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Step 4Prepare The Rollerball
Ok, so now that you've fully disassembled the M-O toy, it's time to begin working on the electronics! In the movie WALL-E, M-O travels along the ground using a small rollerball system, which can propel him at high speeds as he cleans. Creating this wasn't that easy and it actually took me several months of testing and experimentation before I finally settled on an idea. The way my motor system works is sort of like a bicycle & chain combination. A dense rubber ball is situated within a kind of plastic housing container. Two motors are place on opposing sides of the ball's plastic housing, and the ball is fixated on an axel paperclip. Two rubber bands are connected between the axel and the motors, and thusly, when the motors spin, they turn the ball.
First, straighten a paperclip. This will be used as the axel for your rollerball.
Then, using the metal vice and your power drill drill a hole as straight as possible through the mouseball. Yeah, I know it sounds difficult (and it really is) but so far I haven't been able to think of any better way to keep the ball within the housing and still have enough space for the motors to make it spin. Be very careful to keep the ball stabilized as best as possible, otherwise you may break your drill bits. Also, don't make the hole too large, otherwise you won't be able to balance the paper clip axel.
Once that's done, you can begin working on the housing. Using your dremel bit, drill small holes on each sides of the plastic quarter machine capsule, barely underneath the top's curve (this is where you'll place the motors). The quarter machine capsule will fit around your mouse ball nicely, so make sure you have enough space between the motors and the ball, so that it can spin easily.
After that, cut an appropriate length from you plastic tubing (around 1 1/2inches), so that, when the plastic tubing is placed on top of the plastic capsule, will allow the mouse ball to barely peek out from the bottom.
Once you're done, you can glue everything together (ie, mouseball in housing, supported by paperclip axel, two mini rc motors above, and then wire through the plastic tubing).
First, straighten a paperclip. This will be used as the axel for your rollerball.
Then, using the metal vice and your power drill drill a hole as straight as possible through the mouseball. Yeah, I know it sounds difficult (and it really is) but so far I haven't been able to think of any better way to keep the ball within the housing and still have enough space for the motors to make it spin. Be very careful to keep the ball stabilized as best as possible, otherwise you may break your drill bits. Also, don't make the hole too large, otherwise you won't be able to balance the paper clip axel.
Once that's done, you can begin working on the housing. Using your dremel bit, drill small holes on each sides of the plastic quarter machine capsule, barely underneath the top's curve (this is where you'll place the motors). The quarter machine capsule will fit around your mouse ball nicely, so make sure you have enough space between the motors and the ball, so that it can spin easily.
After that, cut an appropriate length from you plastic tubing (around 1 1/2inches), so that, when the plastic tubing is placed on top of the plastic capsule, will allow the mouse ball to barely peek out from the bottom.
Once you're done, you can glue everything together (ie, mouseball in housing, supported by paperclip axel, two mini rc motors above, and then wire through the plastic tubing).
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Aug 3, 2010. 5:31 AMrawbits
says:
Nooooooo!!! Don't do it! You have to make a self balancer with 2 motors using a PIC - or something - programmed to handle actions like "stay" - balance - "go" - forward and some analog like turning algorithm what can manage the differenc between the motors speed... It's a lot of work but it's THE way. (You will need some stepper motors for this.)
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