Make a wall avoiding Robot!

Step 5 Programing Walbot

So you've done all the exterior mechanical and electrical work, now its time to teach Walbot to avoid walls. Download the free Arduino program, and install it along with the USB drivers in the Drivers folder. Download the program I wrote for Walbot here and open that in the Arduino program. Next you want to compile the code by clicking the play (sideways triangle) button that says verify to the left when you hover over it. When it has finished compiling, use a USB cable to plug in the Arduino. The Arduino itself can be powered by the USB cables regulated 5Volts. Right next to the silver USB plug on the Arduino, there should be a jumper pin ( a little black piece of plastic and metal that connects two of the three pins sticking up), make sure when powering the board through USB that that pin is set nearest the USB plug ( there should be two labels under the jumper pin the right is USB the left should say EXT, you want it on the USB one for now). So now when you plug the USB cable into the Arduino board the green power LED underneath the PCB shield we made should be on, and the yellow indicator LED on top should light up once or twice. Note: If the green power LED on the Arduino board does not come on, take the USB cable out and check the jumper pin again, and that the USB cable is plugged into your computer!
You should have already compiled the code in the Arduino program, so now click the upload button and it should start uploading onto the Arduino board (you can see the orange TX and RX LED's flashing on the Arduino board if this is happening). If you get an error that it is not responding first push the reset button ton the Arduino board ( the little DIP switch, after you push this you have about 6 seconds to upload the code before it reboots), if it still doesn't work, make sure you installed the USB drivers correctly (they are in the drivers folder in the Arduino folder you downloaded). If you still can't get it to work, consult the Arduino Forum and ask for help, they can guide you through what you need to do. If everything went well your program should have booted up in about 10 seconds, and if the AA batteries are charged and installed, the motors should turn on and if the Sonar detects something within 16 inches the yellow indicator light will turn on and the Right wheel will reverse direction for half a second. You can now unplug the USB cable, switch the jumper to EXT, plug in the Power Jack and put it on the ground.
If you have done everything right so far, you will now have your very own obstacle avoiding robot!

If you have any questions or comments (or if I left something critical out which I probably did) just leave me a message in the comment area.

Also if you have any robot related questions I suggest that you join the Society of Robots Forum which I am a member of, and one of the people there will be more than happy to answer your questions! Happy Roboting!

Comments

[smitty9357]

i love this robot and i really want to finish it but whenever i try to verify the Walbot_QT_Program it says, " error: expected primary-expression before 'else' can you please help i need to finish this by Tuesday.

[Brandon121233]

Did u accidentally delete a bracket after one of the else statements? It should highlight the area where the error is if you click on the error message. If you still can't find the problem copy and email EXACTLY the code that is giving you the error and I'll take a look at it. As far as I know of the code that I have posted compiles without errors... my email is [e-mail]

[akatsuki666]

and yes the errors with else but i deleted nothing pls help

[akatsuki666]

a bunch of errors.... help

[smitty9357]

ok thanks that works now but what exactly did ypu mean when you were talking about step six on on page "step four" could you explain it in a little more detail.

[Brandon121233]

Its where you solder the 9Volt connector tab wires to the 2.1 x 5.5 x 9mm Right angle DC Power Plug, that needs to be soldered together so that the positive (red wire on the 9volt power tab) is connected to the CENTER (inside metal part) of the DC power plug. If you are still confused I'll update that section with some pictures. By the way, would you mind sending some pictures of your Walbot (if you have a camera) to my email: [e-mail]. I would love to see what someone else's creation looks like, and if its ok with you I'll add some of the pictures to a new section of like people who have built Walbots. Thanks a bunch if you can...