Taphill Tank

Hey all

This is my first robot and its taken me quite a lot of research but google is my friend as i've never done anything like this before.

Inspired by many of the robots built on here i've been wanting to create something that can be controlled via smart phone but also feedback information to the user, saw casca's laser cut chassis and thought yes! thats what i want :)

So i set out designing myself a chassis which would hold a Tamiya Double gearbox and track and wheel set, spent quite a few hours in front of graph paper and illustrator putting together something that would hold my bits but give me enough room to drill any extra holes i might need for adding additional toys. Sent my designs off to Razor Lab who did an excellent job of cutting out the pieces however i'd overlooked a couple of areas but nothing a junior hacksaw wouldn't sort out (i've a couple of rejects which will be going on the bay).

Im going to be running an Arduino 328 just because i bought one and have been messing with it so the next thing i need to buy is the motor driver so i can get this baby moving.

I was initially trying to do this on the cheap but as i get more and more into it i can't help but chuck more cash at it.

But i'm hoping that once i know more about it i'll be able to share my knowledge with everyone else. I'll be making my chassis designs available once i've ironed out a few glitches.

(These are the first pictures i've taken on my iPhone 4, pretty good quality eh!)

My ardumoto arrived the other day so i got the trusty iron out today and soldered up some headers.

Wired up the motors to do a test only to realise that 5v isn't going to power them and neither is a 9v clip on so 6AA's down the VIN pin it is until i can afford some liPoly batteries.