HD-Bot
HD-Bot is my first intend in building robots. His name is is derived from his chassis, which is an an old hard disk case. There is no controller onboard, the motors are controlled by a comparator chip (LM393). The line sensors are build with 2 CNY70 infrared opto reflex couplers. In a future version, 2 LDRs for light detection and a collisision detector are planned. For this reason a 4x2 analogue multiplexer is also needed.
Sensors
- 2 x CNY70 as line follow sensor
- 2 x LDRs for light detection (planned)
- 2 x IS471F OPIC for collision detection (planned)
Actors
- 2 hacked Servos (continous mode, without motor drivers)
- 2 logic level FETs (IRLZ34N) as motor drivers
Control
- LM393 comparator chip
- 74LS14 Schmitt Trigger
- DIP Switches forMode select (switch left/right)
- Potentiometers for trigger value
the block diagram shows the full featured version.

The chassis build from a hard disk case, hacked servo with attached model plane wheels.

The line sensor with the CNY70 IR reflex couplers.

The motor driver board. Just 2 logic level FETs.

the "brain". IC socket for LM393 comparator and 74LS14 schmitt trigger and a lot of dip switches for mode select.

The following truth table helps to explain, how the logic control works:
As you can see, the motor outputs needs to be inverted against the sensor inputs. The disadvantage of this simple solution is, as you can see in the video: if the robots misses the line it simple stops.
to be continued...



@ Wed, 2009-05-13 15:17
Hello! I'm a student from
Hello! I'm a student from China.I'd like to know how your Robot keep Balancing?Do you know the thiory of kalman filter? if you know that, I hope you can tell me . thank you(my english isn't very good)
@ Wed, 2009-05-13 15:48
It has a third wheel (not
It has a third wheel (not shown in the foto), so it needs no balance keeping. LMR user Nicola has succesfully build a self-balancing robot. Information about Kalman filters can be found in his blog. So you better ask him.
@ Thu, 2009-04-30 22:52
Disk Drive Chassis
Super idea for Chassis - light - strong - lots of pre made fixing holes - love it.
I am a great fan of recycling thats why i still have all my crashed drives - now i can revive them.......
I take my hat off - and admire your choice to go "Native Electronic".
@ Fri, 2009-05-01 11:12
Thanks Gareth. Yes, you can
Thanks Gareth. Yes, you can find a lot of useful parts in it, some very strong magnets for example.
That will bring me to the idea for a new challenge. Build a real Junk-Bot just made of reusing parts. What do you think?
@ Fri, 2009-05-01 11:32
Re-Cycle
Yes i am always happy when i can fit in re-cycled parts - somehow its a bit like transfer-ing a bit of "Soul" from the old bit into a new construction continuing its life Thread.
Blinking Heck - yes the Magnets out of the Hard drives are mega strong - i have a box that i put them in, which i keep in the cellar just to stop them messing up the Flux in my Office.....eeeee
@ Fri, 2008-10-17 23:29
Hi folks,thanks for your
Hi folks,
thanks for your replies. I added a truth table to the article to demystify the logic control. It is the same principle then for other robots without a microcontroller brain. 2 sensors outputs are converted to digital logic values (for example 0 meens black, 1 means white) and control the motor drivers directly. I just added some more logic to swap the sensors (left sensor to right motor a vice versa) and to independently invert the sensor output (with dip switches and inverter gates).
Thats all :)
@ Fri, 2008-10-17 20:34
I could not make this if I
I could not make this if I had a million years! :)
All electronics, no brains.. It is like making a fish sing or a candle to burn without light or something :D
@ Sat, 2008-10-18 19:02
Interesting quote
There is a electronics guru, Steve Ciarcia of Circuit Cellar, who says, "My favoriate programming language is solder."
Or something like that, anyway.
@ Fri, 2008-10-17 16:55
Analog / Digital bots
This is pretty interesting, getting a robot to follow without "programming". Looks like a very simple, well thought out circuit. I've seen another like it called "2-Tran" I think, that had a couple sensors, and 2 drive transistors.
I like your chassis too, looks pretty sturdy. Pretty good idea to use the HD case, it's fun to see different things remade into robots.