I Wanna build a robot

[Bursucuu]

It's summer break, I feel bored sometimes, I want to build a robot from literal junk, electronics and things I find in my dad's garage.. I need a ideea and maybe help with some beginning components for me to start, thanks in advance

 

[danadak]

Have you ever built any electronics, can you program in C or Basic or any language ?

Post list or pics of stuff you have in garage.

 

[Bursucuu]

Yeah I built electronics, like even right now as we speak I'm repairing something for my dad, I can learn to code, I just need the motivation to do it and the stuff in the garage... It's a lot I don't even know where to begin

 

[rjenkinsgb]

Radio control type servos are very easy to control with any microcontroller, they just need a regular pulse with a set duration, with one and a half millisecond being the centre and longer or shorter moving each way.

You can even control one with a 555 timer and a few components to make an oscillator with a variable "on" time!
(More info an an old post here:
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/arduino-and-esc.155488/#post-1339359 )

"Bare" DC motors are easy in principle, though you need something to control the motor power. That can be relays, simple transistor switches or pulse-width modulation using such as a cheap IBT-2 power module (from ebay or aliexpress), which can control things up to around 40A and up to 24V DC, using logic signals directly from an MCU to the module.

Double BTS7960 43A H-bridge High-power Motor Driver module/smart car/ - AliExpress 502

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

vi.aliexpress.com

Some stepper motors can be controlled, though not efficiently, with just a few transistor and a power resistor or two.

Fast and efficient stepper control needs a more advanced driver system; you can get stepper driver modules for 3D printers very easily, which can be used with MCUs.

TMC2209 Stepper Motor Driver Module Great for 3D Printers and More | eBay UK

MPN: TMC2209. Ideal for noise-sensitive applications, this driver ensures ultra-quiet operation and superior heat dissipation with its large heat sink. Driver Current Regulation Important Information.

www.ebay.co.uk

You can also get self-contained "intelligent" stepper drivers that attach directly to common motor sizes, and all work over a serial or CANbus link, so just two data wires and two power wires for several motors. These include a motor position sensor (encoder) so can be extremely precise. I'm experimenting with some of these at present.

MKS SERVO42D NEMA17 Closed Loop Stepper Motor Driver For MKS Motherboard For Laser Engraver CNC Engraving Machine 3D Printer - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

vi.aliexpress.com

 

[danadak]

You can build simple line following robots with just analog components.

But robots with significant capability need a processor in the mix. You can
start coding with block language tools, up and running in << 1 day. Like
mBlock, Scratch for Arduino, Snap4Arduino, NodeRed, those are free. Or
Visuino, Flowcode, pay for tools with demo versions available. Youtube has a
lot of training videos on all these tools as do their sites. Example
of block programming :

Post in thread '5 second 'slow on' circuit'

Jul 22, 2024

A very simple PWM control circuit :

This is block programming a Arduino UNO or Nano or ATTINY85. mBlock converts the
user block configuration into Arduino code, which you program the chip or board with.
Code mBlock generated shown on right. Note if clutch non linear response code could
easily tackle "linearizing" the control loop.

Note I do not show the catch diode for the clutch coil, you would need to add that.


Regards, Dana

• danadak

Resource icon

Pulse Sequence Generator / Smart Timer

Jun 4, 2021

Programmable width, delay, triggers Smart Timer

• danadak
• #arduino
• Microcontrollers

GUI Codeless Processor Design

Micro design has for years relied on ASM and C programming and other languages. Often many tasks are fairly simply but these tools were focused and quite a learning curve, especially ASM and C and C++. There are a number of new GUI based tools that essentially take out the "strong typing"...

www.edaboard.com

Verizon Remote Hotspot Controller

Had a problem with a remote site, property management. Basically wanted to run Network on site with a Cell based solution. Key issues : 1) Hotspot, if it lost power and ran batteries completely down would not boot all the way into Cell tower connection. It would charge on power return (its...

www.edaboard.com

Regards, Dana.

 

[jpanhalt]

Another place to look for help and ideas is the Dallas Personal Robotics Group (DPRG). It's been around a long time and is still active.

Here's its home page:

dprg.org - robots rule

Supporters of DPRG – Thank you! Contact DPRG

www.dprg.org

And here's a link to archived projects, some of which date back to the 1990's -- well before you were on Earth.

Project Archives - dprg.org

www.dprg.org

One of its early projects was a robotic car that avoids obstacles with IR. That sounds a lot what what you made.

EDIT: I don't know how the Mouser ad ended up in that link. Maybe ETO added it. https://www.dprg.org/ is what I posted.

 

[For The Popcorn]

Like this?

Maybe look at some of the cheap robot kits, both for ideas and to get your foot in the door. It's not likely you'll find things in most garages that will be easy to work with.
.
One possibility is to look for a Rumba robotic vacuum at the thrift store (there seems to be stacks of them at the store near me recently). This gives you motors and wheels to move around and a bunch of sensors. There are a lot of articles and videos about making these work.

 

[Bursucuu]

Like this?

Maybe look at some of the cheap robot kits, both for ideas and to get your foot in the door. It's not likely you'll find things in most garages that will be easy to work with.
.
One possibility is to look for a Rumba robotic vacuum at the thrift store (there seems to be stacks of them at the store near me recently). This gives you motors and wheels to move around and a bunch of sensors. There are a lot of articles and videos about making these work.

View attachment 150291

This is a good idea, I will try and search, thanks a lot

 

[Bursucuu]

Another place to look for help and ideas is the Dallas Personal Robotics Group (DPRG). It's been around a long time and is still active.

Here's its home page:

dprg.org - robots rule

Supporters of DPRG – Thank you! Contact DPRG

www.dprg.org

And here's a link to archived projects, some of which date back to the 1990's -- well before you were on Earth.

Project Archives - dprg.org

www.dprg.org

One of its early projects was a robotic car that avoids obstacles with IR. That sounds a lot what what you made.

EDIT: I don't know how the Mouser ad ended up in that link. Maybe ETO added it. https://www.dprg.org/ is what I posted.

Thanksss

 

[rjenkinsgb]

One possibility is to look for a Rumba robotic vacuum at the thrift store

Excellent idea, Jon!

Many Roomba models have a 5V level serial port built in, so can directly communicate with a typical microcontroller for either monitoring OR commanding them to move etc.

iRobot even publish the full info on the port and serial commands available.

See this article for info on what models have the serial port, and links to the command sets for newer and older machines:

https://robotics.stackexchange.com/questions/9495/what-irobot-products-support-the-open-interface-besides-the-irobot-create

 

[Artbyrobot]

I'd build a robot lawnmower. Something with utility and not just a toy.

 

[danadak]

Simple example :

189.564 Aufrufe · 1.642 Reaktionen | Klann Linkage – Mechanical Walking in Action! #manufacturing #3ddesign #productdesign #automation #mechanism #machine #engineering #mechanical #mechanic | Breno Cruz

Klann Linkage – Mechanical Walking in Action! #manufacturing #3ddesign #productdesign #automation #mechanism #machine #engineering #mechanical #mechanic.

www.facebook.com

 

[ahsrabrifat]

It's summer break, I feel bored sometimes, I want to build a robot from literal junk, electronics and things I find in my dad's garage.. I need a ideea and maybe help with some beginning components for me to start, thanks in advance

You can try this waiter robot. https://www.theengineeringprojects.com/2016/08/line-following-robotic-waiter-using-arduino.html
It needs-

• Arduino UNO
• DC Motors
• RF Module
• 2 Relay Board
• IR Sensors

You may need to add some more components, including the Arduino . But you can use the motors that you already have. You can also make the chassis from common materials.

 

[camerart]

Hi B,
I agree with a utility robot/control, something that would help you.

I was once into chemical photography, so I built a film processor, into a dark kitchen unit, using a 48K spectrum. I had a lot of fun from both the project and the result.
C