Single motor steerable ir controlled robot toy

Rick100

Senior Member

It's been a while since I've done a Picaxe project. This one is small robot toy driven by a single N20 gear motor. It is controlled by a universal remote. When the motor is run in the forward direction it drives a gear train that turns the selected wheels. When the motor is driven in the reverse direction it drives a cam assembly that selects which wheels are driven. The program also supports PWM for speed control when the bot is driving. The remotes up , left , right and OK button choose direction and stop functions. The 0 through 9 keys select the speed. The electronics are a Picaxe 08M2 ,L9110s motor driver, ir receiver, lipo battery , and micro roller switch. The original design used an Attiny85 but it looked like a good project for a Picaxe 08M2 so I made a version for each. The Picaxe version of the code was just a translation of the Attiny program.

I designed the boards in EasyEda and ordered them from JCLPCB. The Github wiki page has links to the code and gerbers. You can also open the project up in EasyEda and generate the gerbers from EasyEda , or you can modify the schematic and board for your own design.

I've include 3 files:
IR_motor_3_func.bas is the program for the robot

IR_motor_for_rev.bas is for testing the board and drives the motor with adjustable speed

ir_test.bas receives the ir commands and sends them to the terminal in case your having trouble getting the ir remote set up

links:

Github Wiki for Picaxe version:


EasyEda link for Picaxe version:


PrusaPrinters link for STL files:



Thingiverse link for 3D print files:
 

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erco

Senior Member
SERIOUSLY GREAT JOB! This is fantastic in concept and execution. We need you in the toy biz, Rick, you are a Renaissance Man! I'm really impressed. Easily one of the best robots ever posted here! Right up there with Keith's Tai Chi robot. WOW!

Also a great video, well-explained and engaging.
 
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erco

Senior Member
You are likely aware that Furby (circa 1998) only had one motor which was mechanically multiplexed to achieve many different functions using gears, clutches and cams, just as you have done here. It's impressive that you did this by yourself (just for fun?) and you are equally skilled in mechanics and electronics. Add some bump switches and sounds and you might just be the next toy millionaire!

 

Rick100

Senior Member
You are likely aware that Furby (circa 1998) only had one motor which was mechanically multiplexed to achieve many different functions using gears, clutches and cams, just as you have done here. It's impressive that you did this by yourself (just for fun?) and you are equally skilled in mechanics and electronics. Add some bump switches and sounds and you might just be the next toy millionaire!

Thank you for all the kind words Erco. I'm blushing.

I have not seen this Furby teardown video before but I bought one many years ago just so I could take it apart. I've been interested and inspired for decades by this sort of design. The Tomy toys like the Armatron , thier toy pinball machines , and the little coin bank sold by Radio Shack are some of my favorites. They all are driven by a single motor as you probably know.

If your interested in single motor designs, I have several designs that I haven't finished or released the files for. You can see them in these youtube playlists:

Single motor designs

Walking toys

If I'm going to be "the next toy millionaire!" , I need to get the pet rock 3D print started .
Thank you again for your kind words.
Rick
 
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