lejos.nxt.*;
import lejos.robotics.navigation.DifferentialPilot;

public class AlgoFindBall
{
    public static void main(String[] args){
        DifferentialPilot pilote = new DifferentialPilot(5.5, 17, Motor.A, Motor.B);
        UltrasonicSensor sonar = new UltrasonicSensor(SensorPort.S1);
        while(sonar.getDistance() > 50){
            pilote.travelArc(20,10,true);
            pilote.travelArc(-20,10,true);
        }
    }
}

It actually does nothing. I think it's coming from the immediatereturn. When I do a single

Code: Select all

DifferentialPilot pilote = new DifferentialPilot(5.5, 17, Motor.A, Motor.B);
pilote.travelArc(20,10,true);

,
nothing happens. But, if I remove the "true" (immediatereturn), Motor are well going forward().
Is there a way to keep the immediatereturn or to perform this task (Finding an object) ? Have I done something wrong ?
Thanks for your help !
(And sorry for my horrible english ! )

[Aswin]

Hi,

The problem is with the while loop. This goes very fast, meaning your motors get mixed orders and don't have time to respond. I think you want the robot to complete a rotate before it goes back, and back, etc. Only when your sensor detects an object, the you want to stop the motors.

You use the immediate return. This is good as otherwise you would not be able to scan while turning. So you need a way to find out if a sweep is completed to go back. The pilot class has a method that tells you that. I think it is called isStopped(). You can then reverse direction and issue a new TravelArc method. In the mean time you can keep scanning the surrounding.

There is also a range finder that could help you. This one is documented.

[Aelskao]

Thank you very much for the answer.

I've tried an "if(!pilote.isMoving())" but this condition never applies. If I put a "pilote.stop()" before, the immediateReturn makes the robot always stopping. The only solution I've found was to put a "Thread.sleep(5000)", but it's not an elegant method ... Another suggestion ?

[skoehler]

This might work (untested)

Code: Select all

public class AlgoFindBall
{
    public static void main(String[] args){
        DifferentialPilot pilote = new DifferentialPilot(5.5, 17, Motor.A, Motor.B);
        UltrasonicSensor sonar = new UltrasonicSensor(SensorPort.S1);
        pilote.travelArc(20,10,true);
        while(pilote.isMoving()) {
            if (sonar.getDistance() <= 50) {
               pilote.stop();
               return;
            }
        }
        pilote.travelArc(-20,10,true);
        while(pilote.isMoving()) {
            if (sonar.getDistance() <= 50) {
               pilote.stop();
               return;
            }
        }
    }
}