Arduino Robot with Ping))) Sensor

Good evening,

I installed the Ping))) US sensor (Parallax Inc | Equip Your Genius®) on the Arduino Robot (http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Robot); to be more exact, port TKD1. I have tried to adapt a code I found for a general Arduino platform to go with the robot and got a piece-wise satisfying solution. The idea is to detect an obstacle, turn 90 degrees, check again and decide to go forward or turn again. However, at the moment it goes straight till it encounters an obstacle and then just turns permanently. Why? What do I have to change?

/* Ping))) Sensor
  
   This sketch reads a PING))) ultrasonic rangefinder and returns the
   distance to the closest object in range. To do this, it sends a pulse
   to the sensor to initiate a reading, then listens for a pulse 
   to return.  The length of the returning pulse is proportional to 
   the distance of the object from the sensor.
     
   The circuit:
	* +V connection of the PING))) attached to +5V
	* GND connection of the PING))) attached to ground
	* SIG connection of the PING))) attached to digital pin 7

   http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Ping
   
   created 3 Nov 2008
   by David A. Mellis
   modified 30 Aug 2011
   by Tom Igoe
 
   This example code is in the public domain.

 */

#include <ArduinoRobot.h>

// this constant won't change.  It's the pin number
// of the sensor's output:
int pingPin = TKD1;

void setup() {
  // initialize the Robot, SD card, and display
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Robot.begin();
  Robot.beginTFT();
  Robot.beginSD();
  Robot.displayLogos();
  
  // draw a face on the LCD screen
  setFace(true);
}

void loop() {
  
  // establish variables for duration of the ping, 
  // and the distance result in inches and centimeters:
  long duration, inches, cm;

  // The PING))) is triggered by a HIGH pulse of 2 or more microseconds.
  // Give a short LOW pulse beforehand to ensure a clean HIGH pulse:
  pinMode(pingPin, OUTPUT);
  Robot.digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW);
  delayMicroseconds(2);
  Robot.digitalWrite(pingPin, HIGH);
  delayMicroseconds(5);
  Robot.digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW);

  // The same pin is used to read the signal from the PING))): a HIGH
  // pulse whose duration is the time (in microseconds) from the sending
  // of the ping to the reception of its echo off of an object.
  pinMode(pingPin, INPUT);
  duration = pulseIn(pingPin, HIGH);

  // convert the time into a distance
  inches = microsecondsToInches(duration);
  cm = microsecondsToCentimeters(duration);
  
  // If the robot is blocked, turn until free
  while(cm < 40) {  // If an obstacle is less than 20cm away
    setFace(false); //shows an unhappy face
    Robot.motorsStop(); // stop the motors
    delay(1000); // wait for a moment
    Robot.turn(90); // turn to the right and try again
    
    delay(1000); // wait for a moment
    pinMode(pingPin, OUTPUT);
  Robot.digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW);
  delayMicroseconds(2);
  Robot.digitalWrite(pingPin, HIGH);
  delayMicroseconds(5);
  Robot.digitalWrite(pingPin, LOW);

  // The same pin is used to read the signal from the PING))): a HIGH
  // pulse whose duration is the time (in microseconds) from the sending
  // of the ping to the reception of its echo off of an object.
  pinMode(pingPin, INPUT);
  duration = pulseIn(pingPin, HIGH);
    
     cm = microsecondsToCentimeters(duration);
    delay(1000); // wait for a moment
    
    setFace(true); // happy face
  }
  // if there are no objects in the way, keep moving
  Robot.motorsWrite(255, 255); 
  delay(100);
  
}

long microsecondsToInches(long microseconds)
{
  // According to Parallax's datasheet for the PING))), there are
  // 73.746 microseconds per inch (i.e. sound travels at 1130 feet per
  // second).  This gives the distance travelled by the ping, outbound
  // and return, so we divide by 2 to get the distance of the obstacle.
  // See: http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/prod/acc/28015-PING-v1.3.pdf
  return microseconds / 74 / 2;
}

long microsecondsToCentimeters(long microseconds)
{
  // The speed of sound is 340 m/s or 29 microseconds per centimeter.
  // The ping travels out and back, so to find the distance of the
  // object we take half of the distance travelled.
  return microseconds / 29 / 2;
}

// make a happy or sad face
void setFace(boolean onOff) {
  if(onOff) {
    // if true show a happy face
    Robot.background(0, 0, 255);
    Robot.setCursor(44, 60);
    Robot.stroke(0, 255, 0);
    Robot.setTextSize(4);
    Robot.print(":)");
  }else{
    // if false show an upset face
    Robot.background(255, 0, 0);
    Robot.setCursor(44, 60);
    Robot.stroke(0, 255, 0);
    Robot.setTextSize(4);
    Robot.print("X(");
  }
}

Please? Anyone?

I am not familiar with the Arduino robot but from the code you posted it appears that the robot will turn right in steps of approximately 90 degrees until the distance in front of the sensor is less than 40cm. Do you know what value is being returned for cm whilst the robot is turning and testing distances ? Use Serial.print or send a value to the screen to find out.