The first robot I made was a 6-legged walker kit from Lynxmotion. This is the first robot I made without instructions. Basically, he avoided obstacles using IR. There was also piano wire going around him, supported by plastic, which acted a like bumper switch when it touched the frame.
The base was a brand new remote controlled tank from Radio Shack called "Bedlam," which had a cool, retractable, sideways drive motor, making it go side to side. I built 3 H-bridge circuits from Gordon Mccomb's Robot Bonanza ,book that controlled all 3 motors (left, right and sideways), but I never got the sideways to work because I powered the motors from a 7805 +5V regulator, which only puts out 1 amp. (Didn't know how much the H bridge could handle or the 1 amp limitation).
He used a Basic Stamp2 SX and basically avoided walls, like the 6-legged walker.
Orginally, I was planning on using Homer for all kinds of experiments, but never did!
Avoid obstacles
- Control method: autonomous (only)
- CPU: Basic Stamp 2SX
- Power source: 9.6 volt RC battery
- Programming language: pbasic
- Sensors / input devices: bumper switch, infrared proximity sensor
- Target environment: Indoor or outdoor
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/homer-home-robot