How to Build a Robot at Home

      Do you want to learn how to build your own robot? This is easy and quite cheap to do! The tutorial below will instruct you on how to build a BeetleBot, which moves very similarly to a Roomba. This is a great introductory robotics project for almost any age or experience level.

Things You'll Need

• 2 small motors (these can be found in some toys and in electric toothbrushes)
• 2 SPDT or 3-way switches
• 1 AA battery holder (with space for 2 batteries)
• 1 piece of metal (roughly 1”x3”, aluminum works well)
• 2 spade connectors
• Heat-shrink tubing
• 1 small bead
• A handful of paper clips
• Two "servo" motors
• Steps
• 
  1
  Fit the heat-shrink tubing to the wheel on the original motor. Cut a piece of the tubing just a little longer than each wheel, fit it onto the wheel and shrink it using a lighter or the soldering iron. You may wish to put a few layers in increasing diameters to really build up the “tires”.
• 
  2
  Glue the switches to the backside of the battery holder. Glue the switches to the back end of the battery holder on the flat side. This should be the end which the wires come out of. Place them at an angle in the corners, such that the contacts farthest from where the lever-looking metal bar goes into the device are touching at the center line of the device.
  • The levers, which are the switches themselves, should be at the outside, near the wires.
• 
  3
  Place the metal strip. Place the 1”x3” strip of aluminum just behind the switches, center it, and then bend the excess down at a 45° angle. Glue it in place with hot glue. Let it set completely before moving on.
• 
  4
  Attach the motors to the metal wings. Using hot glue, attach the motors to the bent down sections of metal such that the “tires” are touching the ground. You will want to pay attention to the charge markings on the motors, as the tires will need to go in opposite directions. Make sure that one motor is placed “upside down,” as compared to the other.
• 
  5
  Form the back wheel. You will need a back wheel so that the robot doesn’t drag. Take a large paperclip and form it into the outline of a TARDIS or a house, with a medium-sized round bead at the peak. Place it at the opposite end from the protruding wires and hot glue the ends of the clip to the sides of the battery holder.
• 
  6
  Solder the robot. You will need to use a soldering iron and solder to connect all of the electrical wires between the components of the robot. This must be done carefully in order to ensure that it works. There are several connections you will have to make:
  • First, solder the connection of the two switches.
  • Next, solder a small wire between the two center connections on the switches.
  • Solder two wires, one from the negative motor and one from the positive motor, to the final connection on the switch.
  • Solder a longer wire between the remaining connections on the motors (connecting the motors to each other).
  • Solder a longer wire between one of the back connections between the motor and the back section of the battery holder where the positive and negative charges meet.
  • Take the positive wire from the battery holder and solder it to the center, touching connections on the switches.
  • The negative wire from the battery holder will go to the center connection on one of the switches.
• 
  7
  Create the feelers for the robot. Cut the rubber/plastic ends off of the spade connectors, open up two paper clips (until they form a shape like a bug’s feelers), and attach the spade connectors to the feelers with more heat-shrink tubing.
• 
  8
  Attach the feelers to the switches and the servo motor. Attach the feelers to the switches using the spade connectors and glue (if you need it, they should clip or slip on just fine) then connect the servo motor directly to the center back of the battery holder.
• 
  9
  Turn it on by putting in batteries. (If you want to you can program a remote from a remote controlled car and turn it on that way). The robot should move in much the same way a roomba does. It just won’t clean your floor. Unless your that good. Congratulations! You've made your robot. Make sure to teach your little guy the Three Laws of Robotics.

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