There are several ways to navigate a course using a robot. A variety of sensors are available to help the robot accomplish this task. Methods for navigating the a course might include:

• There are several ways to navigate a course using a robot. A variety of sensors are available to help the robot accomplish this task. Methods for navigating the a course might include:

• Dead reckoning

• Exact path must be known ahead of time
• Program tells the robot how far to travel before each turn
• Errors in distances and turning angles accumulate, so best for simple, short courses.
• Distances can be calculated using servos or stepper motors or infrared sensors can be used to count wheel revolutions.

• Line following

• Requires a line to follow (some factories use lines on the floors that robots follow to deliver parts to assembly workers).
• Infrared sensors (or other types) shine a beam of light on the floor and determine the line position by the amount of reflection.

• Wall following

• Requires that a wall is available for the robot to touch or sense.
• One method involves using whiskers – sensors that can tell when the robot touches the wall.

• Distance sensing

• Requires that walls are available so that the robot can sense the distance to each wall.
• Range-finding sensors can be used to determine the distance to walls beside or in front of the robot.