Simple RC Mecanum Wheels Robot Wif Arduino

"The Mecanum wheel is a design for a wheel which can move a vehicle in any direction."

This robot/car is just a hand large and is quite simple to build (except the wheels) :)

This RC mecanum wheels robot consist of two parts: the robot/car body and the joystick controller.

Step 1: Prepare the Materials

As there are two parts in this project, the following is the materials required for each part.

Robot/ Car Body

• Arduino Nano x1

• nRF24L01 module x1

• L293D motor driver x2

• Breadboard x1

• N20 motors wif mount (6V 300rpm) x4

• 7.4V 900mah Li-Po Battery x1

• Mecanum wheels x4

Joystick Controller

• Arduino Pro-Mini x1

• USB to TTL dongle x1 (for programming Arduino Pro-Mini)

• nRF24L01 module x1

• Joystick module x1 https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9032

• Breadboard x1

• Tactile switch x2

• AA 2 cells battery box x1

• 2 AA batteries

And you need some Dupont wires to connect components

• 10 cm Male to Male Dupont Wire ~x40

• 10 cm Male to Female Dupont Wire ~x20

• 10 cm Female to Female Dupont Wire ~x5

The above components are easy to get except the mecanum wheels.

I found a low-cost 3d printed mecanum wheels on thingiverse and it works quite well:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1358552

For the robot/car chassis, you may use the chassis in the above thingiverse link.

While I drew a breadboard-size 3D-print chassis for my own (stl file attached).

I also have a dimension sheet attached if someone want to build with other materials.

Step 2: Build the Robot/Car Body

1. Print out the car chassis
2. Solder two male Dupont wire to N20 motors horizontally
3. Attach the mecanum wheel and motor mount to N20 motor
4. Repeat Step 1-3 for the other 3 wheels
5. Screw motors to chassis, beware the wheels and motor mount orientation

Step 3: Build the Robot/Car Circuit

1. Cut the D12 and D13 pins from Arduino Nano
2. Place the 2 L293D and Nano on the breadboard
3. Unplug the right side breadboard power lines to the left
4. Attach Dupon wires to nRF24L01 with Female head for SCK and MISO
5. Connect nRF24L01 according to the schematic, SCK and MISO directly connect to top of Nano
6. Connect L293D with male to male Dupon wires according to the schematic
7. Connect the motors to the breadboard
8. Use a 2-pin long header to connect the battery with breadboard
9. Wrap the battery on the breadboard using rubberband

I have also attached the fritzing project for reference.

And the robot/car is done!

Next step is building the joystick controller.

Step 4: Build the Joystick Controller

Building the joystick controller is much simpler than then robot/ car body.

Follow the schematic above to connect the ProMini, nRF24L01 and joystick module together.

Then add the two tactile switch for rotate left/ right function.

Finally add the AA battery holder as power supply and the joystick is done.

I have also attached the fritzing project for reference.

Step 5: Download the Codes and Enjoy!

Download the attached code to robot/ car and joystick respectively.

Remember to set the right target in the Arduino IDE before downloading.

To download code to Arduino ProMini, you may refer to the photo above.

Now everything is ready and you may try out this RC mecanum wheels car!

If you find out the motor is rotating in reverse direction, just reverse the 2 motor pins connected to breadboard.

Have Fun!