Let's Make Robots!

Cardboard Walker Bot~ Oddbot's Robot Video Competition

Walk around
Cost to build: 
$18

* AtMega 88 Custom made Development board
* Exacto-cut coardboard from a shipping box I received earlier
* Coardboard painted with Rustoleum Paint (making it look plasticy)
* (2) infrared emitters and an infrared receiver for object detection
* (2) micro servos for tilt and stride and (3) others for stepping and pivoting
* Piezospeaker in body underneath battery pack
* Power switch located adjacent to battery pack
* FTDI 232RL mini USB programming port
* (4) AA batteries for 6v power supply
* Blue power indicator LED

 

 

Vote for me for Oddbot's "Robot Video Competition"! I really have been eyeing his robot "Junior" since he first started it. And I hope that I can have the privledge of working with it.

 

The chassis was simply one of these guys cut up:

usps_box.jpg

 

The Servos I got from a past project, all LEDs from various things I took apart (VCRs, Computers, Remotes, etc.) Piezospeaker from a toy train that was broken, both IR emitters were 47Hz from remotes I believe if my memory serves me well. I whipped out my spectrum analyzer, and I think it was 47Hz, so then I bought two receivers within that range and whipped up a circuit.

 

So the only things I actually bought was the Atmega88, 2 IR receivers, and PCB, totalling a whopping  $18.00 for a potentially expensive projectusually in the 100s for servos alone.

 

The PCB company I used is a local one, however probably the cheapest I have ever seen, it has a tutorial on converting from Eagle to Gerber (what the machine uses) so everything is easy as pi.gif (math joke :D). 

Here it is: http://www.procyonpcb.com/

 

The PCB was a good $8.00, very well spent

Truly a budget bot

 

 

 

 

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TinHead's picture
5 stars from me, got to get some of those servos at some point in time.
guibot's picture

amazing walker!!  I think it is the coolest bipedal bot I've seen in the last decades  ;)

 

fritsl's picture
Now there's a jolly walk! :D
Myc Holmes's picture
The Procyonpcb site looks interesting. Do you have a photo of your $8 pcb?

He always gives PCBs in pairs if you are only ordering one board, and since I used one on the bot, I only have one empty one (which I assume is what you want to see).

 

Here is a picture of the receiver board I think it is (I have piles upon piles of PCBs that all look remarkably similar, so I apologize if it is not the right one)

 

Picture_007.jpg

 

Annnd my current project:

 

Picture_003.jpg

 

So as you can see they are legit, professional boards.

 

 

Myc Holmes's picture

The boards do look very good. I may try them out. Especially for the price.

Myc 

You definitly should!
TheGrue's picture
Realy nice design. I'll have to make a cardboard bot.
RobotFreak's picture

Congratulation. You made it to get on Makezine

 

Myc Holmes's picture

The Priority Mail shiiping boxes are free at your local US Post Office. The boxes along with the cardboard mailers are very handy and cheap hobby materials.

I use the mailer as a cutting board when using an Xacto knife.