This is an excerpt from This is an excerpt from M. Baker, J. Boettcher, K. Bradley, P. Conley, J. Rucker, and J. Wilson, "SECON'2003," ECE 4522: Design II, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mississippi State University, Spring 2003:

The main objective of this project is to design a robot to accomplish these tasks, thereby winning the competition. To avoid wall contact, hallway navigation is constrained to a maximum deviation of 0.635 cm from the center of the line; this goal is achieved using four line sensors. In addition, measured distances must be accurate within 99.5% to avoid contact when traveling offline; this is accomplished by the use of sonar modules. To ensure that the cup completely covers the candle, a digital video camera detects the candle within a range of +/- 24.499. and at a distance of 70.5 cm. The robot is propelled by two servos, and the cup releasing mechanism is also activated by two servos. A Cypress Programmable System on a Chip (PSoC) is used to control the robot. External switches allow the robot to keep track of which rooms have already contained the candle. Based on these switches, software routines determine the most efficient route through the playing field. The robot is powered by four rechargeable AA NiMH batteries, which have a rating of 1850 mAh. These batteries will ensure that the robot maintains sufficient power throughout the maze for a minimum time of 19.5 minutes.