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Ultra Cheap arduino robots for kids

My oldest child is moving into middle school. He is very creative and expressed a small interest in doing some robotics. He’s enjoyed the ozobot since it was purchased.

I set out to put together something cheap (in case he loses interest, but still functional and expandable at a high level). I found a cheap (like usd$9) acrylic robot on Aliexpress, an off brand Arduino UNO, and a SainSmart motor shield. The total for this project is so far under $30. Sensor and LED bling have not yet been added. I have piles of ultrasonic and infrared sensors already. I’m thinking of adding a few perimeter contact switches and that would complete it.

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High school robot

On a recent visit to my parents I sorted through a box of stuff left from high school. This little robot was in the box. It was a project I worked on at a high school robots club with Eric Prigge. See the 68HC811? That thing is a blast from the past.

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Bogey runt rover

I ran across the Actobotics Bogey Runt Rover on Amazon a few weeks ago. I thought the platform was pretty neat. I have some reservations about the motors, they look cheap. The platform itself is really solid. I’m pleased with it.

I’ve got a Raspberry PI 2 and an Adafruit 4 motor hat installed on it. There is plenty of room on the platform for batteries, sensors, etc. The 2nd blue PCB in the picture is a DC-DC converter. I’m going to use a 7.4 volt LiPO battery, and I’m down converting it to 4.5 to 5 volts.


  

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Actobotics Bogie Runt Rover

The rain is starting up again here in Oregon. It’s time to start stock piling indoor projects. I recently came across the Bogie Run Rover on Amazon. It’s a cute little robotics platform that is mechanically ready to go. You provide your own electronics. The rover comes with six motors! Unless you chain the two sides together, you won’t be driving this with a generic Arduino motor shield.

My lovely assistant took an interest and spent the hour assembling it with me.

bogie runt rover 1

bogie runt rover motor

assembled bogie runt rover

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Cheap Sharp GP2Y0A21 IR sensors from China

DSC02965 (1280x960)

I purchased a bunch of the Sharp (are they really?) branded GP2Y0A21 IR sensors via aliexpress. This is my first time purchasing from alibaba. I’ve purchased lots of stuff through ebay; most of it comes from Hong Kong.

Sharp IR sensors typically cost in the $12 to $16 range. I ordered several from China at $6.50/unit. I tested each one to make sure each was worked as was within specification. I plotted (sorry not going to publish) the returned values. I am surprised how close each sensor was to the average. I’m thinking the amount of jitter in the readings may be from dust in the air.

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Rice University r-one robot

I saw this notice via Pololu. Rice University has designed a researching/teaching robot r-one. It looks a lot like Pololu’s 3pi, but has a lot more sensors, 2.4ghz radio and an ARM processor.

At $400 each, it probably won’t attract the hobby crowd.

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Front sensors on a Pololu Zumo

I’m starting to outfit sensors on my black Friday Zumo (mini sumo). The Zumo is small, finding ways of securely mounting sensors is a challenge. I started by bending the center section between anchor screws of the wedge that Pololu sells up, then tapping it for screws to hold a Sharp IR sensor.

I also added spacers to fit a Wixel shield upside down. Score!

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Model7 code now on github

I decided to put the code for this robotics journey on GitHub. Not really because I care to share it, but because I need a good way to bounce the code across two development machines onto the BeagleBone. Git is very easy to get working on Angstrom, subversion is not.

GitHub

Otherwise, it’s been a productive day. I wrote a python class to control the RoboClaw. I’m now sitting down to flush out some Arduino Mega stuff.

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Finally, Arduino to Beagle to RoboClaw is working

With a few tweaks I finally got the Arduino Mega to correctly talk to the BeagleBone. I gave up trying to get it to work over USB, and wired Serial 3 from the MEGA to UART4 on the BeagleBone. I can now get the ultrasonic distance measurements. This now allows me to complete a feedback loop between getting measurements and physically moving the robot. I took some video. I’ll get that processed eventually.