Day 2-Building the Robot
Hello again! So for todays’ post, I’ll be detailing the process of assembling the buggy kit and running it for the first time. For a while there we really doubted that they’d ever arrive, but arrive they did.
My first impression was that it was actually smaller than expected, I’m not entirely sure why I expected it to be bigger but there you go. And, as a lover of Lego as a child, here came the part of this assignment I knew I’d be good at: following picture based instructions!!
As it turned out, I did manage to make the mistake of attaching the motors upside down (which is embarrassing given that the instructions have a particular warning not to do so) but after rectifying this issue the rest of the assembly ran smoothly. I have documented the process in pictures for your viewing pleasure below. Please note my beautiful, flowery combined hammer/screwdriver tool, I am a serious engineer.
The circuitry came in various modules and assembles into the board shown below which is powered through a rechargeable battery pack on the second shelf of the robot. This board is also attaches down to the motors on the wheels by two ribbon cables. There’s not a whole lot else to say about the electronics off the bat, more on that as we get into the coding and attempt to make it navigate the maze.
At this point, the robot was starting to come alive so I decided it needed a name. I yelled down the stairs to my sister asking what I should call it, to which she responded Jerry. So here he is: Jerry the robot.
On switching Jerry on, he immediately righted himself and started balancing by himself. They grow up so fast.
The rest of my evening was spent using the Bluetooth remote control function to drive Jerry around the house purely for my own entertainment. Lockdown has well and truly driven me crazy.
Thanks for reading and be sure to check back tomorrow for the new and improved Solidworks model and wheel attachment design so poor Jerry no longer has to work so hard to stay upright.
