How to create your own robot at home. Useful resources for creating a robot with your own hands. Instructions for creating a robot
Now few people remember, unfortunately, that in 2005 there were Chemical Brothers and they had a wonderful video - Believe, where robotic arm chased around the city for the hero of the video.
Then I had a dream. Unrealizable at that time, because I didn’t have the slightest idea about electronics. But I wanted to believe - believe. 10 years have passed, and literally yesterday I managed to assemble my own robotic arm for the first time, put it into operation, then break it, fix it, and put it back into operation, and along the way make friends and gain self-confidence.
Attention, spoilers under the cut!
It all started with (hello, Master Kit, and thanks for allowing me to write on your blog!), Which was almost immediately found and selected after this article on Habré. The site says that even an 8-year-old child can assemble a robot - why am I worse? I just try my hand the same way.
First there was paranoia
As a true paranoid, I will immediately express the concerns that I initially had regarding the constructor. In my childhood, at first there were solid Soviet designers, then Chinese toys crumbling in my hands ... and then my childhood was over :(Therefore, from what remained in the memory of toys, it was:
- Will plastic break and crumble in your hands?
- Will the pieces fit snugly together?
- Not all parts will be included in the kit?
- Will the assembled structure be fragile and short-lived?
- Some parts will have to be finished with a file
- And some parts just won't be in the set
- And another part will initially not work, it will have to be changed
The details of the designer are not only perfectly suited to each other, but also thought out the moment that the details are almost impossible to mix up. True, with German pedantry, the creators set aside the screws exactly as much as needed, therefore, it is undesirable to lose screws on the floor or confuse “which one goes where” when assembling the robot.
Specifications:
Length: 228 mm
Height: 380 mm
Width: 160 mm
Assembly weight: 658 gr.
Nutrition: 4 D batteries
Lifted item weight: up to 100 gr
Backlight: 1 LED
Control type: wired remote control
Estimated build time: 6 hours
Motion: 5 collector motors
Protection of the structure during movement: ratchet
Mobility:
Grab Mechanism: 0-1,77""
Wrist movement: within 120 degrees
Elbow movement: within 300 degrees
Shoulder movement: within 180 degrees
Rotation on the platform: within 270 degrees
You will need:
- long nose pliers (can't do without them)
- side cutters (can be replaced with a paper cutter, scissors)
- crosshead screwdriver
- 4 D batteries
Important! About small details
Speaking of screws. If you have encountered a similar problem, and know how to make the assembly even more convenient - welcome to the comments. For now, I'll share my experience.Identical in function, but different in length, bolts and screws are quite clearly spelled out in the instructions, for example, on middle photo at the bottom we see the bolts P11 and P13. Or maybe P14 - well, that is, here again, I confuse them again. =)
You can distinguish between them: the instructions say which one is how many millimeters. But, firstly, you won’t sit with a caliper (especially if you are 8 years old and / or you simply don’t have one), and, secondly, you can only distinguish them in the end if you put them side by side, which may not come right away came to mind (didn't come to me, hehe).
Therefore, I will warn you in advance if you decide to assemble this or a similar robot yourself, here is a hint for you:
- or look at the fasteners in advance;
- or buy yourself more small screws, self-tapping screws and bolts so as not to sweat.
Also, don't throw anything away until you're done building. On the bottom photo in the middle, between two parts from the body of the “head” of the robot, there is a small ring that almost flew into the trash along with other “cuts”. And this, by the way, is a holder for an LED flashlight in the “head” of the capture mechanism.
Assembly process
The robot is accompanied by instructions without further ado - only images and clearly cataloged and labeled parts.The parts bite off quite comfortably and do not require stripping, but I liked the idea of processing each part with a cardboard cutter and scissors, although this is not necessary.
The assembly starts with four of the five motors included in the design, which are a real pleasure to build: I just love gear mechanisms.
We found the motors neatly packed and “stuck” to each other - get ready to answer the child’s question why collector motors are magnetized (you can immediately in the comments! :)
Important: 3 out of 5 motor housings need screw nuts on the sides- in the future we will put the cases on them when assembling the hand. Side nuts are not needed only in the motor, which will go to the base of the platform, but in order not to remember which case goes where, it is better to drown the nuts in each of the four yellow cases at once. Only for this operation, pliers will be needed, in the future they will not be needed.
After about 30-40 minutes, each of the 4 motors was equipped with its own gear mechanism and housing. Everything is going to be no more difficult than Kinder Surprise was going to be in childhood, only much more interesting. Question for attention to the photo above: three of the four output gears are black, where is the white one? A blue and black wire should come out of its case. It's all there in the instructions, but I think it's worth paying attention to it again.
After you have all the motors in your hands, except for the “head”, you will start assembling the platform on which our robot will stand. It was at this stage that I realized that I had to be more thoughtful with screws and screws: as you can see in the photo above, two screws for fastening the motors together due to the side nuts were not enough for me - they were already screwed somewhere by me into depth of the already assembled platform. I had to improvise.
When the platform and the main part of the arm are assembled, the instruction will prompt you to proceed to the assembly of the grip mechanism, where small parts and moving parts - the most interesting!
But, I must say that this is where the spoilers will end and the video will begin, since I had to go to a meeting with a friend and I had to take the robot, which I could not finish in time, with me.
How to become the soul of the company with the help of a robot
Easily! When we continued assembling together, it became clear: to assemble the robot on our own - very Nice. Working on the design together is doubly pleasant. Therefore, I can safely recommend this set for those who do not want to sit in a cafe for boring conversations, but want to see friends and have a good time. Moreover, it seems to me that team building with such a set - for example, assembly by two teams, for speed - is practically a win-win option.The robot came to life in our hands as soon as we finished the assembly. Unfortunately, I cannot convey our delight to you in words, but I think many here will understand me. When the structure that you yourself assembled suddenly begins to live a full life - it's a thrill!
We realized that we were terribly hungry and went to eat. It was not far to go, so we carried the robot in our hands. And then another pleasant surprise awaited us: robotics is not only exciting. She gets even closer. As soon as we sat down at the table, we were surrounded by people who wanted to get to know the robot and collect the same one for themselves. Most of all, the guys liked to greet the robot “by the tentacles”, because it really behaves like a living one, and first of all, it’s a hand! In a word, the basic principles of animatronics have been mastered by users intuitively. Here's what it looked like:
Troubleshooting
Upon returning home, an unpleasant surprise awaited me, and it's good that it happened before the publication of this review, because now we will immediately discuss troubleshooting.Deciding to try to move the hand to the maximum amplitude, we managed to achieve a characteristic crack and failure of the functionality of the motor mechanism in the elbow. At first it upset me: well, new toy, just assembled - and no longer works.
But then it dawned on me: if you just assembled it yourself, what was the matter? =) I know very well the set of gears inside the case, and in order to understand whether the motor itself broke down, or whether the case was simply not well fixed, you can load it without removing the motor from the board and see if the clicks continue.
This is where I felt like hereby robot master!
Having carefully disassembled the “elbow joint”, it was possible to determine that the motor runs smoothly without load. The case parted, one of the screws fell out (because the motor magnetized it), and if we continued to operate, the gears would be damaged - when disassembled, a characteristic “powder” of worn plastic was found on them.
It is very convenient that the robot did not have to be disassembled entirely. And it's cool, in fact, that the breakdown occurred due to not quite accurate assembly in this place, and not because of some factory difficulties: they were not found in my set at all.
Advice: the first time after assembly, keep a screwdriver and pliers handy - they can come in handy.
What can be brought up with this set?
Self-confidence!Not only did I find common topics for communication with absolutely strangers, but I also managed to not only assemble, but also repair the toy myself! So, I can be sure: everything will always be ok with my robot. And it's a very pleasant feeling when it comes to favorite things.
We live in a world where we are terribly dependent on vendors, suppliers, service people, and the availability of free time and money. If you can do almost nothing, you will have to pay for everything, and most likely - overpay. The ability to fix the toy yourself, because you know how each node is arranged in it, is priceless. Let the child have such self-confidence.
Results
What we liked:- The robot assembled according to the instructions did not require debugging, it started immediately
- Details are almost impossible to mix up
- Strict cataloging and parts availability
- Instructions not to be read (images only)
- Lack of significant backlashes and gaps in the structures
- Ease of Assembly
- Ease of prevention and repair
- Last but not least: you assemble your own toy, Filipino children do not work for you
- More fasteners, stock
- Parts and spare parts for it so that it can be replaced if necessary
- More robots, different and complex
- Ideas that can be improved / attached / removed - in a word, the game does not end with the assembly! I really want it to continue!
Assembling a robot from this constructor is no more difficult than a puzzle or Kinder Surprise, only the result is much larger and caused a storm of emotions in us and those around us. Great set, thanks
I dug up an interesting article about how to make it yourself from simple spare parts robot. The explanations 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 handle Sunday.
What we need to build such a robot:
- Matchbox.
- Two wheels with old toy, or two corks from a plastic bottle.
- Two motors (preferably the same power and voltage).
- Switch.
- Front third wheel, it can be taken from an old toy or a plastic bottle.
- The LED can be taken at will, as in this model special significance he does not have.
- Two galvanic cells of one and a half volts - two batteries of 1.5 V
- Insulating tape
Two motors are taken because the motors always have an axis on one side only. And it's easier to take two motors than to knock the axle out of the motor and replace it with a longer one so that it comes out from both sides of the motor. Although in principle, it is quite possible. Then the second motor is not needed.
Switch any two positions: on / off. If you put the switch more complicated, 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 so that the robot goes.
You can take both AA and AAA batteries, they are a little smaller, but also easier - the robot will move faster, although AAA batteries will run out faster.
It is better to connect the LED through a 20-50 ohm limiting resistor and make it in the form of a headlight, in front. Or like a beacon - on top of the robot. You can connect two LEDs - they will be like "eyes".
Instead of duct tape, you can take scotch tape - no difference.
How to make a robot - step by step instructions.
We need wheels or, in their absence, attach covers from plastic bottles. You can do this with glue, or by pressing the head into the hole. You can use a soldering iron - it will be better to hold on.
Plastic bottles are most often made of polyethylene; you cannot glue them with ordinary glue. A glue gun works great.
I remind you that it is better to take the same wheels and motors. Otherwise, the robot will not drive straight. In the picture, the motors are different and this robot is unlikely to drive 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 be only half the size of the box, since there will also be a second motor on the other side.
We cling with electrical tape to the second motor with a wheel on the other side of the box.
Because our motors are at the bottom matchbox, then you need to place the batteries on the top, naturally fastening everything with adhesive tape. Also add a switch.
Make a robot very simple Let's see what it takes to create a robot at home, in order to understand the basics robotics.
Surely, after watching movies about robots, you often wanted to build your comrade in arms, but you didn’t know where to start. Of course, you will not be able to build a bipedal terminator, but we do not aim for this. Collect simple robot anyone who knows how to properly hold a soldering iron in their hands can do it and this does not require deep knowledge, although they will not interfere. Amateur robotics is not much different from circuit engineering, only much more interesting, because areas such as mechanics and programming are also affected here. All components are readily 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 automatic device, which reacts to any actions environment. Robots can be controlled by a human or perform pre-programmed actions. Typically, the robot has a variety of sensors (distance, rotation angle, acceleration), video cameras, 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 is in the world great amount a variety of microcontrollers for different applications and based on them you can assemble powerful robots. For amateur buildings found wide application AVR microcontrollers. 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 a 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 of the functions are practically the same, and the 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 go around 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 engineering stores. Let's decide how our robot will move. The most successful, I think, are the tracks that are used in tanks, this is the most convenient solution, because the tracks have a greater cross-country ability than the wheels of the machine and it is more convenient to control them (to turn, it is enough to rotate the tracks in different sides). Therefore, you will need any toy tank whose tracks rotate independently of each other, you can buy one in any toy store for reasonable price. From this tank, you only need a platform with tracks and motors with gearboxes, you can safely unscrew the rest and throw it away. We also need a microcontroller, my choice fell on the ATmega16 - it has enough ports for connecting sensors and peripherals, and in general it is quite convenient. You will also need to buy some radio components, a soldering iron, 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 the power supply of the robot's brain. Proper nutrition is a guarantee of health, so we will start with how to properly feed our robot, because novice robot builders usually make mistakes on this. And in order for our robot to work normally, you need to use a voltage stabilizer. I prefer the L7805 chip - it is designed to output a stable voltage of 5V, which is what our microcontroller needs. But due to the fact that the voltage drop on this chip 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 must be included in the circuit to protect against polarity reversal.
Now we can work on 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 many other things that we will not use for now. Let's look at a few important nodes. The RESET output (the 9th leg of the MK) is pulled up by the resistor R1 to the "plus" of the power source - this must be done! Otherwise, your MK may unintentionally reset or, in other words, fail. It is also desirable, but not mandatory, to connect RESET through ceramic capacitor C1 to ground. In the diagram, you can also see a 1000 uF electrolyte, it saves you from voltage drops when the engines are running, which will also have a positive effect on the operation of the microcontroller. Crystal resonator X1 and capacitors C2, C3 should be placed as close as possible to the XTAL1 and XTAL2 pins.
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. It's quite a handy environment and useful for beginners because it has a built-in code generation wizard.
Motor control
Not less than important component in our robot is a 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 chip is very easy to manage and easy to get in radio engineering stores. It is available in two DIP and SOIC packages. We will use in a DIP package because of the ease of mounting on the board. L293D has separate meals engines and logic. Therefore, we will power the microcircuit itself from the stabilizer (VSS input), and the motors directly from 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 microcircuit. But to be on the safe side, we will combine the channels, and then we need one mic for each engine. It follows that the L293D will be able to withstand 1.2 A. To achieve this, you need to combine the legs of the micro, as shown in the diagram. The microcircuit works as follows: when a logical “0” is applied to IN1 and IN2, and a logical unit 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 start to rotate in the opposite direction. Pins EN1 and EN2 are responsible for turning on each channel. We connect them and connect them to the "plus" power supply from the stabilizer. Since the microcircuit heats up during operation, and installing radiators is problematic on this type of case, heat removal is provided by GND legs - it is better to solder them on a wide contact area. That's all you need to know about motor drivers for the first time.
Obstacle sensors
So that our robot can navigate and not crash into everything, we will install two infrared sensor. Most the simplest sensor consists of an infrared diode that emits in the infrared spectrum and a phototransistor that will receive a signal from the infrared diode. The principle is this: when there is no obstacle in front of the sensor, the IR rays do not fall on the phototransistor and it does not open. If there is an obstacle in front of the sensor, then the rays from it are reflected and fall on the transistor - it opens and current begins to flow. The disadvantage of such sensors is that they can react differently to various surfaces and are not protected from interference - from extraneous signals from other devices, the sensor may accidentally work. Signal modulation can protect against interference, but for now we will not bother with this. For starters, that's enough.
Robot firmware
To revive the robot, you need to write firmware for it, that is, a program that would take readings from sensors and control engines. My program is the most simple, it does not contain complex structures and everyone will understand. 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; A value of 0xFF means that the output will be a log. "1", and 0x00 is a log. "0". With the following construction, we check if 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 set on the leg of the microcontroller. "0" and the robot starts moving back to move away from the obstacle, then turns around so as not to collide with the obstacle again and then goes forward again. Since we have two sensors, we check 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 "delay_ms(1000)" command indicates that one second will elapse before the next command starts executing. I have covered most of the aspects that will help you build your first robot. But the robotics doesn't end there. If you assemble this robot, then you will have a lot of opportunities to expand it. You can improve the algorithm of the robot, such as what to do if the obstacle is not on one side, but right in front of the robot. It also does not 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 an obstacle, various debugging information. The improvement of sensors will not interfere - the installation of TSOP (these are IR receivers that perceive a signal of only a certain frequency) instead of conventional phototransistors. In addition to infrared sensors, there are ultrasonic sensors, which are more expensive, and also not without drawbacks, but have recently been gaining popularity among robot builders. In order for the robot to respond to sound, it would be nice to install microphones with an amplifier. But the really interesting thing, I think, is installing the camera and programming machine vision based on it. There is a set of special OpenCV libraries with which you can program face recognition, movements on colored beacons, and a lot of other interesting things. It all depends on your imagination and skills. List of components: ATmega16 in DIP-40 package> L7805 in TO-220 package L293D in DIP-16 package x2 pcs. resistors with a power of 0.25 W with denominations: 10 kOhm x1 pcs., 220 Ohm x4 pcs. ceramic capacitors: 0.1 uF, 1 uF, 22 pF electrolytic capacitors: 1000 uF x 16 V, 220 uF x 16V x2 pcs. diode 1N4001 or 1N4004 16 MHz quartz resonator IR diodes: any in the amount of two pieces will do. phototransistors, also any, but reacting only to the wavelength of IR rays Firmware code: At the moment my robot is almost complete. It has a wireless camera, a distance sensor (both the camera and this sensor are installed on a rotary tower), an obstacle sensor, an encoder, a signal receiver from the remote control and an RS-232 interface for connecting to a computer. It works 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 a firmware for the protection of the apartment (image transfer to a computer, motion detection, detour of the premises). In an age of innovation, robots are no longer outlandish machines. However, you will probably be surprised: Can a robot be made at home?
Undoubtedly, it is quite difficult to create a robot with a complex design, microelements, circuits and programs. And one cannot do without knowledge of physics, mechanics, electronics and programming. However, the simplest robot can be made by hand. Robot- a machine that must automatically perform any action. But for a homemade robot, the easier task is to move. Consider 2 simplest options for creating a robot. 1. Let's make a small bug that will vibrate. We will need:
2. Making a robot artist. We will need:
From plastic or cardboard, it is necessary to cut out a shape for the future robot - a three-dimensional triangle. A hole is cut in the center into which the motor is inserted. From 3 edges, 3 holes are cut out, where felt-tip pens are inserted. A battery is attached to the motor wire using glue with pieces of foil. The motor is inserted into the hole in the body of the robot, fixed there with glue or electrical tape. The second motor wire is connected to the battery. And the robot artist starts to move!Conclusion
We wrap the LED with electrical tape, leaving its ends free. Using a soldering iron, solder the end of the LED and the back of the battery holder. Solder the other wire of the LED to the motor contacts. We unbend the paper clips, they will be the paws of the bug. We solder the paws to the motor. The paws can be wrapped with electrical tape, so the robotic beetle will be more stable. The wires of the battery holder must be connected to the wires of the motor. As soon as the lithium battery is installed in the holder, the beetle will begin to vibrate and move. Watch the video on creating such a simple robot below.