Ard-e: The robot with an Arduino as a brain

abhimanyu projects
Jan 01, 2013 Posted by Abhimanyu

The robot with an Arduino as a brain

Jan 01, 2013 Posted by Abhi Raj

So once you get your new bulldozer kit either in the mail or at your local hobby shop you have to put it together. These kits from Tamiya tend be a little on the expensive side but they are worth it. I found the worm gear box that I use to pan the laser in a box of old projects covered in dust, it hadnt been touched for maybe three years. After blowing off the dust and hooking it up it ran fine.

A pocket knife or leatherman should be all the tools you'll need to set up the bulldozer. The instructions are step by step and easy to follow even if the English is a little shaky. Since I wasn't planning on using Ard-e as a really weak bulldozer I didn't attach the plow.
Wheel sensors.BMP


dozerbox.jpg


The dc motors that drive the bulldozer are controlled by the double pole double throw (DPDT) switches that make up the controller. I added a diagram about how to hook up your own DPDT switch to control a motor because I later end up controlling the panning motor with another DPDT switch. Hopefully the diagram makes it clear that the switch when thrown one way makes the motor turn one way and when thrown the other it turns the other way.