Cricket. an Arduino Walking Robot

Transcription

1 Cricket an Arduino Walking Robot 1

2 Cricket Robot Features Arduino Uno compatible. Can use ATMega328P Dip or 30 pin Nano Laser Cut ABS Chassis (one sheet of 12 x 9 x 1/8 ABS) Uses off the shelf hobby servos, 3 for walking, one for sonar Easy to assemble IR remote control (Sony Codes) Amplified Sound with 10 predefined sounds including Cricket sound SR-04 Ultrasonic Sensor for obstacle avoidance w/ Servo rotate Right & Left Feeler switches Battery powered by 4 AA batteries Programmable by using either USB-Serial Adapter or Arduino Nano All Digital and Analog I/O include 3 pin signal/power/gnd for easy additions or upgrades Option for separate Servo power. Onboard power switch 2

3 Cricket Value Walking robots have a wow factor you don t get from rolling robots. Many Arduino based walking robots are based on complicated designs that have 18 or more DOF. Cricket s walking routines are easy to understand and modify. A walking robot based on Arduino compliments the many rolling robots already available. Something different. Cricket is designed to be inexpensive to produce. The complete chassis except battery holder and motors comes from a single 12 x 9 sheet of 1/8 ABS. All hardware is commonly available screws. No expensive model airplane type hardware. Cricket includes an Arduino Curriculum that starts with blinking an LED and reading a switch then progresses through moving motors, reading the ultrasonic sensor and making sounds. The curriculum builds up to coordinating the motors for walking. Although Cricket uses a custom Arduino board, any Arduino board with the same sensors and motors will work with the code. 3

4 Cricket Front View 4

5 Cricket Top View 5

6 Cricket Bottom View 6

7 Cricket Arduino View 7

8 Cricket Arduino Optional Nano Socket Pads SR-04 Ultrasonic Connector Analog Conn. w/ PWR & GND Speaker Driver PWR LED & D13 LED Eye LEDs Bump Switches Power Main + Optional Servo ICSP PWR Switch ATMega 328P Serial Programming Port Digital Conn. w/ PWR & GND IR Remote Sensor PWR Select for Servos (2 places) 8

9 Cricket Software 100% Arduino compatible. Uses Uno board type. IR Remote, Servos, Sound, and Sonar libraries operate without timer conflicts. Low level code is hidden in separate libraries so beginning users only see basic code. Sonar, Servos, IR Remote, and sound have simple to understand APIs. Standard USB-Serial port header for board programming or the user can switch to Arduino Nano for on board USB programming. Nano Socket PCB footprint is provided. Cricket comes preprogrammed for the user that wants to just build it and play with it. Programming is not required. 9

10 Cricket Hardware All of Cricket s chassis parts are laser cut from a single sheet of 1/8 ABS. Once assembled it is super strong and not prone to breaking like acrylic based robots. Servos are standard size and easily drop into the chassis. Inexpensive to replace (Hitec 311, Hitec 55) The Arduino Compatible controller clips into place on the chassis. No expensive standoffs. All sensors and other features are either on the PCB or connect using standard servo style connectors. Hardware is standard 4-40 and 6-32 machine screws. No specialized hardware needed. Cricket uses 4 AA batteries but can be upgraded to rechargeable battery packs. The controller has an easy to use terminal block for power entry. The PCB has a 1A power switch for both the Arduino power and the servos. Very Low Drop out regulator so Cricket can run on 6V. 10

11 Conclusion Cricket uses an Arduino, the most popular and easy to program microcontroller Cricket complements rolling robot offerings by adding a walking wow factor. Cricket is inexpensive to produce and easy to assemble Why build a 18+ DOF freedom monster that eats batteries and is very difficult to program when Cricket is more fun to build and easy to program? Want to see Cricket in Action? Check out the video here. 11