The Ebot project plan
The project is scheduled to take 4 to 6 months. It will follow the outline below numbered in months (more or less).
1. The build process and schedule.
Discuss platform types advantages & disadvantages.
Discuss materials, where to get them & tools to build the platform
Discuss rationale for servo type selection.
Homework: Build a platform and order servos
2. Hacking the servos
Servo mounting brackets
Wheels
Attaching the wheels to the servo hubs.
Castor layout & how to make castors.
Homework: Do the hack on your servos
Buy wheels and attach them to servo hubs
Build servo mounting brackets
Make castor(s).
Discussion of tradeoffs of commonly used processors
Power supplies
Homework: Decide on a processor and order it.
Decide on power supply. Get the parts
4. Wiring methods
Soldering, protoboard, connectors, etc.
Homework: Put it all together and wire it up
Power it up, or bring it in next month for inspection.
5. Making it run..programming
forward,backward turns
Homework: Program it to go specified distances, to stop and to make 90 and 180 degree pivot turns.
To be followed by adding new features and capabilities to the robot. These may include, encoders, bumpers, other sensors, and MOSTLY doing the programming to control the beast. We should be able to arrange a series of informal "contests" to provide demonstration of the capabilities of your robots.