Today we will tell you how to make a robot from available materials. The resulting “high-tech android,” although small in size and unlikely to help you with housework, will certainly amuse both children and adults.
Necessary materials
To make a robot, you don't need knowledge of nuclear physics. You can make a robot at home from ordinary materials that you always have on hand. So what we need:- 2 pieces of wire
- 1 motor
- 1 AA battery
- 3 push pins
- 2 pieces of foam board or similar material
- 2-3 heads of old toothbrushes or a few paper clips
1. Attach the battery to the motor
Using a glue gun, attach a piece of foam cardboard to the motor housing. Then we glue the battery to it.
Place a couple of drops of glue on the very end of the destabilizer, or attach some decorative element - this will add personality to the robot and increase the amplitude of its movements.
3. Legs
Now you need to equip the robot with lower limbs. If you use toothbrush heads for this, glue them to the bottom of the motor. You can use the same foam board as a layer.
5. Battery connection
Using a heat gun, glue the wire to one end of the battery. You can choose any of the two wires and either side of the battery - polarity does not matter in this case. If you're good at soldering, you can also use soldering instead of glue for this step.
6. Eyes
A pair of beads, which we attach with hot glue to one end of the battery, are quite suitable as the robot’s eyes. At this step, you can show your imagination and come up with the appearance of the eyes at your discretion.On the shelves of modern stores for children you can find a wide variety of toys. And every child asks his parents to buy him one or another toy “new thing.” What if family budget planning does not include this? To save money, you can try making a new toy yourself. For example, how to make a robot at home, is it possible? Yes, it is quite possible, it is enough to prepare the necessary materials.
Is it possible to assemble a robot yourself?
Nowadays it’s difficult to surprise anyone with a robot toy. The modern technology and computer industry has come a long way. But you may still be surprised by the information on how to make a simple robot at home.
Undoubtedly, it is difficult to understand the operating principle of various microcircuits, electronics, programs and designs. It is difficult to do in this case without basic knowledge in the field of physics, programming and electronics. Even so, every person can assemble a robot on their own.
A robot is an automated machine that is capable of performing various actions. In the case of a homemade robot, it is enough that the car simply moves.
To make assembly easier, you can use available tools: a telephone handset, a plastic bottle or plate, a toothbrush, an old camera or a computer mouse.
Vibrating bug
How to make a small robot? At home, you can make the simplest version of a vibrating bug. You need to stock up on the following materials:
- a motor from an old children's car;
- lithium battery CR-2032 series, similar to a tablet;
- a holder for this very tablet;
- paper clips;
- electrical tape;
- soldering iron;
- LED.
First you need to wrap the LED with electrical tape, leaving free ends. Using a soldering iron, solder one LED end to the back wall of the battery holder. We solder the remaining tip to the contact of the motor from the machine. The paper clips will serve as legs for the vibrating bug. The wires from the battery holder are connected to the motor wires. The bug will vibrate and move after the holder comes into contact with the battery itself.
Brushbot - children's fun
So, how to make a mini-robot at home? A funny car can be assembled from scrap materials, such as a toothbrush (head), double-sided tape and a vibration motor from an old mobile phone. It is enough to glue the motor to the brush head, and that’s it - the robot is ready.
Power supply will be provided by a coin cell battery. For remote control you will have to come up with something.
Cardboard robot
How to make a robot at home if a child demands it? You can come up with an interesting toy from simple cardboard.
You need to stock up:
- two cardboard boxes;
- 20 plastic bottle caps;
- wire;
- with tape.
It happens that dad wants to make some kind of wonder for the baby, but nothing sensible comes to mind. Therefore, you can think about how to make a real robot at home.
First you need to use the box as a body for the robot and cut out the bottom of it. Then you need to make 5 holes: under the head, for the arms and legs. In the box intended for the head, you need to make one hole that will help connect it to the body. Wire is used to hold the robot parts together.
After attaching the head, you need to think about how to make a robot arm at home. To do this, a wire is inserted into the side holes, onto which plastic covers are placed. We get movable arms. We do the same with our legs. You can make holes in the lids with an awl.
To ensure the stability of the cardboard robot, careful attention must be paid to the cuts. They give the toy a good appearance. It is difficult to connect all the parts if the cut line is incorrect.
If you decide to glue boxes together, do not overdo it with the amount of glue. It is better to use durable cardboard or paper.
The simplest robot
How to make a light robot at home? It is difficult to create a full-fledged automated machine, but it is still possible to assemble a minimal design. Let's consider a simple mechanism that, for example, can perform certain actions in one zone. You will need the following materials:
Plastic plate.
A pair of medium-sized brushes for cleaning shoes.
Computer fans in the amount of two pieces.
Connector for 9-V battery and the battery itself.
Clamp and tie with snap function.
We drill two holes with the same distance in the brush plate. We fasten them. The brushes should be located at the same distance from each other and the middle of the plate. Using nuts, we attach the adjusting mount to the brushes. We install the sliders from the fastenings in the middle location. Computer fans must be used to move the robot. They are connected to a battery and placed in parallel to ensure the rotation of the machine. It will be some kind of vibration motor. Finally, you need to put on the terminals.
In this case, you will not need large financial expenses or any technical or computer experience, because here we describe in detail how to make a robot at home. It is not difficult to get the necessary parts. To improve the motor functions of the design, microcontrollers or additional motors can be used.
Robot, like in advertising
Many people are probably familiar with the browser's commercial, in which the main character is a small robot spinning and drawing shapes on paper with felt-tip pens. How to make a robot at home from this advertisement? Yes, very simple. To create such an automated cute toy, you need to stock up on:
- three felt-tip pens;
- thick cardboard or plastic;
- motor;
- round battery;
- foil or electrical tape;
- glue.
So, we create a form for the robot from plastic or cardboard (more precisely, we cut it out). It is necessary to make a triangular shape with rounded corners. In each corner we make a small hole into which a felt-tip pen can fit. We make one hole near the center of the triangle for the motor. We get 4 holes around the entire perimeter of a triangular shape.
Then insert the markers one by one into the holes made. A battery must be attached to the motor. This can be done using glue and foil or electrical tape. In order for the motor to stay firmly on the robot, it is necessary to fix it with a small amount of glue.
The robot will move only after connecting the second wire to the attached battery.
Lego robot
"Lego" is a series of toys for children, which consists mainly of construction parts that are combined into one element. Parts can be combined, while creating more and more new items for games.
Almost all children from 3 to 10 years old love to assemble such a construction set. In particular, children's interest increases if parts can be assembled into a robot. So, to assemble a moving robot from Lego, you need to prepare the parts, as well as a miniature motor and control unit.
In addition, ready-made kits with parts are now sold that allow you to assemble any robot yourself. The main thing is to master the attached instructions. Eg:
- prepare the parts as indicated in the instructions;
- screw the wheels, if any;
- we assemble fasteners that will serve as support for the motor;
- insert a battery or even several into a special unit;
- install the engine;
- connect it to the motor;
- We load a special program into the design’s memory that allows you to control the toy.
It would seem that it is quite difficult to assemble a robot, and a person without certain knowledge will not be able to do it at all. But that's not true. Of course, it is difficult to build a full-fledged automated machine, but anyone can do the simplest version. Just read our article on how to make a robot at home.
Make a robot very simple Let's figure out what it takes to create a robot at home, in order to understand the basics of robotics.
Surely, after watching enough movies about robots, you have often wanted to build your own comrade in battle, but you didn’t know where to start. Of course, you won't be able to build a bipedal Terminator, but that's not what we're trying to achieve. Anyone who knows how to hold a soldering iron correctly in their hands can assemble a simple robot and this does not require deep knowledge, although it will not hurt. Amateur robotics is not much different from circuit design, only much more interesting, because it also involves areas such as mechanics and programming. All components are easily available and are not that expensive. So progress does not stand still, and we will use it to our advantage.
Introduction
So. What is a robot? In most cases, this is an automatic device that responds to any environmental actions. Robots can be controlled by humans or perform pre-programmed actions. Typically, the robot is equipped with a variety of sensors (distance, rotation angle, acceleration), video cameras, and manipulators. The electronic part of the robot consists of a microcontroller (MC) - a microcircuit that contains a processor, a clock generator, various peripherals, RAM and permanent memory. There are a huge number of different microcontrollers in the world for different applications, and on their basis you can assemble powerful robots. AVR microcontrollers are widely used for amateur buildings. They are by far the most accessible and on the Internet you can find many examples based on these MKs. To work with microcontrollers, you need to be able to program in assembler or C and have basic knowledge of digital and analog electronics. In our project we will use C. Programming for MK is not much different from programming on a computer, the syntax of the language is the same, most functions are practically no different, and new ones are quite easy to learn and convenient to use.
What do we need
To begin with, our robot will be able to simply avoid obstacles, that is, repeat the normal behavior of most animals in nature. Everything we need to build such a robot can be found in radio stores. Let's decide how our robot will move. I think the most successful are the tracks that are used in tanks; this is the most convenient solution, because the tracks have greater maneuverability than the wheels of a vehicle and are more convenient to control (to turn, it is enough to rotate the tracks in different directions). Therefore, you will need any toy tank whose tracks rotate independently of each other, you can buy one at any toy store at a reasonable price. From this tank you only need a platform with tracks and motors with gearboxes, the rest you can safely unscrew and throw away. We also need a microcontroller, my choice fell on ATmega16 - it has enough ports for connecting sensors and peripherals and in general it is quite convenient. You will also need to purchase some radio components, a soldering iron, and a multimeter.
Making a board with MK
In our case, the microcontroller will perform the functions of the brain, but we will not start with it, but with powering the robot’s brain. Proper nutrition is the key to health, so we will start with how to properly feed our robot, because this is where novice robot builders usually make mistakes. And in order for our robot to work normally, we need to use a voltage stabilizer. I prefer the L7805 chip - it is designed to produce a stable 5V output voltage, which is what our microcontroller needs. But due to the fact that the voltage drop on this microcircuit is about 2.5V, a minimum of 7.5V must be supplied to it. Together with this stabilizer, electrolytic capacitors are used to smooth out voltage ripples and a diode is necessarily included in the circuit to protect against polarity reversal.
Now we can move on to our microcontroller. The case of the MK is DIP (it’s more convenient to solder) and has forty pins. On board there is an ADC, PWM, USART and much more that we will not use for now. Let's look at a few important nodes. The RESET pin (9th leg of the MK) is pulled up by resistor R1 to the “plus” of the power source - this must be done! Otherwise, your MK may unintentionally reset or, more simply put, glitch. Another desirable measure, but not mandatory, is to connect RESET through the ceramic capacitor C1 to ground. In the diagram you can also see a 1000 uF electrolyte; it saves you from voltage dips when the engines are running, which will also have a beneficial effect on the operation of the microcontroller. Quartz resonator X1 and capacitors C2, C3 should be located as close as possible to pins XTAL1 and XTAL2.
I won’t talk about how to flash MK, since you can read about it on the Internet. We will write the program in C; I chose CodeVisionAVR as the programming environment. This is a fairly user-friendly environment and is useful for beginners because it has a built-in code creation wizard.
Motor control
An equally important component in our robot is the motor driver, which makes it easier for us to control it. Never and under no circumstances should motors be connected directly to the MK! In general, powerful loads cannot be controlled directly from the microcontroller, otherwise it will burn out. Use key transistors. For our case, there is a special chip - L293D. In such simple projects, always try to use this particular chip with the “D” index, as it has built-in diodes for overload protection. This microcircuit is very easy to control and is easy to get in radio stores. It is available in two packages: DIP and SOIC. We will use DIP in the package due to the ease of mounting on the board. L293D has separate power supply for motors and logic. Therefore, we will power the microcircuit itself from the stabilizer (VSS input), and the motors directly from the batteries (VS input). L293D can withstand a load of 600 mA per channel, and it has two of these channels, that is, two motors can be connected to one chip. But to be on the safe side, we will combine the channels, and then we will need one micra for each engine. It follows that the L293D will be able to withstand 1.2 A. To achieve this, you need to combine the micra legs, as shown in the diagram. The microcircuit works as follows: when a logical “0” is applied to IN1 and IN2, and a logical one is applied to IN3 and IN4, the motor rotates in one direction, and if the signals are inverted - a logical zero is applied, then the motor will begin to rotate in the other direction. Pins EN1 and EN2 are responsible for turning on each channel. We connect them and connect them to the “plus” of the power supply from the stabilizer. Since the microcircuit heats up during operation, and installing radiators on this type of case is problematic, heat dissipation is provided by GND legs - it is better to solder them on a wide contact pad. That's all you need to know about engine drivers for the first time.
Obstacle sensors
So that our robot can navigate and not crash into everything, we will install two infrared sensors on it. The simplest sensor consists of an IR diode that emits in the infrared spectrum and a phototransistor that will receive the signal from the IR diode. The principle is this: when there is no obstacle in front of the sensor, the IR rays do not hit the phototransistor and it does not open. If there is an obstacle in front of the sensor, then the rays are reflected from it and hit the transistor - it opens and current begins to flow. The disadvantage of such sensors is that they can react differently to different surfaces and are not protected from interference - the sensor may accidentally be triggered by extraneous signals from other devices. Modulating the signal can protect you from interference, but we won’t bother with that for now. For starters, that's enough.
Robot firmware
To bring the robot to life, you need to write firmware for it, that is, a program that would take readings from sensors and control the motors. My program is the simplest, it does not contain complex structures and will be understandable to everyone. The next two lines include header files for our microcontroller and commands for generating delays:
#include
#include
The following lines are conditional because the PORTC values depend on how you connected the motor driver to your microcontroller:
PORTC.0 = 1; PORTC.1 = 0; PORTC.2 = 1; PORTC.3 = 0; The value 0xFF means that the output will be log. "1", and 0x00 is log. "0". With the following construction we check whether there is an obstacle in front of the robot and on which side it is: if (!(PINB & (1< If light from an IR diode hits the phototransistor, then a log is installed on the microcontroller leg. “0” and the robot starts moving backward to move away from the obstacle, then turns around so as not to collide with the obstacle again and then moves forward again. Since we have two sensors, we check for the presence of an obstacle twice - on the right and on the left, and therefore we can find out which side the obstacle is on. The command "delay_ms(1000)" indicates that one second will pass before the next command begins to execute. I've covered most of the aspects that will help you build your first robot. But robotics doesn't end there. If you assemble this robot, you will have a lot of opportunities to expand it. You can improve the robot's algorithm, such as what to do if the obstacle is not on some side, but right in front of the robot. It also wouldn’t hurt to install an encoder - a simple device that will help you accurately position and know the location of your robot in space. For clarity, it is possible to install a color or monochrome display that can show useful information - battery charge level, distance to obstacles, various debugging information. It wouldn't hurt to improve the sensors - installing TSOPs (these are IR receivers that perceive a signal only of a certain frequency) instead of conventional phototransistors. In addition to infrared sensors, there are ultrasonic sensors, which are more expensive and also have their drawbacks, but have recently been gaining popularity among robot builders. In order for the robot to respond to sound, it would be a good idea to install microphones with an amplifier. But what I think is really interesting is installing the camera and programming machine vision based on it. There is a set of special OpenCV libraries with which you can program facial recognition, movement according to colored beacons and many other interesting things. It all depends only on your imagination and skills. List of components: ATmega16 in DIP-40 package> L7805 in TO-220 package L293D in DIP-16 housing x2 pcs. resistors with a power of 0.25 W with ratings: 10 kOhm x 1 pc., 220 Ohm x 4 pcs. ceramic capacitors: 0.1 µF, 1 µF, 22 pF electrolytic capacitors: 1000 µF x 16 V, 220 µF x 16 V x 2 pcs. diode 1N4001 or 1N4004 16 MHz quartz resonator IR diodes: any two of them will do. phototransistors, also any, but responding only to the wavelength of infrared rays Firmware code: At the moment my robot is almost complete. It is equipped with a wireless camera, a distance sensor (both the camera and this sensor are installed on a rotating tower), an obstacle sensor, an encoder, a signal receiver from the remote control and an RS-232 interface for connecting to a computer. It operates in two modes: autonomous and manual (receives control signals from the remote control), the camera can also be turned on/off remotely or by the robot itself to save battery power. I am writing firmware for apartment security (transferring images to a computer, detecting movements, walking around the premises). I dug up an interesting article about how to make a robot yourself from simple spare parts. The explanations there are not very clear. I left the pictures and corrected the explanations a little. First, look at the first picture - what you should get after an hour of work. Well, or a little more. In any case, anyone can do it on Sunday. Two motors are used because motors always have an axis on one side only. And it’s easier to take two motors than to knock out the axle from the motor and replace it with a longer one so that it comes out from both sides of the motor. Although in principle, this is quite possible. Then the second motor is not needed. Any switch with two positions: on-off. If you install a more complicated switch, you can make the robot move both forward and backward by switching the polarity of the batteries. You can do without a switch at all and just twist the wires to make the robot move. You can take both AA and AAA batteries; they are a little smaller, but also lighter - the robot will move faster, although AAA batteries will run out faster. It is better to connect the LED through a limiting resistor of 20-50 ohms and make it in the form of a headlight, in front. Or like a beacon - on top of a robot. You can connect two LEDs - they will be like “eyes”. Instead of electrical tape, you can use adhesive tape - it makes no difference. We need wheels or, if they are missing, attach plastic bottle caps to the motor rods. You can do this with glue, or by pressing the head into the hole. You can use a soldering iron - it will hold better. Plastic bottles are most often made of polyethylene; they cannot be glued with ordinary glue. A glue gun works great. Let me remind you that it is better to take the same wheels and motors. Otherwise the robot will not drive straight. The motors in the picture are different and it is unlikely that this robot drives in a straight line, most likely in circles. Now, using adhesive tape, you need to attach one of the motors to the matchbox. The mount should only be half the size of the box, since there will also be a second motor on the other part. We attach the second motor with the wheel to the other side of the box with electrical tape. Since our motors are located at the bottom of the matchbox, we need to place the batteries on the top, naturally securing everything with adhesive tape. We also add a switch. We usually talk about robots created by various research centers or companies. However, robots are being assembled by ordinary people around the world with varying degrees of success. So today we present to you ten homemade robots.
A German neurobiology student assembled an android named Adam. Its name stands for Advanced Dual Arm Manipulator or “advanced two-handed manipulator.” The robot's arms have five degrees of freedom. They are powered by Robolink joints from the German company Igus. External cables are used to rotate Adam's joints. In addition, Adam's head is equipped with two video cameras, a loudspeaker, a speech synthesizer, and an LCD panel that imitates the movements of the robot's lips.
The MPR-1 robot is notable for the fact that it is constructed not from iron or plastic, like most of its counterparts, but from paper. According to the creator of the robot, artist Kikousya, the materials for the MPR-1 are paper, several dowels and a couple of rubber bands. At the same time, the robot moves confidently, although its mechanical elements are also made of paper. The crank mechanism ensures the movement of the robot's legs, and its feet are designed so that their surface is always parallel to the floor.
The Boxie robot was created by American engineer Alexander Reben from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boxie, somewhat similar to the famous cartoon character Wall-E, should help media workers. The small and nimble paparazzi is made entirely of cardboard, it moves using caterpillars, and navigates the street using ultrasound, which helps it overcome various obstacles. The robot conducts interviews in a funny, childish voice, and the respondent can interrupt the conversation at any time by pressing a special button. Boxie can record about six hours of video and send it to its owner using the nearest Wi-Fi point.
Norwegian engineer Kare Halvorsen created a six-legged robot called Morphex, which can transform into a ball and back. In addition, the robot is able to move. The movement of the robot occurs due to motors pushing it forward. The robot moves in an arc rather than in a straight line. Due to its design, Morphex cannot independently correct its trajectory. Halvorsen is currently working to resolve this issue. An interesting update is expected: the creator of the robot wants to add 36 LEDs that would allow Morphex to change colors.
Americans Tim Heath and Ryan Hickman decided to create a small robot based on an Android phone. The robot they created, Truckbot, is quite simple in terms of its design: the HTC G1 phone is located on top of the robot, being its “brain”. At the moment, the robot can move on a flat surface, choose directions of movement and accompany all sorts of phrases with collisions with obstacles.
One day, American Brian Dorey, who was developing expansion boards, was faced with the following problem: it is very difficult to solder a double-row pin comb with his own hands. Brian needed an assistant, so he decided to create a robot that could solder. It took Brian two months to develop the robot. The completed robot is equipped with two soldering irons that can solder two rows of contacts at the same time. You can control the robot via a PC and tablet.
Every family has its own favorite hobby. For example, the family of American engineer Robert Beatty designs robots. Robert is helped by his teenage daughters, and his wife and newborn daughter provide them with moral support. Their most impressive creation is the self-propelled Mechatronic Tank. Thanks to its 20 kg armor, this security robot is a threat to any criminal. Eight echolocators mounted on the robot's turret allow it to calculate the distance to objects in its field of view with an accuracy of an inch. The robot also shoots metal bullets at a speed of a thousand rounds per minute.
An American named Max created a mini-copy of the famous one. Max made the supporting structure of the robot from scraps of five-millimeter acrylic glass, and to fasten all the parts together he used ordinary threaded bolts. In addition, when creating the robot, miniature servos were used, which are responsible for the movement of its limbs, as well as parts from the Arduino Mega kit, which coordinate the motor process of the mechanical dog.
The robotic bun was designed by Jerome Demers and runs on solar batteries. There is a capacitor inside the robot that is connected to the solar power parts. It is needed to accumulate energy in bad weather. When there is enough solar energy, the ball begins to roll forward.
Initially, Georgia Tech professor Gil Weinberg designed a robotic arm for a drummer whose arm was amputated. Gil then created automated synchronization technology that would allow a two-armed drummer to use a robotic arm as an extra arm. The robotic arm reacts to the drummer's playing style, creating its own rhythm. The robotic arm can also improvise, while analyzing the rhythm in which the drummer plays.Conclusion
What we need to assemble such a robot:
How to make a robot - step by step instructions.
Adam
MPR-1
Boxie Paparazzi Robot
Morphex
Truckbot
Robot shareholder
Mechatronic Tank
Robodog
Robot ball
Roboruk