scrap robot

[scrap man]

Im planning to make a robot without pre made parts, ive never done this before so any information would be very appreciated

[blackbeard]

you're going to have to be allot more specific then that. What kind of robot? What parts do you have available? How much are you willing to avoid salvaging? You can salvage many of the parts for a robot but you need to know what you're going for otherwise you'll just have an ever growing pile of junk. I'm going to assume you want to build a relatively simple robot using 2 motors and differential steering with both motors fixed to the chassis with them turning in opposite directions to turn the robot in place. In this case here is what i think you can salvage and things you will need to buy as well as a few deceptive pieces you should avoid imho.

Salvageable materials
-gearmotors
-colored wire
-Discreet through hole components such as transistors, diodes, pots, capacitors but not resistors (too many values)
-chassis parts
-some integrated circuits
-some sensors
-premade circuits and mechanical systems (such as a cd drive trays, remote control systems, drive systems and motor drivers)


Parts that you will have to buy
-Microcontroler
-solder
-resistors
-some ic's
-protoboard

Parts you should AVOID salvaging
-resistors (because of the millions of values and the annoyance of hunting for them)
-ungeared motors
-soldered ic's more then 16 pins
-most surface mount parts

[altapowderdog]

Blackbeard has a great list for you to start with.  I would not make the "brain" of the robot from scratch.  For the body i have had much success with 1/4" thick PVC sheets.  The material can be cut and sanded much like wood, and is perfect for construction the body of a small robot.  Good luck

[georgeecollins]

A good place to start with a scrap robot is with old toys.  Kids discard R/C cars with broken electronics (lost transmitters) that you can use as wheeled chassis.  You probably don't want to keep any of the electronics, but you may be able to get a wheel, chassis, and gearmotor combination that works that you can build off of. 

Another great thing to hack is the Robots from Wowwee.  They are designed to be hackable.  You can find a bunch of used ones on ebay, but probably want to find a discarded one, not one for sale.  If you are going to hack it, broken is fine, as long as the mechanicals are intact.