How to Build a Remote Control Robot The remote control robot is probably the easiest of all robots you

can make. A c omplete beginner can probably make a basic remote control robot in under an hour . The electronics part is plug-n-play, the robot chassis being what will take a little time. Remote control robotics is great for those who want to build a robo t - yet does not have enough time, skill, and/or patience to so see a large proj ect through to completion. Have a look at an example of a wall climbing robot wi th an arm. First, a video to help you get started: All you need is a few cheap commercially available items: Remote Control Transmitter The remote control transmitter is the handheld thingy with knobs and buttons and a long intenna sticking out of it. This will be the most expensive part you nee d to buy, around $40-$200. It will require it's own battery and battery charger. The remote control transmitter usually has very good range. Once as a test, I p ut my robot in the basement of a building, climbed to floor 10, then operated it without any issues. If you plan to ever do USAR (Urban Search and Rescue), this is a useful feature. The most important feature you need to be concerned with i s number of channels it can operate on. Each channel allows you to control one m ore item on your robot. I recommend at least three, but I have often used up to six on a single robot in the past. Receiver The receiver is a small little box thingy that you put on your robot. It accepts the signal from your transmitter, processes it, then outputs a servo ready sign al. This will be the second most expensive part, usually around $30-$60. It will require around ~5V to power it. Receivers can get really small: If you want to use a higher voltage for the servos, get something called a Y-har ness (see below image). You simply attach it to a servo port, and then attach your higher voltage batter ies and your servo to the other end. Read the instructions for power! Like with the transmitter, you must be concerned with how many channels you would like to have. Operating Frequency Crystal Both your transmitter and your receiver will each require a crystal. These are n ecessary to ensure both of your devices are operating under the same frequency ( so purchase both crystals with the same channel!!!). For RC, there are two frequ encies you need to be aware of. One is for air and one is for surface. Remember, its illegal and bad practice to control a remote control car with an air freque ncy. You could accidently cause someone's remote control aircraft to crash and k ill some poor cute innocent squirrel! But you already knew that . . . When you p urchase your receiver/transmitter, they will specify whether it should be used f or air or surface RC. Another note, the crystal is fragile. If your remote contr ol vehicle crashes a lot, the crystal could get damaged. I once made a robot for a USAR competition that was designed to handle 7 foot drops. But apparently the crystal was not. It broke. Sadness. The solution? Receivers often come with a f oam pad thingy to wrap it in for shock absorption. If not, find some foam paddin g and use it. The crystals usually come as part of your transmitter and receiver , but if not, or if you break one, they cost like $8 plus shipping to replace. The materials above are the basics required for remote control, but you are not yet done. You now need a few more things to build the robot chassis: Optional: Robot Frame Material HDPE and/or aluminum should be used for the frame. Want to build it in 5 minutes ? A simple square sheet of HDPE with all parts velcroed on will actually work! B

ut you should attach everything more permanantly for a well designed robot. Optional: Servos Servos, although not required, are designed to be used with remote control vehic les. All you do is literally plug it straight into your receiver and it instantl y works. Get two servos - one for each side of your robot - so that you have dif ferential drive. Put a castor in back for balance. You can also use additional s ervos for other things such rotating a camera, lifting a shovel, or operating a robot arm. If you are on a strict budget, I highly recommend the Hitec HS-311 se rvos. They only cost about $8 and work really well for what you need. But of cou rse, the $30 servos work even better . . . And here is how to mount servos onto a robot chassis. Optional: Teleoperation Now you do not need a microcontroller for any basic remote controlled robot. But if you want it teleoperational, you must have something to process your command s. So how does this work? The basic concept is - send a command with the transmitter to the receiver - the receiver then outputs a servo square wave - a simple resistor capacitor circuit changes this square wave to an analog valu e - and then an analog port on your microcontroller interprets this analog value i nto a particular command, based upon your written program. The servo signal to analog signal converter circuit: Optional: High Power Motor Driver / Speed Controller If you want a high powered robot that uses something much more powerful than hob by servos, you would instead want a motor driver. Most on the market should dire ctly accept a signal made for a servo, and convert that to what you would need f or DC motors. Just hook this device up to your receiver, and attach your motors and battery to it, and by happy squirrels you have an instant Battlebot. Be awar e that these can get a little expensive, and many are only capable of handling a single motor - meaning you would need to buy two. Optional: Speed Controller The speed controller is basically an H-bridge that operates by a remote control signal. Plug one wire into the receiver, two onto the battery leads, and two on the motor leads - and wallah its controllable by your transmitter. If you wanted to build a fast dc motor driven remote control vehicle, or perhaps need a motor to drive the weapon of your battle bot, this is the way to go. Last Step: Assembly of your Remote Control Robot I figure the best way to explain this is to show an example. This particular rob ot was made by me and a friend in less than 5 hours back in early 2003. It uses somewhat expensive lexan plates, a lego castor, and super glue, double sided sti cky tape, and velcro to connect everything together. Ghetto, yes. But it held to gether really well and was easy/quick to make. It was designed to play soccer, but since I lived in Pittsburgh at the time ther e was also plenty of snow to shovel . . . Here is a video of it in action: