Engineering: The Automated Turret w/ LEGOs

 


A future inventor, between ages 5 and 75, with tools lying around and ample boredome to motivate yourself. Does this sound like you? Great! Because today, we're going to be building very fun machine that anyone can build as long as you have some some motors, gears, wheels and electronics (the more sophisticated, the more fun the robot will be).

 

Enough small-talk, here's what we'll be crafting today. I call it the "LEGO FIREDRUMS" because of the large drum-like wheels used to fire the pseudo-bullets. But you can call it the Automated Turret, and you'll see why it's automated with this lengthy video:

 

// THIS SPOT IS RESERVED FOR VIDEO //

 

So from first-look at this robot, here are the features of the robot and the concept that fuels them that we'll be taking a look at. I'll be reviewing every section of the robot in the order of its importance. However, feel free to jump around sections to read what interests you.

Section 1: The XBC Robot Controller

Coding and controlling for this robot is done a bit differently than the usual methods used in the robotic community. I'm going to be using whats called the XPORT BOTBALL CONTROLLER (XBC), which is quite expensive for the latest versions but its definitely one of the easiest and most flexible robot controllers out there. Here are the capabilities of the XBC and the items included with the purchase taken from the www.botballstore.org:

This item can be purchased directly from:

https://botballstore.org/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=120&osCsid=5606d3250839a37559ef79a0852f5e63

 

At $352 ($439 w/ GBA+Camera), it might be a stretch to pay for all at once but not only does it have a camera but it also has BACK-EMF! Don't worry if you don't know what that is, it'll all explained later. If you try to make this controller yourself, you might find that you're passing $352! A rechargeable battery, all necessary power & programming cables, free software and documentation, 4 motor ports / 4 servo ports and 16 sensor ports; this is a must have in the "cool-electronics" aisle. Read the features once again; it's a super cool robot controller and by purchasing it, you're not only getting an amazing robot brain but also you're funding a great organization that hosts robotic tournaments all around the world for middle-school and high-school students! You can also use a compatible CMUCam that you might have laying round so you

 

What's also a "neat-feat" that has people asking questions is that the XBC uses any gameboy you want for processing purposes. Here I've used the GAMEBOY MICRO with my XBC, take a look:

 

XBC w/ GBM