Constructing a Line Following Track

Here's what I did to construct my line following track.

I started with 2' x 4' sheets of 1/4" fiber board that was already covered in a white finish on one side. The back side was unfinished but still relatively smooth.

The 2 x 4 sheets were cut into 11-3/4" squares (they weren't exactly 2' x 4' to start with, and you need to allow for the width of the saw blade).

The inspiration for this track came from the Line Following Competition hosted by the Chicago Area Robotics Group.

Blank Tile

Pretty boring. This is a picture of the blank tile that I started with. Bigger...

Taped for a curve

Here we see the green painters tape laid down. Bigger...

Curve Template

This is the template that I made to cut the tape for the curves. The green mat is one of my wife's cutting mats that she uses for sewing, and the plastic is "template" plastic used for making templates for cutting fabric. The grid on this mat is in centimeters. Bigger...

Curve Template in place

The template is placed over the tape, and the curve edge is traced out with an exacto knife. After removing the template, the short little segments that held the template together with cut by hand, and I went over the tape seam to make sure that the cut went all the way through. Bigger...

Curve ready for painting

Remove the unwanted tape, and we now have a curve ready for painting. Note that the tape wraps around the edge of the tile, and I plan on painting the edge as well. Bigger...

Taped for a straight section

Green Painters tape laid down for a straight section. You can also see the template on the right hand side for marking the edges of the straight section. Bigger...

Straight ready for painting

Apply a straight edge between the marks, and cut the tape with an X-acto knife. Remove the tape and it's ready for painting. Bigger...


Home - Line Maze 2006

Copyright 2010 by Dave Hylands