The advancement of line followers and
their practical applications in the industry
Aarin Kothari
Vishwakarma Institute of Information
Technology
Department of Electronics and
Telecommunication Department
Pune, Maharashtra, India
aarin.22111080@viit.ac.in
HARSH
Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology
Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Department
Pune, Maharashtra, India
harsh.22110320@viit.ac.in
Abstract— A line follower is a robotic device that follows the
line unless the line does not exist. The line may be of two
colours such as black or white, in our case we used black.
Using IR sensors, the robot moves in accordance with the
queue. These sensors scan the line and transmit the
information to Arduino, which then directs the movement of
the robot.
As a result, the Infrared Ray (IR) sensors that are positioned
beneath the robot should be able to detect the line. The
information is then sent to the processor using a particular bus
for transition. As a result, the CPU will determine the
appropriate orders and send them to the driver, and the line
follower robot will then follow the course.
The use of line followers has gained popularity in the industry,
especially with the advent of technology such as Arduino
boards. These devices have made it easier for designers to
create robots that can follow a line with precision.
Keywords— IR sensor, Path tracer, Arduino UNO R3 board
with DIP ATmega328, P11.1v lipo battery, 12v spindle dc
motor, motor driver, Autonomous robot, guided vehicle,
transportation.
1. INTRODUCTION
Robots that follow lines are frequently employed in
industrial settings for the automation of warehouses,
production lines, and material handling. These robots are
made to transport goods or products from one place to
another by following a predetermined path, such as a
painted line on the factory floor or magnetic tape.
[1] The line follower is a self-operating robot that detects
and follows a line that is drawn on the floor. The path
consists of a black line on a white surface (or it may be the
reverse of that). The control system used must sense a line
and manoeuvre the robot to stay on course, while constantly
correcting the wrong moves using a feedback mechanism,
thus forming a simple yet effective closed-loop System. The
robot is designed to follow very tight curves.
Ayush Gawande Chetas Hedaoo
Vishwakarma Institute of Information Vishwakarma Institute of Information
Technology Technology
Department of Electronics and Department of Electronics and
Telecommunication Department Telecommunication Department
Pune, Maharashtra, India Pune, Maharashtra, India
ayush.22110624@viit.ac.in chetas.22111109@viit.ac.in
Dr. Pravin Gawande
Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology
Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Department
Pune, Maharashtra, India
pravin.gawande@viit.ac.in
Line-following robots are used in material handling
applications to move goods between workstations or from
storage facilities to production lines. Depending on the
requirements of the production process, they can be used to
transport raw materials, work-in-progress, or finished goods.
Transporting radioactive materials inside a factory poses a
serious risk to human life. In that section, a line follower
robot can be useful. It can monitor patients and alert doctors
to a serious scenarios in a hospital as well. It can also be
helpful in the restaurant industry in several areas, including
the ability to easily fill jobs for food servers and order
takers.
The brain of this robot, the ATmega328 microcontroller, is
the major driving force behind it. The concept put out in this
study is to direct the robot using machine vision. We created
a robot that is capable of doing more than just following a
queue. This robot moves in a straight line without turning.
2. OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project is that the robot is able to
follow a designated path or line with accuracy and
precision. It should maintain a constant speed and distance
from the line.
Follow a predefined path: The robot should be able to
follow a specific path that has been programmed into it. The
infrared light sensors help the robot detect the path and
adjust its movement accordingly.
Maintain a constant speed: The robot should be able to
maintain a constant speed while following the path. The
infrared light sensors can help the robot adjust its speed to
ensure it stays on track.
Accurate tracking: The robot should be able to track the
path accurately and adjust its movement accordingly. The
infrared light sensors can help the robot detect small
changes in the path and adjust its movement to stay on
track.

 3. LITERATURE REVIEW
Authors in [1] proposed that the line follower robot is a part
of AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle), which can detect
black or white lines through the IR sensor to follow them.
As the robot works fully autonomously engineers have tried
to bump up its abilities to make it more reliable for practical
usage in various sectors. Making it capable of avoiding
obstacles [2]. At the same time, the research is also going on
to follow any capable colour. Light sensors based on LED or
LDR and RFID-based verification systems have been used
to upgrade the Path follower robot to that level. However,
the total accuracy of the line follower is dependent on the
sensor as we get the values from them only. The correct
sensor value leads to the correct result. That’s why it’s
important to have an accurate idea of that sensor,
Another crucial part of line following is path planning. Most
robots can follow a straight or round-shaped path. However,
the vital part is to let it take its decision when there is more
than one path to go and they are of different shapes
obviously.
4. EQUIPMENT USED FOR LINE FOLLOWED
1. Arduino UNO R3
2. 12v spindell dc motor
3. TB6612FNG Moto driver
4. Chassis board
5. IR sensor
6. 11.1v lipo battery
4.1 Arduino UNO R3
The pinout for the Arduino Uno R3 is displayed below. It
has I/O pins with a 14-digit value. Six pins can be used as
PWM outputs from these pins. This board has 14 digital
input/output pins, 6 analogue inputs, a USB port, a quartz
crystal with a frequency of 16 MHz, a power jack, a USB
port, an ICSP header, and an RST button.
Fig (1.0)
Source :- https://www.elprocus.com/what-is-arduino-uno-r3-pin-diagram-specification-and-applications/
4.2 Toys motor
Direct current (DC) power, which is commonly provided by
batteries, is what most toy motors use. The motor is made
up of a stator, which is a stationary component that encircles
the rotor, and a rotor, which rotates on an axle.
Toy motors can vary in terms of their power output, speed,
and torque. Some are designed to be very fast but not very
strong, while others are designed to be slower but able to
exert more force.
4.3 motor driver
TB6612FNG is a motor driver IC (integrated circuit)
designed for controlling DC motors or stepper motors in
various applications, including robotics, automation, and
control systems. The TB6612FNG motor driver can control
two motors independently or a single motor in a
bidirectional configuration. It can handle a maximum
continuous current of 1.2A per channel and a peak current of
3.2A for short periods.
One of the key advantages of the TB6612FNG is its
compatibility with a wide range of microcontrollers and
development boards, including Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and
others. The IC can be easily controlled using PWM signals
or digital inputs, making it a popular choice for hobbyists
and professionals alike.
4.4 Chassis Board
A set of wheels or tracks that allow the robot to travel along
the ground are normally included on the chassis board for a
line follower robot. Additionally, it has a group of line
sensors that are used to identify the path the robot is taking.
The microcontroller is coupled to these sensors, which are
normally mounted on the chassis board's bottom.
Fig (2.0)
Source: https://probots.co.in/robot-chassis-2-wheel-drive-frame-with-motors-diy-car-kit-2wd.html
2.5 IR sensor
In a line follower robot, an IR sensor is typically used to
detect the line on the ground. IR sensors can detect
variations in the reflected light from the ground surface,
which allows them to detect the contrast between the line
and the surrounding surface.
IR sensors typically consist of an IR emitter and an IR
detector. The emitter sends out an infrared beam, which
reflects off the ground and is detected by the detector. When
the beam is reflected off the line, the detector receives a
stronger signal than when it is reflected off the surrounding
surface. This difference in signal strength allows the robot to
detect the line and follow it.

 5. BLOCK DIAGRAM movement of the robot is controlled by the input signals

received from a sensor module connected to port C. The
program uses the value of the PINC register to determine
the movement direction of the robot. If PINC is
0b00000000, the robot moves forward. If it is 0b00000001,
the robot turns right. If it is 0b00000010, the robot turns left.
And if it is 0b00000011, the robot stops.

The forward() function sets the motor control pins to

0b00000101, which causes the robot to move forward. The
left() and right() functions set the pins to 0b00000001 and
0b00000100, respectively, causing the robot to turn left or
right. The stop() function sets the pins to 0b00000000,
causing the robot to stop.

The OCR0A and OCR0B registers are used to set the duty
cycle of the PWM signals for the two motors. In this code,
both motors are set to a duty cycle of 70, which results in a
moderate speed for the robot.

the _delay_ms() function to create a delay of 500

milliseconds when turning left or right. It also creates a
delay of 20 seconds in the stop() function, causing the robot
to remain stationary for this duration.

6. ALGORITHM The main loop of the program continuously reads the value
of the PINC register and calls the appropriate function based
i. Include necessary header files for the AVR on its value. This allows the robot to move in the desired
microcontroller. direction.

ii. Define functions to control the direction of the DC

motors: forward (), right(), left(), and stop().
iii. In the main function, initialize the necessary
hardware components, such as the motor driver,
PWM outputs, and input pins.
iv. Enter an infinite loop to continuously monitor the
input from a sensor or switch.
v. If the input indicates to move forward, call the
forward () function to set the motor driver outputs
to move the motors in a forward direction.
vi. If the input indicates to turn right, call the right ()
function to set the motor driver outputs to turn the
motors right.
vii. If the input indicates to turn left, call the left () Fig (3.0)
function to set the motor driver outputs to turn the
motors left.
Troubleshooting Common Issues with Line Follower
viii. If the input indicates to stop, call the stop() Robots
function to set the motor driver outputs to stop the
motors.
Even with careful planning and attention to detail, line-
ix. Use PWM signals to control the speed of the follower robots can experience issues that can affect their
motors by setting the duty cycle of the PWM performance. Here are some common issues that can occur
outputs. with line follower robots and how to troubleshoot them:
x. Use delay functions to set the duration of the motor
movements. • Sensor calibration issues: If the sensors are not
calibrated properly, the robot may not follow the
path accurately. To fix this issue, recalibrate the
sensors and adjust the code as necessary.
7.Working • Motor issues: If the motors are not functioning
properly, the robot may not move in a straight line.
Here we initialization of the DDR (Data Direction Register) To fix this issue, check the motors and wiring and
for the control pins of the motors, the timer registers, and replace any malfunctioning components.
the PWM waveform generator. The motor control pins are • Power issues: If the robot is not receiving enough
connected to the ports B and D of the microcontroller. The power, it may not function properly. To fix this
PWM signals are generated using Timer0 in Fast PWM issue, check the batteries and wiring and replace
mode. any malfunctioning components.

 • Optimize the code: The code for the robot should

be optimized to reduce the processing time and
8. HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION improve the accuracy of the robot.
• Test the robot: Before using the robot in a real-
Side view Bot connection world application, it is important to test the robot in
a controlled environment to ensure that it is
working properly.

10. CONCLUSION
Line follower robots have a wide range of potential
applications across various industries and settings. They
can be used for tasks such as material handling in
manufacturing. The performance of a line follower robot
Fig (4.1)(4.2) depends on factors such as the design and programming
of the robot, the environment it operates in, and the
Bot with track quality of its sensors. To optimize the performance of a
line follower robot, experiments and tests can be
conducted to evaluate its accuracy, speed, and stability.
The future of robotics line followers is bright, with new
technological advancements making them more
powerful, efficient, and cost-effective. As automation
continues to transform various industries, line-follower
robots will play an increasingly.

11. RECOURSES FOR FURTHER LEARNING

• Instructables: Instructables is a website that
provides step-by-step instructions for building
various projects, including line-following robots.

• YouTube: YouTube is a great resource for learning

about robotics and programming, and there are
countless videos that provide tutorials and
Fig (4.3) demonstrations of line-following robots.
9. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The line or path-following robot can be implemented 12. FUTURE SCOPE
successfully. It runs over a specific path with the help of
sensors and specific logic used in the controller.
● Most of the helpful features are found throughout
The IR sensor is also working properly which helps the the line follower development process and
motor to move according to that. employed in our project. But some of them could
The major drawback of it is that the bot is not able to not be added due to time and money constraints.
follow the path if the path is having a rough surface. It is ● The following features can be added to our bot to
necessary to have a smooth. make it more useful:
● Colour sensor usage
● Use of a CCD camera to improve path tracking and
Tips for Building an Efficient Line-Follower Robot recognition.
● We could make a sturdier bot with a bigger and
faster motor if given more time.
Building an efficient line-follower robot requires attention
to detail and careful planning. Here are some tips to help ● This would help use the bot for educational,
you build an efficient line follower robot: industrial, commercial and agricultural processes.

•
• Use high-quality sensors: The sensors are the most
important component of a line-following robot, so
it is important to use high-quality sensors that are
accurate and reliable.
• Choose the right chassis and frame: The chassis
and frame of the robot should be sturdy and
durable and should be able to support the weight of
the sensors, motors, and batteries.
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follower robot aseducational tool for teaching programming

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http://www.instructables. Com /id/
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