Arduino Robot Bonanza Teachbot
The Teachbot is a 7" circular differentially steered robot made from 6mm or 1/4" sheet material (expanded PVC or aircraft grade plywood are good choices). It's designed to allow for expansion by providing multiple tiers, or decks, that are stacked one on top of the other.
In the basic version of the Teachbot — the Teachbot Servo — is powered by two RC servos that have been modified for continuous rotation. Wheels are 2-1/2" to 2-5/8" diameter rubber. The platform consists of a top and bottom deck, and you can expand as needed by adding a third deck (see picture). Skids are provided front and back of the robot for balance. The skids act as smooth points for turning and spinning.
Found in chapters 3 through 6 of Arduino Robot Bonanza.
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| Teachbot Servo Mechanical Parts (Available as a kit form from Budget Robotics.) | |
| 1 | 7" diameter bottom deck. |
| 1 | 7" diameter top deck. (The additional second deck is optional. Expand as desired.) |
| 2 | Servo mounts. |
| 4 | 90° plastic L brackets, for attaching the servo mounts to the bottom deck. These brackets measure 3/4" × 1" and are made to work with the two servo mounts. |
| 16 | 4-40 x 1/2" machine screws and nuts, for attaching the servos and servo mounts to the bottom deck |
| 4 | Deck risers consisting of: (4) 2.5" or longer machine screws with 6-32 threads, (8) 6-32 nuts, (4) .170" (I.D.) rubber tubing (to act as a spacer). |
| 2 | Skids consisting of: (2) 6-32 × 3/4" machine screws, (4) 6-32 hex nuts, (2) 6-32 acorn (cap) nuts. |
| 4 | Sets of mounting hardware for Arduino Uno |
| Teachbot Servo Motors, Wheels, and Electrical Parts | |
| 2 | Standard size R/C servo motors, modified for continuous rotation. Jameco Parallax (via Amazon*) FeeTech, pair (via Amazon*) |
| 2 | 2-1/2" or 2-5/8" diameter wheels, with hubs to attach to the servo motors. Jameco FeeTech, pair, set of motors and wheels (via Amazon*) Pololu |
| 1 | Arduino Uno (or compatible) microcontroller board, with USB programming cable. Jameco Made in Italy, via Amazon* Uno compatible, via Amazon* |
| 2 | Solderless breadboards, 400 tie-points, seperable power rails. Jameco Set of 3 boards (via Amazon) Robotshop |
| 1 | Set of solderless breadboard wire jumpers (or make your own using 22 gauge solid conductor wire). Jameco Flexible M-to-M, 120 pieces (via Amazon*) Precut jumpers, assorted, 350 pieces (via Amazon*) |
| 1 | Length of 12 (or more) breakaway 0.100" male header pins, double-sided (long) pins. Adafruit 40-pin strips, pack of 10 (via Amazon*) |
| 1 | AA × 4 battery holder (solder on the female header connector) Jameco or Jameco With switch (via Amazon*) Generic (via Amazon*) |
| 1 | 9 volt battery clip, with 2.1mm polarized barrel plug. Jameco AspenTek, 5-pack (via Amazon*) |
| 1 | 9 volt metal or plastic battery holder Jameco |
| Teachbot Servo Miscellaneous Parts (available locally) | |
| 4 | AA alkaline or nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries. |
| 1 | 9 volt battery. |
| Misc | Hook-and-loop (Velcro) strips for mounting battery holders and solderless breadboard, small pieces of double-sided foam tape. |