Freshman project: Maaaaaze Robot!
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
7:20 PM
Okay! This is the return-and-talk about the project I have been working on during the second semester of the freshman year. Considering that our BASE project's due day was almost the same as that for this project, I have been rushed up a little bit while the final result of the competition was very good from my perspective.
For completing the task for this mazerobot competition, we were required to design and build an Arduino-based robot which can went through the 600mm*800mm area which was actually a combination of 200mm wide roads. This wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't that stu-pid-material limitation. All the material we could get besides laser cut ply-wood and 3D printed PLA was An Arduino which was soldered by ourselves and only ONE ultrasound sensor and two continuous servos.
Before I started drawing the CADs and printing them, I did have watched several mazebot videos online for inspiration. The thing that made me mad was that all the people who accomplished the task was using at least two(or more)ultrasound sensors. During the discussion process, we have been thinking tons of impressive ideas which may pass the test. The plans Included using an imaginary-third-continuous servo(and which created the new term "ITC servo")to make the ultrasound sensor rotates, so that we can get enough information about the surrounding environment. The conclusion of the mind storming is that because of the lack of information I can get from the sensor, I would have to add some guiding wheels that keep the track of the robot correct.
There was wa-aaay more flexibilities in the term of designing when I chose to make the thing as a whole. All over the modeling software, Autodesk® Fusion360 is my first "go to". I have tried SolidWorks and PTC Creo before, the non-user-friendly experiences in using those software forced me to find a better solution for the modeling. I have got my new computer--which was a mobile workstation from MSI(WS60-6QJ) at the second semester of freshman year, and I was able to get to know deeper about the work flow in Fusion. All these advantages made me one of the most famous engineering student in the school. I don't like to be famous at sometime, because it makes me feel strained during the competitions(or some tasks). I always have to perform the best. Besides the con-side, I was so excited to be able to build my robot like then.
Here are some of the design objectives:
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The mazebot should be as SMALL as possible.
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Four guiding wheels are needed.
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Blue-LEDs are needed.(don't ask why)
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The main body of the vehicle should be printed in one piece and be clear.
Finally come to the design part…
To pass the Maze easily and to lower the difficulties in programming, I decided to build the vehicle as small as possible as long as it can fit the Arduino control board inside(80mm*55mm).
There always are people saying that this design looks like a frog instead of a robot…SIGH!
As you can see here, the robot is very compacted and without too many actual moving parts. Those four arms were left for the guiding wheels. When I was designing this "case", I left the radiator grille there for decoration purpose, but after some test runs I was glad that I didn't cancel that design, the heat a 7.4v-powered 5v Arduino can generate was horrible (again, I chose to use a 7.4v LiPo battery wasn't because I was a noob, but simply because the LED strips would be consuming too much voltages and the Arduino would not be lighted up…)
The complete design of the mazebot, don't worry we will get there, I promise…
It's hard to make a decision on what the robot will look like. My general steps of doing that are: 1) determine the content the robot will need. 2) put them in proper places
Maze Robot show during Makerfaire 2017 in New York
Makerfaire 2017 New York
