Uno the Arduino Robot

Age: 13

Meet Uno the Arduino powered robot.  Some functions include a blinking nose, moving antennas, rotating head, IR distance sensor, twin motor gear box and rotation counters.  Uno is made with relatively easy to obtain parts.  This project provides a good introduction to Arduino.         

Step 1: Materials

Material and tools
• Foam board
• Fimo
• 4 Rare Earth magnets
• 4 small metal plates (from transformer)
• Thrust bearing
• LEDs
• IR distance sensor
• Twin motor gear box with wheels
•JST
• 2 9VDC pin solenoid
• Arduino
• A-B USB cable
•power source
•switch  
• Servo
•3 TIP 120 or121
•male header pins
• School glue
• Weld bond
• Hot Glue gun
• Xato knife/carpet cutter  
• Pen
• Wire strippers/cutters
•Pliers
•Clear tape 
• copper clad 
• ferric chloride
• 2 lever switch
• 2 1 µF capacitor
•  30 gauge wire
• 5 1k ohm resistors
• 1 470 ohm resistor
• 2.1mm barrel Jack

Step 2: Cutting

Download the PDF file and print it. rough cut the templates then tape them to the foam board. Next use a new Xato knife blade and a straight edge to cut it out. Cut out 4 pattern A, 1-B, 3-C, 2-D, 1-E, 1-F, 2-G.

Step 3: The Base

Cut out the circle in template B then assemble the gear box to 1: 60.   Draw a  line through the center of the template. Match the center of the gear box with this line. mark the template on each side of the mounting plate, do the same for the wheels, then cut(see photo).     Hot glue the gear box in place then glue the thrust bearing in place(see photo). 

Step 4: The Body

Find the center of template F then drill a 3/16'' hole. Put servo knob in the hole and trace the servo then cut out this piece. Reinsert the servo and hot glue it in place.  To form body glue 3 A's and 1 F together with white school glue (see photo)then paint. Find the center of piece D and drill a  5/32'' hole. Then line up the hole in the servo horn with the hole in the foam board and hot glue. Drill a 1/4'' hole through piece D and F(see picture for position).   

Step 5: The Arms

Paint template G, then insert a L.E.D in to the end and remove. To make a hole push a pen ink cartridge in the arm, stop 1/4'' before the end. Make a hole at the end of the tunnel with a Xacto knife.  Run 2 wires through the arm then wire the L.E.D. and push it in the hole. Make two arms.  

Step 6: Removable Door

Push a magnet into the top and bottom of the indented edge and glue in place, do the same for the door. Apply metal on the other edges and paint the door. 

Step 7: The Head

Find where you want the nose to go on template E and cut a hole to fit the LED, do the same for the "eyes" and glue in place. Before you bake the antennas poke a hole in the bottom with the solenoid.  Drill a 3/16 hole in center of piece F. Glue the C's to make a block C, then glue piece E to close the C, and glue F on top. Bracket the solenoid  with foam board and hot glue and glue antennas on the solenoid.      

Step 8: The PCB

See this instructable.

Step 9: Switches

Drill a hole in the wheels to mach the BB and glue it in place.  Cover the little PCBs in hot glue, and line them up so that the BB depresses the lever.  There are many options for the main switch the simplest is the toggle switch, but I used a reed switch and SCR.  

Step 10: Power

There are a couple different options for power, you can use a 9 volt battery but it won't last long. I used a battery "back back", but you could also use a rechargeable pack as long as it is between 7 and 9 volts.

Step 11: Putting It to Together

First feed the wires from the head through the holes then glue the head on. Next hot glue the base on so the motors face the side without the removable door. Then cut almost all the way through the door in the shape of the big PCB and hollow it out(see picture) and hot glue it in place.    Find where you want the arms to go and lightly trace them, after that drill holes to mach the wire holes in the arms and glue them in place.   

Step 12: Wiring

Wrap the two grounds of the LED arms together, do the same with the positives and add a 470 ohm resistor. Next, connect the wires from the head to their places on the PCB, do the same with the motors and servo.   Now add a 1k resistor between one lever switch wire and ground then connect them to the PCB. Connect the LEDs to the positive and negative wires and do the jack the same way.  Now you are done, test it with some basic sketches like blink and sevo sweep.    Here  is the setup script:

 #include <Servo.h>

Servo myservo;
int L1 = 7;
int led1 = 13;
int S1 = 4;
int S2 = 5;
int J1 = A0;
int M1 = 10;
int M2 = 11;
int pos = 0;



void setup()
{
  myservo.attach(9);
  pinMode(L1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(led1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(S1, INPUT);
  pinMode(S2, INPUT);
  pinMode(J1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(M1, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(M2, OUTPUT);
}