Differential Robot M1

Inspired by a differential robot made by Edison Sásig (Founder of Roboticoss). I redesigned it to make a better use of the space, the original robot its unnecessarily big. It also use cheaper motors, $5 USD vs $15 USD each (including the wheel), respectively.

The target of the M1 robot are High School and College students who wants to build their first mobile robot on a budget without sacrificing aesthetics and usability.

2D Sketches of the Differential Robot M1.

Render of the assembly in Fusion 360.

Electronic components

Arduino UNO

"The brain" of the robot. His task is to adquire the signals of the ultrasonic sensor and to the send the PWM signal that control both motors.

L298N Module

This module is the "power" part of the robot. His task is to receive the PWM signal of the Arduino and transcribe this signal into energy for the motors. It also supplies energy to the Arduino.

2x Micromotor N20 and wheel.

The actuator of the robot.

It's a cheap and well built DC motor, it works with 6V but it can be easily found 3V and 12V versions aswell.

Ultrasonic Sensor

"The eyes" of the robot. A useful and easy to use sensor.

It can detect solid objects from a distance of 5 cm up to 30 cm.

An import consideration for the project was selecting the power supply of all our components.

The commonly used AA batteries are not the best option because they can't supply the current needed for the motors at max. conditions.

In the other hand, 18650 batteries can easily provide 10A of current, which is a lot more of the current needed at any instant by the robot.

Final words

The Differential Robot M1 is an entry-level mobile robot capable of avoiding obstacles. In order to do this task, we need to implement the following workflow:

Activate both motors.
Adquire the signal of the ultrasonic sensor constantly (sample time < 100 mS).

If (object infront of the robot == TRUE) then Stop both motors, and turn 180º.

If (object infront of the robot == FALSE) then continuo moving forward.

The task is not that hard to perfom but the project itself is a great challenge for begginers in the field. This project is intended to teach electronics + programming that will be really useful for further projects.

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