The tank is the next generation of what I did with Barbie. He has infrared and ultrasonic sensors and the ultrasound pivots radar dish style. I plan to put an arm and grasping hand on the back in the future.
Front quarter view of the Tank
It too was a kit, but a kit from the Robot Shop. It showed up with all of the expected parts, but there wasn’t a single screw, nut or washer in the box and neither were any of the amenities you assume come with a kit, like wire and switches and extra sensor mounts. Maybe I was spoiled by the completeness of the OWI, Pololu, Solarbotics, and DFRobot kits I bought that did come with those things. This robot kit was also missing instructions and I could find none on the web. Lack of customer consideration is becoming a bit of a pattern with them. I bought a Maxbotics ultrasonic transducer and found no support fir it at all. The maker company said they didn’t support the transducer, but if I would get one of their patented rangefinders, they would support that. Well, I didn’t want a range finder, I wanted a transducer. But I also needed support to make it do as I intended. I managed to damage one experimenting with it, and never did get the second one to work either. Kiss $60 goodbye. The company offered me a free range finder, but I declined. He sent a veiled threat that mentioned “legal language” and that did it for me. I was done with that conversation. Then, of course, there was the lack of support or instructions for either of their kits, and one kit appeared to be missing parts. Maybe the builder is supposed to supply his own screws and stuff, but I always thought your kit should come out looking like the picture online at the store. I guess not.
Rear quarter view of the Tank
Anyway, I managed to cobble up the hardware I needed. It only took checking seven stores to find one that sold such miniature hardware. The tread system is kind of funny. It comes as about 60 separate parts. You have to pint them all together, end to end to make your own tread. But when built, they work just fine.
The tank has twin DC motor and gearbox drive. It turns using differential tread movement. Like the barbie, it has a sleeker and lower infrared sensor and a more fully panning ultrasonic sensor. It’s a pretty fast robot too, so the fact that it finds and follows the body heat of small dogs and cats should make for some amusing moments.
It’s electronics are an arduino controller with winged pin extension with screw terminals. This allows an easier and more customizable method to attach to the arduino pins. Of course, they have piggy backed headers, so shields can be mounted using their normal header connections. Eventually, I will put video on this one too, along with headlights and IR swarming beacons.