Switchboard car

This is a toy I made for my kids (twin girls age 5) and they had great fun changing the running patterns.
It is programmed by changing the sequence of yellow, green, blue and red wires going into the ‘reader’ which is a normal 8 pin header. The PICAXE reads the header in sequence and turns the motors on/off accordingly.
Yellow = move forward 1 unit
Green = move right 1 unit
Blue = move back 1 unit
Red = move left 1 unit
The length of the unit is set by the potentiometer in the back.
There is an on/off switch and a “Run” pushbutton.
Equipment used it is not much, one PICAXE microcontroller and one L239D H-bridge motor driver.

Top view

Dead bug

Inside

Drives according to switchboard settings

  • Control method: non-autonomous
  • CPU: PIXAXE-28x1
  • Power source: 3 AA-cells
  • Programming language: Picaxe basic
  • Target environment: indoor

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/robots/show/switchboard-car

This is really cool! I nice
This is really cool! I nice different project. Did you have hard time with the project or did all go accordingly?

Smart!
Smart!

I had no problems with the
I had no problems with the build, but I lost the basic code in a computer crash L<o:p></o:p>

I love these wireless protoboards

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ME-PB-103SW-wireless-circuit-proto-prototype-PCB-board_W0QQitemZ310175022193QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4837df3c71

comment that is brand spankin’
Brilliant!!! :slight_smile:

Wow, those boards look

Wow, those boards look really handy! I may order a few.

Cool robot. I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old, and they love playing with the bots I build.

Very simple and fun - I like
Very simple and fun - I like the interface and how easy it is for anyone just to ‘program’ it. Light bill of materials, too.

pointing thumb to sky
Hey Oddbot, I feel Dagu has found a new designer! And he knows a thing or two about product photography too!

Very cool…What’d you use

Very cool…

What’d you use on the motors for the grips?

Heat-shrink tubing
I just used heat-shrink tubing directly on the motor shaft. Several layers to get the size I wanted.