SpurtBot for Kit

Let's Make Robots Robots
1

Encouraged by a comment to RobotFreak's rendition of a SpurtBot, I am trying to build one too. I hope to make it as cheap as possible, because the goal it to bring materials to make a bunch of them to MakerFaire NYC.

If you want to build a SpurtBot, try these instructions.

LDR SpurtBot

Materials:

  • Bearings: I'm using bearings scrounged from old inline skates that I got for free/cheap. Some required some cleanup, but I found instructions for removing and cleaning them on the Internet. Yea, Google.
  • Bands/tires: Using the necks cut off of latex balloons.
  • Popsicle/craft sticks: I have a big box of these I picked up for about $1 at a garage sale. They're very handy.
  • Motors: Using a couple I got from Hobby Engineering for the prototype. They work OK at 3V, which is key. Motors too fast and not enough torque. Ordered a selection of motors from Jameco to see what works. The Jameco Reliapro PC-130F-12240 seems to be OK.
  • Batteries: Using 2 AA alkaline's in a battery holder scrounged from a solar lawn light. Need to buy a bunch of these.
  • LDR: Will use some I have on hand. I'll have to find ones with good values and buy a bunch.
  • Transistor: I have a bunch of pn2222a TIP120 transistors, which should do the trick (the pn2222a didn't have enough gain).

Testing:

Seems to work OK in a well lit room. It requires some fussing and fine tuning with the position of the LDR. The results are workable, though the bot sometimes turns too sharply and misses parts of the line, or misses the line and drives past it. Still tuning.

This version doesn't follow the line very well. It tends to turn too far and jump off the line.

QRD SpurtBot

This version uses a QRD-1114 reflective sensor instead of the CNY70.

Here's the schematic. Click for a bigger copy.

 

Here's my notes on the build layout, taken from my Maker's Notebook. Click for a bigger copy.

Materials:

  • Bearings: ABEC-5 bearings from inline skates
  • Bands/tires: Using heavier duty 'punching balloon' for the tires.
  • Popsicle/craft sticks
  • 2 inches of 5/16 inch wooden dowel
  • Motors: 3VDC, Jency Motor ST130-12240-38, Jenco part # 154915
  • Batteries: 2xAA alkalines
  • QRD-1114 reflective sensor
  • Transistor: bc337
  • Resistors: 33 50 to 85 ohms for IR emitter; 10k ohm for pull-down on pin 2 of the QRD-1114, 1.2k ohm on the base of the transistor.
  • Battery holder: for 2xAA batteries

 

Build:

Here's a closeup of the right motor shaft. The shaft thickness is increased with three layers of heat shrink shrink. I rolled back the purple tire band so you can see the shaft better.

 

Here's a closeup of the electronic components on top of the SpurtBot. You can barely see that there are two resistors mounted cross-wise between the leads of the QRD-1114 at the head. R1 (refer to the schematic) is the 33 ohm current limiting resistor, which is on the bottom. R3 is on top mounted between 2 and 4 of the QRD-1114.

R2 is running from pin 3 of the QRD-1114 to the base of the bc337 transistor.

I curled the two front leads of the QRD-1114 around to look like antennae.

 

Testing:

Seems to work OK. It reacts a bit slowly, so I needed to use 3 widths of 3/4 black electrical tape for the track.

Batteries seem to run down pretty quickly, but it keeps going (just a bit slower) for quite a while. With fresh batteries (3.2V), it is too fast and often misses the track. It actually works better as the batteries get a little low, since it is moving slower. However, once the batteries get below about 2.8V, it begins to misbehave.

I'm tried shifting the battery holder a little more forward, to change the center of gravity. The bot tended to "pop a wheelie" sometimes, was affecting its line following capabilities. Shifting the weight forward worked great!

I tested to see how long it lasts with brand new batteries. Starting with 3.2V reading on the batteries, the robot ran very well for 20 minutes, and acceptably well for another 5-10 minutes. The batteries read about 2.9V by the time it started misbehaving.

I think a 20-30 minute duration for continuous use is acceptable. I think we have a winner.

Operation is much more reliable than with the LDR version. The video shows this version of the SpurtBot.

 Variations:

Jameco only had 16 of the motors I wanted; the rest were on back order until October. That was going to be too later for MakerFaire and another event I need to prep for. So I tested the motors on the LDR version of the SpurtBot described at the top of this article. I left the TIP120 in place, but swapped out the LDR for another QRD-1114. I also eliminated the 10k pull-down resistor and the 1.2k base resistor. The circuit worked fine!

Unfortunately, those motors, while still cheap, were twice the cost of the ones I wanted. Since I'm buying in quantities, it makes a big difference. I had a few other motors from Jameco, so I tried a likely candidate, the Mabuchi Motor FK-260SA-10400. It's much slower at 3V than the original, but it works great, and it was even cheaper than the motor I started with. So I put in my order and will hopefully receive them in time.

 

SpurtBot for MakerFaire 

NOTE: Detailed build instructions can be found here.

Here's the design I'm going with for MakerFaire.

Materials:

  • (2) Bearings: Bearings from inline skates (Search YouTube for vids on how to remove and clean them.)
  • (1) Balloon for Bands/tires: Using heavier duty 'punching balloon' for the tires.
  • (1) Popsicle/craft stick: I like these nice color ones, but use whatever you like.
  • 2 inches of 5/16 inch wooden dowel: Take the bearings with you and test for fit. The dowel should fit snugly.
  • (2) Motors: 3VDC, Jency Motor ST130-12240-38, Jenco part # 154915 or Mabuchi FK-260SA-10400, Jenco part # 2081908
  • (2) Batteries: AA alkalines
  • (1) QRD-1114 reflective sensor
  • (1) Transistor: bc337
  • (1) Resistor: 50 to 85 ohms for IR emitter
  • (1) Battery holder: for 2xAA batteries 

Tools:

  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks
  • Soldering iron and solder
  • Sharp sissors for cutting balloon and shrink wrap
  • Heat shrink in several small diameters (1/16 inch, 3/32 inch and 1/8 inch should be good.)
  • Lighter or other heat source for the shrink wrap.
  • Wire strippers and cutters.

Notes on Motor Selection

I tried several different motors before finding good ones for this project. In case the motors I mention above are not available to you, here is what to look for.

  1. You need something that can operate at 3V. Many motors work fine over a range, be sure yours will work at 3V.
  2. It will be helpful to choose a motor with flat sides for mounting to the craft stick.
  3. Look for relatively low current demands, so your batteries will last a while.
  4. Important: Speed must not be too fast. Look for something in the range of 2500-8000 RPM when free running.
  5. Important: Get as much torque as you can for the speed. Something with at least 7 g-cm of torque should be fine.

 

Walks the line

  • Actuators / output devices: 2 small DC hobby motors (3V)
  • Control method: brainless line follower
  • Power source: 2xAA alkaline
  • Sensors / input devices: one LDR
  • Target environment: indoor
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/spurtbot-for-kit
2

The most expensive component

The most expensive component on here will be the motors, battery holder or the LDR. Looks awesome and is a great makerfaire project!

3

Hmm. Circuit is not working

Hmm. Circuit is not working well. Could be my choice of LDR. I’ll experiment with some others.

4

A minimalistic robot :slight_smile: Hope

A minimalistic robot :slight_smile: Hope you solve your problems with circuit and post a video soon! :slight_smile: Good luck!

5

Thanks. I think I need

Thanks. I think I need either an LDR with lower resistance when “on” or a transistor with higher hfe. Probably the later.

6

Great. SpurtBots will invade

Great. SpurtBots will invade NYC soon. Do you want to build a line follower with LDRs, or a cockroach/moth robot? Found this LDR line follower using 2N3904 transistors, but should work with pn2222a transistors, too

7

Whatever I do, it has to be

Whatever I do, it has to be cheap and simple. I’ve scavenged 48 bearings so far (enough for 24 kits).

The 2n3904 has about the same hfe as the pn2222a, but might work better at the low voltages I’m using. I think I have some around. I try it out. won’t handle the current. I’ll have to try to find a lower resistance LDR or move up to a bigger transistor.

8

Replaced the pn2222a

Replaced the pn2222a transistor with a TIP120, which has much higher hfe (gain). Working better.

Now the right wheel starts to turn in bright light, and much more easily. It is still not turning as fast as the left wheel. I think I need to make the right motor shaft even thicker (per the instructions) than I did.

Also, I’m not seeing any ability for the circuit to line follow. The right wheel only turns on when I hold the LDR right up to a light. I get no reaction on the ground against white paper or a dark background.

I’ll keep trying.

9

Cheaper Batteries?

If you find AAA batteries a little bit cheaper than AA ones they work as well (but do not last as long).

10

I think you will need a

I think you will need a seperate light source (LED) on your bot. The ambient light will differ too much from place to place. Or build a light follower instead of a line follower.

11

That depends from what you

That depends from what you want to achieve. If you are eager to build a minimalistic, cheapest version (i.e. LDR version), then you have some additional tuning work to find a working combination of ambient brightness, LDR distance from the ground etc. Changed environment requires new tuning, and the result can look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqq892SMUrA

If you want to avoid repeated tuning efford, then it is better to replace the LDR by a combination of a CNY70 (and an additional resistor for the built-in LED) slipping on the ground. This mobile runs far more stable but you have the additional cost for the CNY70.

So it’s a tradeoff between the LDR (more tuning efford needed) and the CNY70 (more bucks needed) version. From an industrial point of view you would maybe choose the CNY70 to get a more reliable solution. From a teacher’s point of view you could find it pretty instructive for the kids to observe all the mutual ambient influences to tune all the parameters until the system behaves the way you want.

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OK. The circuit seems to

OK. The circuit seems to work OK now with the tip120. With the tension bands removed, I get the right responses from each motor on a black or white background.

I repositioned the motors closer to the bearing wheels, and it works a bit better, but still not well enough. The right wheel just does not want to turn. I can hear the left motor slow down when the sensor sees light, as it shifts some voltage to the right motor. However, the right motor doesn’t seem to have enough torque to start moving. If I give it a nudge, it starts up OK. It may still be turning slower than the left, even with a built-up axle.

I think my right motor may be faulty, or perhaps these motors are just not a good choice for this robot.

So… first I will try swapping the left and right motor and seeing if the problems follow the motor. I think I will also order some new motors and a couple of the CNY70 sensors so I can test out an alternative build.

MakerFaire is next month… time is slipping by!

13

Head-Desk!

Wait a minute! It just occurred to me that if the motor doesn’t have enough torque to turn, it needs more voltage. Sure enough the two AA batteries I was using were getting low. I replaced them with new and it is working OK now.

I need to create a quick track to test this out now.

14

Seems that the motors indeed

Seems that the motors indeed start to turn with 3 Volts but maybe for their favourite working point they need clearly more voltage. So it may be a good Idea to look for motors which can work with less voltage. Sometimes such motors are calld “solar motor”. They start to turn with 1 Volt or even less. (You even could use different motors for both sides.)

To try build with CNY70 is also a good idea.

15

I tried the motors at 4.5V,

I tried the motors at 4.5V, and I could smell immediately that they didn’t like it. I recall now that these motors were pulled from a Tamiya dual gearbox. The specs are (I think):

General specifications

Typical operating voltage: 3 V
Gear ratio options: 12.7:1, 38:1, 115:1, and 344:1
Free-run motor shaft speed @ 3V: 12300 rpm
Free-run current @ 3V: 150 mA
Stall current @ 3V: 2100 mA
Motor shaft stall torque @ 3V: 0.5 oz·in

They are too fast and not enough torque.

I’m looking at the PC-130F-10370 from Jameco. I think I can build either the LDR or the CNY70 with these at 9V.

Specification Value
Current @ Max. Efficiency (A) 0.15
Efficiency 43.9
Nominal Voltage (VDC) 9
Shaft Diameter (inch/mm) 0.078/1.98
Shaft Length (inch/mm) 0.377/9.58
Motor Diameter (inch/mm) 0.803 x 0.984/20.4 x 25.0
Specification Value
Speed @ Max. Efficiency (RPM) 6410
Terminal Type 0.08/Solder
Voltage Range (VDC) 6-12
Torque @ Max. Efficiency (g-cm/mN-m) 8.5/0.83
16

Ignoblegnome I can imagine

Ignoblegnome I can imagine how you feel. I myself have tried a dozen motortypes or even more and found the most of them improper for this intended purpose.

17

Ha ha. Good to know. I’ll

Ha ha. Good to know. I’ll order a few and try them out.

Thanks for your continued support. Really glad to have  you on LMR!

18

Does that just spin?

Does that just spin?

19

More or less, at the moment.

More or less, at the moment. As soon as I get some motors with more torque in, I should be able to get the line following working.

20

Trying out some new motors

Trying out some new motors from Jameco. So far the PC-130F-12240 looks promising. It runs on 3-9V DC with a free running RPM of 6800. I’m running it at 3V.

It seems to work well with the circuit and has enough torque to turn the wheels under load. Now I’m building up the right motor axle with layers of shrink tube to increase the speed of that wheel. It has to turn faster than the left when the LDR is seeing light.

Three layers of shrink tube are not quite enough. About to try four…