Andrew Cowan
Senior Member
I am designing a robot. I will build it over the next 2 years as part of my AS/A level electronics. Although it is more complex than is needed, I like the challenge.
The basics will be a 50cm square aluminum chassis, powered by two 750W 36V motors. I will design a speed controller for these and mixer, so they can be run off signals form a radio control reciever (or from servo out from a picaxe). The speed controller will use FETs and DTDP relays to control reverse. The wheels will be 18cm diameter, and have rotary encoders on them so I can tell where they are. My calculations show the robot will travel at 25mph max. It will be 4WD and chain driven. The power supply will be three 12V 7.2Ah batteries in series. There will be a r/c controlled relay to control lights, as well - 20W headlights and LEDs.
Onboard, there will be an ultrasound sensor on a servo (so it can point in any direction). There will also be black line on white ground following facilities (three IR sensors), as well as temperature sensors (ambient and motor temperature). For outputs, there will be a piezo, and also a 433 module transmitter, transmitting all data (speed, temperature, distance etc)
This will then be recieved by a 433 module control box which will have a 4 line 20 character backlit LCD in it, which will display the data. If connected via a wire, the control box will also be able to be used for programming the speed controller (max speed set, braking on/off, braking in pulses yes/no, reverse on/off, control via r/c or via light sensors or randomly drive (but not hitting stuff due to ultrasound) etc).
The control box will also have a piezo in it.
The reson I can use this for both AS and A level is it is expandable - eg AS level could be the speed controllers and mixer and my A level project could be the added sensors and radio link.
This is all I have thought of so far - if anyone has any comments, suggestions or questions, I would be interested to here them!
The basics will be a 50cm square aluminum chassis, powered by two 750W 36V motors. I will design a speed controller for these and mixer, so they can be run off signals form a radio control reciever (or from servo out from a picaxe). The speed controller will use FETs and DTDP relays to control reverse. The wheels will be 18cm diameter, and have rotary encoders on them so I can tell where they are. My calculations show the robot will travel at 25mph max. It will be 4WD and chain driven. The power supply will be three 12V 7.2Ah batteries in series. There will be a r/c controlled relay to control lights, as well - 20W headlights and LEDs.
Onboard, there will be an ultrasound sensor on a servo (so it can point in any direction). There will also be black line on white ground following facilities (three IR sensors), as well as temperature sensors (ambient and motor temperature). For outputs, there will be a piezo, and also a 433 module transmitter, transmitting all data (speed, temperature, distance etc)
This will then be recieved by a 433 module control box which will have a 4 line 20 character backlit LCD in it, which will display the data. If connected via a wire, the control box will also be able to be used for programming the speed controller (max speed set, braking on/off, braking in pulses yes/no, reverse on/off, control via r/c or via light sensors or randomly drive (but not hitting stuff due to ultrasound) etc).
The control box will also have a piezo in it.
The reson I can use this for both AS and A level is it is expandable - eg AS level could be the speed controllers and mixer and my A level project could be the added sensors and radio link.
This is all I have thought of so far - if anyone has any comments, suggestions or questions, I would be interested to here them!
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