Robot 2.1.2

This is my fully functional robot with its new circular base. It avoids walls and obstacles like a pro!

This robot just gets better and better.  Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

I also added an LED to the robot to show when it sees an obstacle. (not shown in picture)

New Base of Robot 2

This is what I'm up to in the next improved version of the robot. I'm making the base circular.

Version 2.1.1 New Steering

Well I decided to take off the front steering servo. I did this for power consumption and because it requires the 2 driving servos to push forward so it can function. The new way of turning is to have one of the wheels move in opposite direction of its partner. This is more efficient because no time is wasted going forward and it moves around faster.

With this new concept I can create a cylindrical shaped robot... R2-D2

Power Supply Problems

Well, With my Robot I ran into a few problems. This is actually very good news.
I can now improve my robot. The new robot will feature 4 battery packs. That will make it heavy but it will also improve speed, torque, and play time!
Currently I hooked up 2 of the driving servos to their own 4.8 volt battery packs. This helped a lot, but the steering servo and sonar are still using 5 volts each out of the Arduino which is only powered by a 9 volt battery.

Things don't function that well when the power source is low. I hope to improve the chassis by adding a better look and maybe make it enclosed. This will be V2.2.

I also improved the code that the robot runs on.

Robot Code Complete

Well this is what the V2.1 working robot looks like. Some added minor features have been added. The robot code is done and working. I just need an open space to let it out in the open. If you would like to see the code please contact me.

Robot V2 Completed

I finished the body of my robot. This is the new obstacle avoiding robot. It has turning, forward and backward movement and eyes! (The eyes are really ears.) Well, this is the cool new robot.
I know the front wheels are small, but there is a such thing as V3.

Total cost: worth it.

Now.... LET THE PROGRAM WRITING BEGIN!!

Forward Servo Control Robot

This is what the new robot I'm building will look like. It is a HUGE improvement from the old robot. 
As of this excact moment it only has forward movement, I am adding a sonar for obstacle avoidance.

The new robot will feature an Ultrasonic sensor and 2 more servos.

New Base of Robot

This is the new chassis of the robot I'm building. It is made from a material called Balsa. I bought it at a craft store. It is extremely light so it will be better than plastic.

Continueous Servos with Wheels

Well, today I bought 2 more servos. Even though they were 15 dollars, I think that it was a good deal. I modified them to be "full rotation" servos using this youtube video. I attached the tires from an old RC car. These will be the tires of my new and improved robot.

Motor Control

So far, my robot does not have any motor control. What I need is a H Bridge or a Motor Shield. That will allow me to regulate and inverse the power that goes to a DC motor. That means I can increase speed or change the direction of the motor rotations. So in theory, I can tell the robot "If there is an obstacle in front of you, reverse and change direction."

There is a link on amazon that shows a motor shield. Click here to see it.

Servo

This is the picture of the servo that I used. It is what controls the frontal steering of the robot car.

My First Robot

(updated image)

Hey. This is what my robot looks like. I built it on the car body I posted earlier. The robot moves forward using a DC motor and 3 AA batteries. The robot turns using a servo powered by the Arduino's on-board 5V power supply. The servo is told in which direction to turn by 2 LDR's (one on the right and one on the left).

The robot moves toward lights. As of right now it cannot avoid obstacles. The Ping ultrasonic sensor will be put in on Wednesday the 10th. 

Ping))) Ultra Sonic Distance Sensor

 This is the Ping))) Ultra Sonic Distance Sensor. I'm using it for my next build. It cost around 33 dollars at radio shack. The people there were actually very helpful. Some video tutorials on how to incorporate this sensor can be found in this video. 

Darkness Meter

This is a Darkness Meter. No, not the kind that that gauges the morality of an individual (LOST). But the kind that measures the amount of light in the ambiance. It works the same way as the "LDR and Arduino" project, but it has 3 LED's and 3 thresholds. I'm uploading a video of it in the next hour.


**Update. Click here for video. 

LDR and Arduino

This is a practical use for an LDR. The LED on the arduino turns on when there is low light and turns off when there is plenty. This could be useful as a night light.

Press "Read More " To copy the code:

RC Car Body

This is the body of a RC car. It cost about 6 dollars plus tax. It comes with 2 of these DC motors. Overall, I think the car was a great buy since the 2 motors already cost over 6 dollars. I plan to use the back wheels and motors of this car for an arduino project. I'm not sure when I'll get started on it, but I know it'll be after I get a hold of some servos.

Arduino Light Dependant Resistor

The image above shows a Light Dependant Resistor. It functions very simply. I used it with the Arduino to measure the ammount of light in my room. I didn't know until today that I had so many spare components lying around. I'm interested in the things a LDR can do, I think I'll try to create the robot featured on this website. Now all I need is to find an inexpensive servo. :]

Arduino Speakers

The image above shows my (messy) build of speakers. I used an old mp3 player speaker. The speaker plays music created by the Arduino. The first version of this can be seen in this youtube video. (The reason why the audio is low on the video is because I had a 10K resistor connected to the speaker.)

Arduino Button LED

The above picture depicts a button. The button is an addition to the LED program. When the button is pushed, the LED turns on and when it is released the LED turns off. The code can also be tweaked to make the button act like a light switch.

Arduino First Program LED

This is the Arduino Duemilanove. It is a micro controller. The image above is showing the Arduino lighting up a green LED. 

An Arduino can literally do anything if it is given the tools it needs. With enough know-how you can make it fly by giving it wings or you can make it talk by giving it a voice .