Line Tracker Mouse

A:

It would be advisable to check the Photo interrupter is wired in correctly and isn’t being obstructed by an object. The line also needs to be thick enough to be picked up and against a white background to ensure it is clear, a standard roll of insulating tape is a good thickness.

A:

It isn’t possible to increase the speed of the line tracker mouse, this is because if you start changing the gears to increase speed, the motor wouldn’t have enough torque and therefore wouldn’t run. The product has been designed with optimum speed while keeping the components small.

A: I suspect that the issue is with the line rather than the robot. Firstly I've made the assumption that you have a black line on a white background, I've gone for three quarter inch thick black insulating tape on a white background which works really well. If the line is too thin then there is a chance that the sensor misses it, too thick and all three sensors will pick it up, with a standard roll of insulating tape it is fine. When it detects left and centre the mouse is about to head off to the right of the line, so the right wheel spins forward, which brings back pointing down the line and just the centre sensor is on. The opposite is true when the right and centre sensors are on, when the left wheel spins bringing it back on line. The centre sensor should always be on and additionally an edge sensor may also be on. There should never be a case when all three sensors are either on or off. If all three are off the line is not being detected, if all three are on then it is too wide. The two motors should run at approximately the same speed as each other but it doesn't matter if they don’t, as if one is faster it will cause the robot to move off the line, when that motor will stop allowing the other motor to catch up.

A: It is unusual that the LED has broken, they normally last for years and years so I would check the soldering and confirm that it hasn?t just come loose first. If that doesn?t fix it then pretty much any standard brightness LED should make a fine replacement. You might want to check if the LED is 3mm or 5mm though if you want it to be the same size.

A: The kit is supplied with assembly instructions, which include the circuit diagram. R1 to R4, Q1 & C2 are associated with the amplification section of the microphone circuit. This signal is however feed into the input of a microcontroller and it will be impossible to know what signal the microcontroller is looking for. I can only suggest connecting a digital oscilloscope to the microcontroller input and see what is present when there is noise on the microphone and then change the circuit to try and match this.