HELP!!!!! My first Robot.

[KnightsOnTrains]

I am attempting to build my first robot. I don't plan on making it anything fancy. It is just going to be a tracked robot with one drive wheel on each side. I want it to be able to move forward and backwards as well as being able to turn while moving forward/backwards, and to be able to pivot without moving (one track moving forward, one track moving backwards). The catch is that I would like to make all of the driving actions controlled by one joystick on a remote. I am planning on using two 18v cordless drills for motors. Other than that, I have absolutely no idea what I need, much less how to put it together. I have read the articles on the site, but want to make sure that i now what I am doing before I invest to much money. Any help at all would be great. Thanks in advance.

[Soeren]

Hi,

The catch is that I would like to make all of the driving actions controlled by one joystick on a remote.

What's the catch in that?

You'll need a microcontroller to listen to the receiver and translate the input into a PWM signal for each motor - it wouldn't care less if you use a joystick, buttons or hand gestures (although the latter would be a bit harder to make the transmit signals for  )

[Gertlex]

I have read the articles on the site, but want to make sure that i now what I am doing before I invest to much money. Any help at all would be great. Thanks in advance.

A better approach, knowing this, is for you to tell us what *you* think would be needed to do this.  Otherwise we won't know what you're forgetting and/or don't need.

[KnightsOnTrains]

A better approach, knowing this, is for you to tell us what *you* think would be needed to do this.

I think that i would need a power supply, my two motors, remote, receiver, fuses, and micro controllers. Hook the power supply up to the receiver, then to a fuse, then to the micro controller, and finally to the motors. I hope that this is correct. Also, if is it possible to buy micro controllers that are completely pre programmed, or will i still have two program them in some way?? Thanks again.

[Soeren]

Hi,

Hook the power supply up to the receiver, then to a fuse, then to the micro controller, and finally to the motors.

Do you mean; supply the power in a linear chain ending with the motors?
That's not quite the way to do it, Motors and microcontroller (probably via a voltage regulator), should each go directly to the battery.

Also, if is it possible to buy micro controllers that are completely pre programmed, or will i still have two program them in some way??

You'll have to program the microcontroller for your particular application.

[KnightsOnTrains]

You'll have to program the microcontroller for your particular application.

I have virtually no programming skills, I know that microcontrollers come with examples of code and such, but how hard are they to program?? Thanks again, for all the help!

[adanvasco]

You're to going to have to improve your programming skills or otherwise pay (convince) somebody else to do the coding for you. You can always use libraries like WebbotLib or such that have many functions pre-programmed but you'll still need to know how to use and call such features.
If you are serious into embedded design, you should get yourself a good beginner's book.

That's the best advise I can give you so far.

Good luck  

[KnightsOnTrains]

Thanks to everybody for all the help. I think that I almost have this thing figured out. One last question though. I know that this might sound ignorant but couldn't I just use speed controllers instead of microcontrollers?

[rbtying]

You'll need something to control the speed controllers... such as a microcontroller.  Especially if you don't intend to use two separate joysticks, as it means you'll need to convert the input (x, y position) into (leftmotorspeed, rightmotorspeed) somehow.

[NGuggemos]

If you are using tracks or treads I would recommend using two wheels on each side, along with two motors.

[NGuggemos]

Also, if you need help on how to build it... There seems to be more books than websites, so I recommend using a book. Combat robot books work really good.

[Mad MIR]

Hey i was just reading this thread, what kind of languages do i have to learn to use an arduino? or any other microcontroller?

[adanvasco]

Most likely C or Assembly. I would go for C. Assembly is way too much coding. Maybe some basic.
I definitely prefer C.

[Mad MIR]

Thanks