LineMaster Pro: A Low-Cost Intelligent Line Following Robot with PID Control and Ultrasonic Obstacle Avoidance for Educational Robotics

TL;DR

LineMaster Pro is an affordable, Arduino-based line following robot with integrated ultrasonic obstacle avoidance, achieving high accuracy and reliability at a fraction of commercial costs, suitable for educational purposes.

Contribution

This paper introduces LineMaster Pro, a low-cost, integrated line following and obstacle avoidance robot with optimized PID control, setting a new standard for accessible robotics education.

Findings

Mean tracking accuracy of 1.18 cm at 0.4 m/s

Obstacle detection reliability of 96.7% within 10-40 cm

94% successful recovery from deviations

Abstract

Line following robots are fundamental platforms in robotics education, yet commercially available solutions remain prohibitively expensive ($150-300$) while lacking integrated obstacle detection capabilities essential for real-world applications. This paper presents LineMaster Pro, an intelligent low-cost line following robot implemented on an Arduino Nano platform that integrates dual TCRT5000 infrared sensors for precision line tracking, an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor for real-time obstacle detection, a digitally tuned PID controller with Ziegler-Nichols optimization, and a hierarchical finite state machine for robust obstacle avoidance. A systematic four-phase sensor calibration methodology ensures reliable operation across varying lighting and surface conditions. Experimental validation through 200 controlled trials and 72-hour continuous operation demonstrates mean tracking accuracy of 1.18 cm at 0.4 m/s (95\% CI [1.06, 1.30]), obstacle detection reliability of 96.7\% within 10-40 cm range with 0.7\% false positive rate, and 94\% successful recovery from path deviations. The PID implementation achieves 43\% improvement over conventional on-off control ($p<0.001$). At a total hardware cost of \$28.50 based on verified Bangladesh market prices, LineMaster Pro achieves a 94\% cost reduction compared to commercial alternatives, establishing a practical benchmark for accessible robotics education in resource-constrained environments.