Building Robots with

Lo-tech Materials 1
By Andrew Fisher

When you think about robots, you probably CNC mills, or 3D printers. In true hacker spirit,
imagine drones, self-driving cars, or humanoid we fabricated using cardboard, cable ties, and
robots like Atlas or Asimo. Many of these more rubber bands to get something that worked.
serious robots start their costs at thousands of
dollars, and there is no real upper limit (Atlas
costs over a $1M, for example). It is possible,
however, to build small, interesting robots with
a few inexpensive electronic components cou-
pled with some materials you can readily find at
home.
One of the great things about NodeBots is be-
ing able to prototype rapidly. The combination
of an approachable language like JavaScript
with friendly hardware such as Arduino means
you can explore ideas and see how things work.
Being able to prototype and play with robotic
Figure 1-1 Completed SimpleBot
techniques quickly helps with learning and ex-
ploring concepts.
Figure 1-2 shows the SimpleBot we made that
In this chapter, we’ll explore several robotic night. After building it, we fell in love with pro-
concepts using a basic robot called the Simple- totyping using materials such as cardboard, ca-
Bot (Figure 1-1). The first design of the Simple- ble ties, and more recently, corflute (corrugated
Bot came as the result of a challenge from my plastic board) for robotics. These materials are
child, who asked to build a robot together one inexpensive and easy to work with using scis-
evening after dinner. With the clock ticking and sors or a good craft knife. You don’t have to
only an hour to work before bedtime, it meant have access to tools such as a laser cutter,
using things we had on hand—no laser cutters, though if you do, then you can still work with

1
Building the SimpleBot

these materials—it just becomes even faster to • Building the basic SimpleBot platform
cut things out (and a bit more accurate). Work-
• Cutting the cord and untethering our
ing with these materials allows you to fabricate
SimpleBot from our computer
on your kitchen table and kids can easily work
with them, too.
Building the SimpleBot
Before you get building, remember there’s no
right or wrong way to build your SimpleBot.
The design of the SimpleBot was intentionally
left open-ended so you can make it any way
you want. Others have built versions as minimal
as possible on one extreme, as well as automa-
ted Nerf-Gun-Toting platforms on the other.
The point of the SimpleBot is to play, explore,
and extend it, to further your understanding of
robotics—so customize away.

Bill of Materials
Figure 1-2 The very first SimpleBot The SimpleBot project is divided into two parts
with components needed at each stage. All of
After that first effort, the SimpleBot has gone the components for this chapter are listed in
through numerous revisions and is now used as Table 1-1, and then the elements needed for
a teaching robot for some NodeBot events. I each stage are listed again when you get to
hope I’ve convinced you that building robots that point in the chapter. Table 1-2 lists the
out of simple materials such as cardboard is a parts needed for the wireless version.
good idea. This chapter is going to cover:

Table 1-1 SimpleBot materials

Count Part Estima- Part numbers/source

ted
price
1 Arduino Uno - R3 $24.95 MS MKSP99; AF 50; SF
DEV-11021

1 Half-sized breadboard $5 MS MKKN2, SF PRT-12002, AF

64

Multi Jumper wires (male to male) $4.95 MS MKSEEED3, SF

PRT-11026, AF 758

Multi Jumper wires (male to female) $5 MS MKKN5, SF PRT-09385, AF

825

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 Building the SimpleBot

Count Part Estima- Part numbers/source

ted
price
2 Continuous rotation (CR) servos; if you have $14 MS MKPX18, AF 154, SF
standard servos, an Adafruit tutorial shows how ROB-09347
to mod them into CR servos

15 Cable ties (3–4mm wide and about 200mm $1 Various suppliers/stores

long is perfect)

1 7.4v RC battery pack (LiPo, Li-Ion, or whatever $5 Old or broken RC toys are
you can get a hold of ) good sources of these

1 LM7806 or NTE962 6V voltage regulator (drops $2 RadioShack or Amazon

the voltage to something the servos can use)

1 Chassis material—a square of thick cardboard $2 Various suppliers/stores

or corflute (3–5mm thick), approximately
400mm square

1 A printout of the template file Free Included with source code

Table 1-2 Wireless SimpleBot materials

Count Part Notes Estimated price

4x 50V 0.1uF ceramic capacitors Ceramic is best, but others will work $0.50

1x USR WiFi232-T module http://www.usr.so $15

Build Steps
1. Start by cutting out the template on smaller rectangle, which you can use as
your cardboard. It doesn’t need to be a bumper to mount things on.
perfect. A knife, a cutting mat, and a
2. Next, mount the wheels to the servo.
ruler make it easier to do the inside
Take the cross-shaped servo horn (you
holes than scissors. With the wheels,
should have a packet of different sha-
the center hole can be cut out or just
ped plastic fittings with your servo)
left, it’s only a target so you know
and align the center with the center of
where the center is so you can screw
the wheel. You can use a piece of wire
through it to the servo.
or a needle to poke small holes in your
You should now have a full set of chas- material to mark the points to screw
sis pieces. The large piece with the (Figure 1-3).
bumps at the end is the base, and the
Screw the wheels securely to the servo
bumps are the front. Use the bumps to
horn. If you prefer, just glue them on
push through the small holes on the
(but then you can’t reuse the servo
horns later)—either way works fine.

Chapter 1: Building Robots with Lo-tech Materials 3

Building the SimpleBot

Once you have the wheels mounted on

the servo horns, screw through the
center of the wheel and the horn into When you attach the cable ties,
the small gear on the servo. Go easy only tighten them enough to stop
and hold everything in place while you movement, but not so tight as to
turn the screwdriver; being rough here rip the cardboard or corflute.
can strip the gears in your servo and
cause them to slip. Do this for both ser-
vos so you now have two wheels.

Figure 1-3 Mark screw points using the servo horn Figure 1-4 Servo mounted to the chassis
and a piece of wire
4. Mount the battery between the wheels
Gently rotate the servo to ensure it as in Figure 1-5. Again, you can use a
turns freely. If you’re using cardboard cable tie, but double-sided tape or a bit
or corflute, your mounting screws may of Blu-Tack works well here, too, if you
be a little long. They don’t have to go want to recharge easily. Trim the cable
all the way through, but make sure tie excess off as you go or it gets a little
they clear the body of the servo when hard to mount everything.
you turn them. 5. Next, fashion a simple “skid” for the
SimpleBot to stay balanced. You can do
3. Next, mount the servos to the chassis,
this by looping a cable tie toward the
as shown in Figure 1-4. You want to
back of the SimpleBot in the middle of
place these more or less to the front so
the chassis. Do this from the top so the
the weight balances. You can put them
catch of the tie doesn’t get caught on
anywhere, but bear in mind you may
anything. The underside of the loop
need to weigh down one end if you
should be about the same height as
find it’s tipping. Mount the servos so
half the wheel so the body sits level. It
the side with the wheel is closest to the
will feel “loose,” but don’t worry, you
front of the chassis, and attach them
secure this with the breadboard in the
with two cable ties through the mount-
next step.
ing holes to keep them in place. Use
two cable ties so the servo body
doesn’t twist when you start driving.

4 Make: JavaScript Robotics

 Building the SimpleBot

Figure 1-5 Battery mounted to the chassis

6. Finally, add the breadboard. Mount this

across the point you put the skid cable
tie so the board holds the skid down.
The cable tie can go down the length
of the board where the channel is and Figure 1-6 SimpleBot wiring diagram
you can still place ICs across it.
Now that you’ve finished the mechan-
ics, it’s time for the electronics. The
complete wiring diagram is shown in
Figure 1-6, with each piece explained
next.

7. Start by creating a battery power rail.

This goes to the back of the bread-
board and gives you at least 7.4V. Join
the grounds on both sides of the
breadboard together. Mount the Ardui-
no Nano at one end and join its
ground. As you can see with the Nano,
position it to either side of the main Figure 1-7 Distributing power
channel, over the cable tie, and posi-
tion the USB connection on one side so 8. Now create the power for the servos.
it’s easy to plug in, as shown in Fig- The servos want 6V so the battery will
ure 1-7. give them a bit too much, so use a +6V
voltage regulator to output a nice
clean 6V for the servos. Put that 6V on
the other rail of the breadboard so you
can attach the servos there.

Chapter 1: Building Robots with Lo-tech Materials 5