The Wallbanger
Built in the spring of 2002. Uses modified servos to drive the wheels. Basic Stamp I in a First Step board
handles the logic. 3 switches - one head on and 2 off to the side - detect hits. Robot responds by backing up
and turning left or right, depending on which switch is hit. It turns around completely if the center switch is hit.
The white switches are used to turn the robot off and on, with leds to indicate status. One switch for motor batteries and one switch for logic. The red button is for the reset.
This was an entertaining and informative experiment. The First Step from Lynxmotion is a great way to use the Stamp.
Tracked Vehicle
More on 'TrackVee'
I bought a platform with treads from Edmund Scientific, a 2 motor gearing system from The Robot Store, and cobbled this together. The dual motors allow for independent control of the treads. The yellow part on the right is an infared sensor board. My intent is for this tracked vehicle to be one of those line following robots. The board in front of the treads is for the motor control. It is a dual H Bridge board built using The Quad Half-H Driver Chip SN754410 from TI. It will drive both motors, providing for turns, going forward and backwards, and standing still.
I intend to add a top on which to mount the driver board, the batteries and the computer. Right now, I'm leaning towards an OOPIC I. There will also be two switches to detect collisions and a proximity detector. If there's room (and there should be) I'll also mount an LED display screen for read-outs.