FPGA Implementation for Path and Wall Following Wheeled Robots

This paper presents a FPGA implementation for path- and wall- following micro-robots. The distance between the robot and obstacles /adjacent walls will be computed using ultrasonic sensing. Infrared sensing modules installed in front of the proposed system detect the curvature of a marked path. The FPGA controller unit generates a PWM signal and adaptively controls DC motors to achieve wall-following and obstacle avoidance locomotion. Our proposed locomotion algorithm will control robots to simultaneously follow a marked line and avoid obstructions along the path. 15% logic elements and 3% registers are applied in the FPGA controller unit. Since the available reconfigurable hardware resources in FPGA chip are very extensive, multi-functional robotic applications can be implemented by integrating diverse modules for widespread usage.