Wireless Robotic Interface for Radio Controlled Cars, Build a Killer Robot
Most robot kits are pretty expensive – even if you build a lot of the parts yourself. Unless you have mad computer skills, it is pretty difficult to build and program a remote and then to interface it with your robot. Robots don’t have to be shaped like humans. You can use any remotely operated car body to create a base for a robot. Mate the remote control with an Arduino circuit board, and you have yourself a robot.
You can use the circuit board/remote to program different functions into your robot. There are a variety of ways to do this – some of them more difficult than others. Dan Harres, retired after 40 years at Boing, currently designs and builds educational robots with his son, Max. They tried things like soldering the connections between the car motor and the circuit board, replacing the car,s motor controller with one that has standard connections, and several other things. Some of them would be really hard for your average person and some would seriously add to the expense. Their goal was to develop a platform that would allow just about anybody to develop a robot with which they could have some fun and empress their friends.
What they came up with is a circuit that mimics the remotely controlled vehicle,s commands. They added batteries that would power both the remote and the vehicle. This allows almost anyone the ability to pop together a remote that will have your robot doing some pretty amazing things.
Dan Harres has created the Wireless Robotic Interface for Radio Controlled Cars Kickstarter Crowd-funding Campaign to fund creating these fun little circuit boards for amateur roboticists to use when tinkering with their creations. You can see a video demonstration of how the remote and circuit board go together, and a few simple things that you can make one do on a robot car. You will also find a chart that shows how the circuit board and the remote go together.
The wireless assembly of circuit board, remote and battery support radio frequencies of 27 MHZ or 49 MHZ. These are the wireless frequencies most often used in the U.S. There is a third frequency – 2.4GHZ – that is used by more expensive remote models. It is not supported.
The crowdfunding campaign will fund production of the circuit boards, and also the process of set-ting up mass production runs of the Arduino boards – something Dan and his son have not yet tried. There is no doubt, however, that they will be successful. Dan Harres is the author of MSP430-based Robot Applications: A Guide to Developing Embedded Systems published through Elsevier. The book is about building educational robots.
Dan and Max already have robots, printed schematics and (of course) Dan’s book for sale on their website, Bitstream Technology (www.bitstreamtechnology.com). If you go to the website, you can see Max demonstrate a robotic vehicle that zips around a dining room floor, using sensors to avoid various obstacles. The Arduino circuit boards would allow robot enthusiasts and students to create a robot model for a lot less money than the already completed model that they sell on their website. It is their goal to encour-age people to experiment with creating their own robots.
The perks available to people who contribute to the Kickstarter include a wireless interface shield, a pre-programmed Arduino Uno that produces 27MHZ commands or one that will operate at 49MHZ, or a bundle that includes a 27MHZ interface shield, an Arduino Uno, and a Thundermax R/C truck – all tested to work together.
So if you are into building killer robots – the kind that make your friends go ooooh and aaaah, not the rampaging through the neighborhood kind – then this is the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for you. If you love tinkering with robots, remote control vehicles and electronics then be sure to take a look at the fun stuff that Dan and Max have to share with you.
About: Dan Harres, author of MSP430-based Robot Applications: A Guide to Developing Embedded Systems, published 2012 by Elsevier, has teamed with his son, Max, to create an easy way to turn remote control model cars into robots. Dan’s book focuses on creating educational robots.
Dan Harres
Bitstream Technology
www.bitstreamtechnology.com
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