It's Yellow, It's Boxy, It's .... No Wall-e :)

peterfrisch

Germany
robot video thumbnail

I got my EZ-Bot last week and this weekend I started with my first project. I got myself a nice Caterpillar toy:

User-inserted image

And, as far as I can tell from other posts here, in good EZ-Bot tradition, started to disassemble it right away.

User-inserted image

After just slight problems with dremeling, I cut a hole in the bottom for the continuous servos that will drive the treads. I couldn't believe how close the servos fit in there.

User-inserted image

Hotglue the servo horn to the driven wheels

User-inserted image

A hole for the cables into the cabin and we're good to go!

User-inserted image

By — Last update

ARC Pro

Upgrade to ARC Pro

Subscribe to ARC Pro, and your robot will become a canvas for your imagination, limited only by your creativity.

#1  

Next step: Give it sonar. Thanks to the very cool Ping Radar control, that was a piece of cake

User-inserted image

So in just two days (well actually a lot less than two days, because I didn't work full-time on it) I got this result:

#3  

Isn't that cool! In just a day or 2 you turned a toy into an obstacle avoiding robot!:)

#4  

Very nice modification, very clever. I was actually thinking about the same kind of project, only I wouldn't use the body. I would replace it with a project box and mount all the internals inside it. I'd just use the tracks/mechinism as a base and mount a robot "body" on top of the project box. You have inspired me. Great stuff!

#5  

Excellent Idea! Great project!

#6  

Wow, thanks guys:) I'm now thinking, if I can get the shovel to move as well, but the mechanics for that are quite complex and I'm not sure, if I can get the servo, where it needs to go to lift the shovel. Well, the next weekend is just a few days away. We'll see:)

United Kingdom
#7  

I like it

Perhaps you could use a linear actuator for the bucket something like this

#8  

@winstn: That actuator looks real cool, but 40 pound is not quite cheap ... But I keep it in mind, if I got some money to burn :D