FunkyBot : Robotrörelser styrda i takt av ljudsignaler

Sammanfattning: In the following report, a study regarding the control of a dancing robot has been conducted. The study covers whether a robot’s movements can be controlled by a recurring and pacing audio signal at a given BPM, and how well it does so. In order to test this for results, five different BPMs have been played six times each in front of a sound sensor module connected to the robot’s microcontroller to perceive the signal. The reading of this signal then adjusts the speed at which the motors rotate. Two test subjects then pressed a button in the mobile app Soundbrenner each time they found the robot to change its movement. The presses of the button then generated a beat of their own which represents the viewer’s perceived BPM of the dancing robot. This is then used to compare the desired BPM with the BPM delivered by the robot. A maximum BPM for the robot to dance to has also been studied by gradually increasing the given BPM until it no longer could use the signal. The results showed that the robot could stick to the given BPM fairly well. The mean difference between the recorded and the desired beat was 4.9 BPM. At 100 and 140 BPM the sound sensor and microcontroller were most successful in reading the beat, while found it most challenging at 120. However, environmental factors such as noise pollution were a heavyweight cause for misreadings. The results where on the other hand near flawless when the signal was isolated and clear. The maximal beat the robot could follow was read to 239 BPM because of the delay used in the microcontroller’s code.