Assignment 2 - MoHoBot

What was the MoHo Bot project?

• MoHo Bot was a creative endeavor that was constrained only by the fact that it had to use at least one type of sensor, 1-2 servo motors, and a single Arduino Uno.

Design

• MoHoBot v.3 is a cardboard robot. Its eyes are bright green LEDs that are slightly hidden under it's suave Google sunglasses. The body of the robot contains the Arduino Uno, a breadboard, and jumper wires hidden within it. The legs of the bot rest upon a record which further rests upon two servo wheels and one slightly smaller wheel (for balance).

• The purpose of the robot is to move based upon touch. When the force sensor picks up pressure, the robot will rotate left until the pressure is removed causing it to then stop.

Required Components

• Jumper cables

• Cardboard

• Hot glue gun

• battery pack

• 1 pair of sunglasses

• 1 Arduino Uno

• 1 Breadboard

• 1 Force Sensor Resistor

• 2 individual LEDs

• 2 small batteries to light the LEDs.

Setup

• I combined the BasicBot and SimpleFSR examples from class together to create a usable circuit for this project.

• BasicBot Setup:

• SimpleFSR Setup

• Picture of the setup used

Problems Faced

• Initially I wanted to use a tilt sensor (MoHoBot v.1). The robot would have moved forwards, backwards, left, and right based upon the direction my wrist flicked. Unfortunately, I could not get the sensor to display a "correct" output, or at the very least a consistent output. After about 5 hours of being unable to get the sensor to work, I scrapped this idea.

• The next thought was to use a sound sensor (MoHoBot v.2). The robot would have moved based upon clapping (clap once to move forwards, twice to stop). Unfortunately, the microphone would not work. After about 5 hours of messing around with multiple microphone sensors, I finally admitted defeat.

• The final version of the MoHoBot uses a force sensor (MoHoBot v.3). Somehow the left motor burned out, so while the code works for one wheel, it doesn't hold for the other. At this point, it was around 11:30 the night before the assignment was due and my only other option would have been to switch to using a distance sensor. In leiu of this, I adapted the code to only require the right motor by changing the motion made upon detecting force. Instead of moving forward, the bot would rotate. This version worked and I decided I was finished.

Adjustments To Make

• I made the robot too big and did not balance it correctly. Had I more time, I would have liked to correct this issue.

• The robot did not appear finished as I did not have enough time to finish coloring it in properly. I would have liked more time to make the robot visually pleasing.

• Make the robot do more than just move, add additional functionality.

In-progress Pictures

Videos of the Project Working!

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