How to build a Manual Robot?

What is a manual Robot? A manual robot is a machine consists of some mechanism for its movement & user is controlling it by a controller through wired or wireless medium. Main building blocks of a manual robot: 1) The power supply 2) The controller 3) The motors

The power

The Controller

The Motors

What is a power supply? It is the food for the robot. It can be of two types, one is Onboard/Internal i.e. the bot itself contains the power supply within it for e.g. Battery. Another one is the Off board/External i.e the power supply is out of the bot e.g. D.C. Adaptors. (The battery can also be used as an external power supply but, generally we use the adaptors as external power supply). If you want to use battery as your power supply for your bot, a variety of batteries (Li, NiCd, Lead Acid) are available in the market ranging from 6V to 12V or more with a current rating of 4.7Ah, 6Ah etc. But the most important thing is that you have to use a high Ampere (current rating) battery for better performance. But for manual bot it is better to use external power supply. For the external power supply the simplest solution is the use of your laptop charger as the power supply (but there may be a risk of short circuit & damage of the charger), otherwise there is a variety of D.C. Adaptors are available in the market you can purchase & use. Again this may not suit to your pocket because it is quite costlier and

also you cant get the best one which is suitable for your use. So the better option available which is most profitable as per the pricing matter & the requirement is, you have to make your won power supply using the electronics components which are easily available in the local market. The simplest circuit diagram of a typical power supply is as follows: -

SPST On/Off

220V A.C. Input

0V

1N5408 x 4Pc

+
Red

2200F/35 1K

15V D.C. Output

You can make the diode, capacitor & LED arrangement on an APB (All Purpose Board) & the whole construction can be placed in a tin cabinet (available in the market) or place all of them on plywood. By using a center tap transformer you can make the power supply for 12V or 24V, the changes you have to make is only for the transformer & bridge rectifier connection & all other connections will remain as it is. Such a connection is as follows:

220V A.C. Input

12
Not Connect

0V

+
27V D.C. Output

12

If you leave any one 12V terminal of the transformer & connect the bridge rectifier in between the other 12V & 0V terminal then you will get approximately 17V D.C. output. So it is your choice to buy a 12 -0 -12V transformer or a 0 12V transformer according to your requirement. Components required & approx. cost: Components 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 12 - 0 12V or 0 12V, 2Amp. Transformer 1N5408 Diode 2200F/35V Capacitor SPST On/Off Switch AC Cord Red LED 1K (Brown, Black, Red), Watt Resistor Quantity 01 04 01 01 Approx. Cost 140/8/10/-

01 01 01

5/-

12/1/1/______ _______________ Total: Rs. 177/-

What is a controller? A controller is a key pad consists of some switches, according to the switching actions the bot can move forward, backward etc. You can use a joystick as a controller by removing its circuitry & placing your own switches. Also you can make the controller on plywood. We generally use the DPDT switches for the switching purpose by removing its spring lock (for the purpose of auto release after pressing it once) as shown in the below figure:

How to control the direction of the motor using DPDT Switch? The DPDT switch consists of six terminals, when it is normal condition i.e. switch is not pressed the upper two terminals are short circuited with the middle terminal, when we press the switch the lower terminals get shorted with the middle terminal. The different switches are as follows:

A motor has two terminals, if we give +ve supply to one terminal & -ve supply to another terminal then the motor rotates in one direction, if we alter the supply then it rotates in another direction. Again if we give same supply (+ve +ve or ve -ve) to both the terminals then the motor doesnt rotate. The below figure shows each condition:

From the above figures we have seen that to control one motor we need two switches, normally a manual robot is built using two motors so we need 4 switches to control it. If you required more motors to be controlled then the no. of switches also increases. If you want to make your bot four wheel drive then you can control it using four switches also by connecting two motors in one switch. The below figure shows the

diagram for controlling two motors & four motors using four DPDT switch, it gives the following movements to the bot: Forward Backward Left turn Right turn Left spin Right spin The difference between turn & spin is, in turn one wheel of the bot rotates & the other one remains in stop condition. Here the position of the bot gets change. But in case of spin the position of the bot will remain the same. Here one motor rotates in forward direction & other rotates in backward direction.

Here I have connected upper terminals of all the switches to +ve supply & the lower terminals of all switches to ve supply. Then four middle terminals are connected to four terminals of two motors respectively as per the above diagram. Now the bot is ready for the above stated movements according to different switching conditions. Similarly if you want to control your bot having four motors i.e. four wheel drive using four switches only, then connect the two right side motors in switch 1 & switch 2 and the two left side motors to switch 3 & switch 4.