The BeetleBot

INTRODUCCIÓN

The beetle robot (Beetle bot), is a very simple and efficient robot that use no electronics component to avoid
obstacle in his path. It use two SPDT switch to avoid obstacles by reversing the opposite motor to pivote and
free himself. There is no silicon chip, that is, no integrated circuit, no transistor, no resistor, capacitor, etc.

This mean very cheap to build!

DISEÑO Y ELABORACIÓN

PASO 1: LISTA DE COMPONENTES.

This is what you will need to build this robot.

Items for the robot:

2 x 1,5V motors
2 x SPDT (single pole double throw ) switches with a metal lever
2 x AA or AAA battery
2 x Terminal connector ( see picture )
1 x AA or AAA battery holder
1 x Plastic or wooden pearl ( Spherical bead )
1 x 1 inch x 3 inch piece of metal or aluminum
1 x Toggle switch for the on/off switchs

Paper clips big and small

2 feets of wires around 22/24 Gauge size
Heat shrink that will fit over the motor shaft and some that will fit over the terminal connector
Electric tape and masking tape

Items for the body shell:

Round plastic lid to make the shell of the robot
Some spray can paint, the colour you want.
Clear varnish
Autobody filler putty or epoxy glue
2 x Small magnets to attach shell to body.
You need some 1,5Volts motor, not 3V or no event 12V!!
Each motors are powered by a single AA battery. You will drain your battery if you use a bigger motor. You can
find them in toys or even at your local dollarrama, in little car, fans, etc! ( beware, they might really suck you
battery down )

the recommended tools for this project:

1 x safety glasses!!
1 x soldering iron
1 x glue gun
1 x wire strippers
1 x side cutter
1 x scissors, knife, x-acto, etc

I recommend you to take the time to read this entire instructable before starting. In every page I have added a
lot of pictures, so don't forget to look.

PASO 2: LOS SWITCHS SPDT

This is the main component for this robot. The most expensive.

You might get them free or pay from 1$ to 4$ each.

If you recycle old electronic, it might be all FREE! Try searching old VCR, PS2, old toys, printer, etc
Back then, I use to recycle everything, I got everything FREE, old VCR are very good for gears and something
SPDT switchs!!! Playstation have great motors, the one that makes the laser move.

PASO 3: MONTAJE DE LOS SWITCHS AL CONTENEDOR DE BATERIAS.

The SPDT switchs position is the new twist in this design.

You are going to cross the antenna so that nothing can get stuck between a chair leg like the old design.
Glue them together like in the picture. Hot glue will do.

PASO 4: AGARRE DEL MOTOR.

You need grip to get around! Without tires, your car won't go anywhere. Try driving on your rims... does this
make you think of police footage, bad guys trying to get away with busted tires :P

Same thing with the beetle robot.

The shaft of the motor is the rim and the heatshrink is the tire. Since the robot rests on the shaft of the motor to
move around, you will need some grip.

You will need to shrink the heatshrink onto the motor shaft. I use a heat gun but the tip of your soldering iron
will do.

PASO 5: MONTAJE DEL MOTOR.

Here we are going to build a motor mount instead of glueing the motors to the battery holder.

It will look more professional.

Take your metal or aluminium plate and cut it to make a rectangle 1 x 3 inch. It does not really need to be
exactly 1 x 3 inch.

If you don't have access to aluminium you can glue the motors to the battery holder.

You can also salvage metal from a old computer, VCR, etc.
In a lot of electronic equipement they have metal plates that are used to reduce parasite noise by grounding
these plates to the main ground of the equipement. These plates are easy to cut with metal scissor.

PASO 6: AGREGANDO LOS MOTORES AL MONTAJE DEL MOTOR.

This is an easy step but you need to be carefull for the motor polarisation.

If you get this step right, you have good chances it will work the first time!
( I hope so :P )

Look at this picture to understand. I have use electric tape to attach my motors

PASO 7: MONTAJE DE LOS MOTORES AL PORTA BATERIAS.

Here we simply glue the metal plate to the front of the robot.

These are a few problems that arose:

1 - The motor mount unglued from the battery holder.

You can simply glue the metal plate to the battery holder with epoxy. You will never be able to remove it!

Here is my tip: I tape a piece of masking tape to the battery holder and one to the motor mount. I then use
epoxy to glue the two parts together. The glue dries onto the masking tape and not on the plastic of the battery
holder. If one day I need to remove any item, I simply rip off the masking tape! Clever hen? In resume, you
glue two pieces of masking tape together!

2 - The front of the robot is too heavy and the robot tilts to the front.

To avoid the tilting, you can try to mount the bracket to the front and not to the middle. This might not really
help. On the next step you will see another solution. You can always put some weight on the back of the robot.

PASO 8: EL SOPORTE TRASERO.

You will need the big paper clip and the plastic or wooden pearl. These pearls are exactly the one found on
neckless.

You don't really need a round pearl. You can have the entire robot rest on the bare paper clip.

The other step is to glue the paper clip to the battery holder.

Here is another precaution. The way I have glued the paper clip is not super super.
It will not hold on very well. Be sure to put a lot of glue!

You can glue the paper clip on top of the battery holder.

You remember the problem with the heavy front? You can make a long caster to prevent the front to tilt. ( see
picture )

PASO 9: SOLDADURA DE LOS SWITCHS

Here we start soldering!

It is going to be really easy!

Check out the pictures! I have used a paper clip to make the middle connection.

I took some black electric tape to cover the aluminium plate. This was an aesthetic feature when taking
pictures and it helps remove flash reflection.
I took paper clip to solder from the motor to the common pin of the switches
PASO 10: LA TERCERA CONEXIÓN
Here is the principal and most important thing about the beetlerobot.

It is call the "third connection"

In you AA/AAA battery you have 2 wires that provide 3Volts.

In reality, we only use 1,5Volts for both motors.

How can we get half the voltage? Simple, you solder a wire like the picture below.
The new wire will touch the last wire you have solder in the last step and you will connect it to the battery
holder. See picture.

Be very carefull when soldering to the battery holder, you can melt the battery holder! I have already
done that. This will happen with cheap AA holder.
PASO 11: ENERGIZADO DEL ROBOT.

Here you are going to hook up the power to the robot. On your AA or AAA battery holder you have a red and a
black wire. Like you probably know, the red wire is positif ( + ) and the black is negativ( - ).

Solder the wire like on the picture and everything is ready to be tested.

Put some battery in it.

Both motor should turn.
By pressing the left switch the left motor should turn the other way.
By pressing the right switch the right motor should turn the other way.

You are now ready to make the antenna.

PASO 12: INSTALACIÓN DE LAS ANTENAS.

This is the cool part of the design. When applying this principal you can remove the antenna and pack it into
your backpack!

Take those terminals and remove the plastic. You will be able to solder to the terminal.
Take your pliers to press down on the terminal connector. After that, you will be able to slide it tight on the
metal connector of the SPDT switches.
PASO 13: LA FUSIÓN DE LA ANTENA AL CUERPO.
Use paper clips to make the antennas. The feelers (sensors) of the bettle robot.

Solder the antennas to the terminal. I have added a heat shrink over my solder to hide it.
Clip the antenna onto the metal bracket of the switchs. If it's too loose, go back to step 14.

Your bettle robot is finished!

The following steps are going to make your robot more easthetic by adding a shell to the robot.

The next step is adding a switch to the robot instead of removing the battery.

PASO 14: MONTAJE DEL INTERRUPTOR DE ENCENDIDO.

Your robot should be able to move around and avoid obstacles.

To stop your robot, you need to remove the battery. This can get annoying and I recommend adding a simple
switch.

Look at the pictures and you will understand. I have added heat shrink to make it look nice and hide my
beautiful solder joint.
PASO 15: CREANDO EL CAPARAZÓN

To make the shell, you can use any sort of plastic container. The dark green is a peanut butter cap and the
transparent green is from a gel container.
I decided to use the transparent cap to make my shell. I then cut out the cap to make room for the motors and
the switches.

Like you have seen on the pictures, the gel cap is not really round. To cover the holes I have used a body car
putty. Beware, car putty cure really fast!!

I have file down the cap to make the entire cap rough. This will help the putty to grip. Let it dry and after you
can file it again to make everything smooth. Once it's dry, I have used another putty for the finishing touch.

I did the same thing and filed everything.

If you don't have access to putty, you can use epoxy glue, it will work great. Let it dry 24 hours before sanding.
Epoxy glue can be very liquid so be careful. Take your time.
After sanding the lid smooth, it is time to paint it. Give it a couple of coats of primer.

After that you can start painting the shell in black or any other colour you like.

Give a couple of paint layers and let it dry. Take you time. I normally do that outside in the sun.

It is now time to add the circles to the robot. I took a coin to make the circles. I have used masking tape to
make the circles. Put them anywhere you want.
Take a other colour you want and start painting.

Spray at a distance of 20 cm and one layer at the time. Give it a couple of layers.

Remove the stickers... I had some bad finish. The glue of the masking tape made some residue.
Check out next step to know how to take them off.
To remove the residue, I took sandpaper and sanded with water. Use some very fine sandpaper and add some
water. This will give a glossier finish.

I then used a black pen to make the outline of the circles. You can skip this step.
I just wanted to hide all the imperfection.

Yes I could of call this the ladybug robot!

I wanted to paint blue and yellow, green and yellow, etc

There are so many colours you can use.

PASO 16: ENSAMBLADO FINAL

Everything is finished..

Not really, you need to hook up the shell to the robot.

To connect the shell to the robot, you can glue it directly to the battery holder, or you can use magnets; glue
one inside the lid and another in a mathcing position on the battery holder.

I have switched the yellow tape with black to make it nicer. I have also painted the antenna black for aesthetic .

Congratulations, your beetle robot is done!