This is sort of a theoretical question. I just expanded my 3pi to an m3pi. I was thinking of using the MinIMU-9 (https://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1265), or a similar sensor to provide orientation feedback. I am not too familiar with control theory, but from what I understand, if you have feedback from the environment, in general, you can implement PID. So, is it possible to use a sensor like this with PID control to have the m3pi travel in a straight line? I know for longer distances, you’d have to use some trig to account for changes in bearing, but for distances around 10 feet or so, I imagine you could neglect such calculations.
Theoretically what you said makes sense. I am not sure if the performance in practice would be good. Even it it was, I’m not sure that it would be worth the hassle. You might just be able to calibrate your motor driving to offset the variance in the two motors to drive straighter.
I’d be interested to know how it turns out if you try using an IMU!
- Ryan
Yeah, i know it’s a bit overkill. I was planning on trying it out on the m3pi to see if I could get it to work on the ground having the robot follow “invisible” lines. Then, maybe try it in the air with a quadcopter or something.