Abstract
In this workshop we will learn how to program a line follower robot.
Initially we will do it in a trivial way, then we will see how to make it more precise so that it can travel faster, first with a classical PID controller and then applying extensions to make it more effective.
We will program the robot using async no_std Rust, and we will run the code in a very realistic physical simulation, where wheels can lose grip, motor responses are not linear, sensors have noise and other kinds of quirks, and we will see how all these issues become more problematic at higher speeds.
Then, for added fun, we will make our virtual robots compete against each other!
Prerequisites
This workshop will be at the same time playful and deep.
About Rust, it goes in dept on no_std programming and async code execution in embedded context.
Despite the fact that we will not use physical robots, the environment will faithfully simulate the experience of programming a robot and having limited visibility of what is actually happening during its execution.
We will use a data collection (telemetry) system, and see that it is the only reasonable way to gain insight on the causes of any robot “misbehavior” (and, thanks to the realistic physical simulation, there will be plenty of them, which will be fun!).
I have extensive experience in controlling small robots and can guide the participants through all the pitfalls that they’ll find when programming one.
As a side note, I have considered doing the workshop with actual, physical robots, like we did in the 2023 RustLab edition.
And BTW, if you want to repropose that workshop, with those robots, count me in! :-)
However, in this workshop the goal is to teach something more advanced, with faster and more performant robots, where trivial control techniques stop working and smarter ones must be used.
The cost of providing a high-performance line follower to each participant (or even just half of them) would be too high, and I do not think anybody would be interested in sponsoring it.
I can bring with me a real line follower robot, and at the end of the workshop we can see it running and play with it for a while. It’s just not feasible to use it for the actual workshop.
