This is one of the most simple robots you can make. Features are:
- quick to put together (about an hour)
- very hackable (it can be built with cardboard or laser cut so very easily modifiable)
- can move pretty fast (at full tilt it will go about half a metre a second - faster with more juice for the servos!)
- very extendable (much of the magic happens in code and sensors can be easily fed in)
- Cheap (costs about $100 which is very cheap for your first robot)
This bot is an adaptation of the excellent SumoBot Jr made by Paweł Szymczykowski but doesn't require laser cutting wood or plastic though you can if you want something a bit more long lasting.
This is a tethered robot, meaning it stays connected to your computer via a USB cable. This means you can get your computer to do all the hard work to provide interface control (say a web page or an app) and processing (computer vision if you attached a webcam for example!).
This is the very first prototype, put together in about 30 minutes one evening.
Once done you can reuse all of the components to make a bigger, badder, faster robot and switch the cardboard for more durable elements such as laser cut wood or plastic if you desire. We've even supplied the SVG and DXF files to do exactly that.
All of the links here are for LittleBird Electronics for the robot. There are other electronics retailers in Australia however LBE has been a big part of the maker community over the last few years, they carry a big range of components and they have excellent customer service.
JayCar provide a range of basic components but not the full range. Mostly good for basics like wire and tools.
Freetronics are a local Melbourne hardware design business. They produce some of the highest quality electronics in the world and they do it all Open Source. They even build satellites! If you're just after an arduino and not the whole bot then support not just an Aussie business doing high tech but a Melbourne one too.
- Arduino $42.85 - This is the "brains" of your robot and it comes with a USB cable.
- 4xAA Battery holder $2.74 - Provides power for your motors. You'll also want 4xAA batteries. We'd recommend rechargables and we'll have some chargers on the day.
- Mini Breadboard $3.63 - This allows you to wire things together easily. There are other colours if you don't like Yellow.
- 2x Continuous Rotation Servos $15.35 x 2 - These drive the wheels. Don't forget you need to get two of these.
- Jumper wire $6.05 - Wires to connect everything together. You won't need all of these but they are handy to have when you want to extend your bot.
Total price: $85.97
We'll have cardboard, cable ties and other prototyping stuff available on NBD to help build your very own bot but other things you might want to bring could include:
- Laser pointer to make an annoying cat toy.
- Stickers to bling out your bot.
- Spikes to take out others Ben Hur or Mad Max style.
- USB WebCam if you want to give your bot some vision.
- USB cable extender if you want some range.