Lets build a Robot - The BeetleBot
The Beetlebot is a very simple and efficient robot without any electronics components. It uses only two SPDT Switches which reverse the motor when clicked and roam him to obstacle free paths since this is simple robot to make even a small child could get a great start from this. You can build various kinds of robot insects by using the same technique which is used to build this one. Beetlebot v2 was originally designed by robomaniac credit should be gone to him . There is no silicon chip, that is, no integrated circuit, no transistor, no resistor, capacitor, etc. Beetlebot is very cheap to build.
This is a video of Beetlebot we are going make
Lets start building
Here is the list you're going to need to build this robotItems for the robot:
2 x 1,5V motors
2 x SPDT ( single pole double throw ) switches with a metal lever
2 x AA or AAA battery
2 x Terminal connector ( see picture )
1 x AA or AAA battery holder
1 x Plastic or wooden pearl ( Spherical bead )
1 x 1 inch x 3 inch piece of metal or aluminum
1 x Toggle switch for the on/off switchs
Paper clips big and small
2 feets of wires around 22/24 Gauge size
Heat shrink that will fit over the motor shaft and some that will fit over the terminal connector
Electric tape and masking tape
Items for the body shell :
Round plastic lid to make the shell of the robot
Some spray can paint, the colour you want.
Clear varnish
Autobody filler putty or epoxy glue
2 x Small magnets to attach shell to body.
You need some 1,5Volts motor, not 3V or no event 12V!!
Each motors are powered by a single AA battery. You will drain your battery if you use a bigger motor. You can find them in toys or even at your local dollarrama, in little car, fans, etc! ( beware, they might really suck you battery down )
the recommended tools for this project:
1 x safety glasses!!
1 x soldering iron
1 x glue gun
1 x wire strippers
1 x side cutter
1 x scissors, knife, x-acto, etc
Step 1
First you need to set up your SPDT Switches
This is the main part of this robot also this is the most expensive part. This switch might cost you 1 - 4 $ but if you have recycling electronic equipment you might be lucky to find one by your self. SPDT Switches can be found in old VCR Players, Playstation or perhaps old toys you have.
Paste both switches into the battery holder using super glue or anything that fits
Make sure you touch a one pin of Switches as shown in this photo
Step 2
Setting up the motorsMotors are going to be the legs of our robots but since it has a metal edge our beetle will have a hard time moving. You need to put on some grip on these motors, just like below pictures a rubber knob will do the trick.
Step 3
Motor mount
Take some Aluminium and cut it into 1 x 3 inch. It does not need be exactly 1 x 3 inch. You can build this as you want according to your imagination. But make sure you make something that your motors can hold up.
If you dont have access to aluminium you can simply glue your motors to the Battery holder. But using an aluminium mount is recommended.
Step 4
Attaching motors to the motor mount
This is how it looks like after the mount
Step 5
Attaching motor to the battery holder.Here we simply glue the metal plate to the front of the robot.
You can set your robots speed by tilting motor holder like this
After you glue it properly your robot should look like those pictures above
Here are solutions for few problems you might face during making this robot.
1 - The motor mount unglued from the battery holder.
You can simply glue the metal plate to the battery holder with epoxy. You will never be able to remove it!
Here is my tip: I tape a piece of masking tape to the battery holder and one to the motor mount. I then use epoxy to glue the two parts together. The glue dries onto the masking tape and not on the plastic of the battery holder. If one day I need to remove any item, I simply rip off the masking tape! Clever hen? In resume, you glue two pieces of masking tape together!
2 - The front of the robot is too heavy and the robot tilts to the front.
To avoid the tilting, you can try to mount the bracket to the front and not to the middle. This might not really help. On the next step you will see another solution. You can always put some weight on the back of the robot.
Step 6
Setting up the back caster
Make sure you mount the paper clip to the battery holder properly. You can use either glue or a gum tape. Using glue is the best way to make it permanent.
Step 7
Soldering the switches
Use paper clips to establish the connection between motors and last pin (commun pin) of the switches
Step 8
Connecting the wires
It is call the "third connection"
In you AA/AAA battery you have 2 wires that provide 3Volts.
In reality, we only use 1,5Volts for both motors.
How can we get half the voltage? Simple, you solder a wire like the picture below.
The new wire will touch the last wire you have solder in the last step and you will connect it to the battery holder. See picture.
Step 9
Here you are going to hook up the power to the robot. On your AA or AAA battery holder you have a red and a black wire. Like you probably know, the red wire is positif ( + ) and the black is negativ( - ).
Solder the wire like on the picture and everything is ready to be tested.
Put some battery in it.
Both motor should turn.
By pressing the left switch the left motor should turn the other way.
By pressing the right switch the right motor should turn the other way.
You are now ready to make the antenna.
Step 10
Take your pliers to press down on the terminal connector. After that, you will be able to slide it tight on the metal connector of the SPDT switches.
Step 11
Use paper clips to make the antennas. The feelers (sensors) of the bettle robot.
Solder the antennas to the terminal. I have added a heat shrink over my solder to hide it.
Clip the antenna onto the metal bracket of the switchs. If it's too loose, go back to step 14.
Your bettle robot is finished!
The following steps are going to make your robot more easthetic by adding a shell to the robot.
The next step is adding a switch to the robot instead of removing the battery.
Step 12
Mounting a power switch
To stop your robot, you need to remove the battery. This can get annoying this can be avoided by adding a simple switch.
Step 13
Making the Shell Making the shell depends on your imagination you can make it look like what ever you want
To make the shell, you can use any sort of plastic container. The dark green is a peanut butter cap and the transparent green is from a gel container.
Like you have seen on the pictures, the gel cap is not really round. To cover the holes I have used a body car putty. Beware, car putty cure really fast!!
After sanding the lid smooth, it is time to paint it. Give it a couple of coats of primer.
After that you can start painting the shell in black or any other colour you like.
Give a couple of paint layers and let it dry. Take you time. I normally do that outside in the sun.
It is now time to add the circles to the robot. I took a coin to make the circles. I have used
masking tape to make the circles. Put them anywhere you want.
Take a other colour you want and start painting. Spray at a distance of 20 cm and one layer at the time. Give it a couple of layers.
Remove the stickers.
Done
After finishing your final touchups hook up the the shell to the robot, you can use either tapes or glue to hold them together.
Here you made your first simple robot, Thanks again to robomaniac for this design
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Category: DIY
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