TAB Robot Reloaded or Robot Builder's Bonanza Roverbot?

Martin_H · 2012-02-07 18:49

Around 2006 or so I bought a TAB Sumobot kit on a closeout. It worked OK except the gears and axles squealed, and the treads eventually got dry rot. After that it sat on a shelf gathering dust for three years or so. The board is pretty good as it has a built in BS2, serial motor controller, IR Sensors, light sensors, and remote control. It seemed a shame to let the board gather dust when all it needed was a new chassis. But it sat on the shelf until a few months ago when I began gathering parts. I bought the pre-cut epvc chassis off eBay and I'll bet it is one of Gordon's old kits as he doesn't sell this one anymore.

Once I got all the parts construction took only a few evenings this week. Here are pictures of the TAB Sumobot control board on a Robot Builder's Bonanza Roverbot chassis.

On the inside end of the motor shaft are some mouse shaft encoders. I plan to add encoders using some sensors taken from an old printer.

Martin_H · 2012-02-07 18:50

Here's a video of it traveling around my kitchen:

The firmware was tuned for the sumobot chassis and tracks. The roverbot is more responsive and it over-steers using some of the built in programs. For user defined programs it should be fine as you can compensate. No plans for this bot at the moment, but it has plenty of room to add stuff to it. I put this in a separate post due to flash airspace issues.

erco · 2012-02-07 19:52

Nice bot! Now you also need a regular TAB robot kit, which comes with an onboard PIC for remote control and IR sensing. There's an empty socket for a BS2. Everything, motors & all, is powered by a single 9-volt battery. Unique little bot.

http://www.amazon.com/TAB-Electronics-Build-Your-Robot/dp/0071387870

GordonMcComb · 2012-02-07 20:55

Martin, RB looks good. Nice demonstration of the agility of the platform. I especially like the white swivel caster. I'm surprised Erco didn't mention something about it! (Though, truth be told, the little 1-1/4" casters from Lowe's have exceptional spin ability -- much better than their $1.75 or so price suggests.)

What's the rating on the motor controller on the board? Those RE-260s on the Tamiya worm gear motors can pull some amps, especially at 6V.

-- Gordon

Martin_H · 2012-02-08 03:13

Thanks Erco.

Gordon I agree that swivel caster is a great value. I bought a two pack for three dollars, so I can use the other in a second bot.

GordonMcComb wrote: »

What's the rating on the motor controller on the board? Those RE-260s on the Tamiya worm gear motors can pull some amps, especially at 6V.

A good question which concerns me also as I don't know the answer. The motor controller is a Pic controlling two H-bridges made from discreet surface mount components. The motors it was originally paired with looked like the 140 type and drew between 0.5 to 1 amp each. I figured that if I don't stall the 260s it would be OK for some tests and I didn't notice any heating of the transistors.

The gearbox came with an adapter for 140 motors, so I could use the original ones and be completely safe. But I would prefer to stick with the 260s. Do you know a way to determine the rating of surface mount transistors?

Duane Degn · 2012-02-20 06:17

Martin,

I just found this thread. It must have slipped by when I was busy with some humidity tests (day job).

I agree with the others (erco and Gordon), this is a cool little bot.

Thanks for posting pictures and a video of it.

Martin_H · 2012-02-20 08:29

Thanks Duane.

I am slicing my time between three projects right now and plan to do more with this bot in the near future. I found the original documents for the control board and it has overload protection in the h bridge, so I am good there. I will post a video here when I have a project with this bot complete.

This weekend I have been focused on my three axis stepper drivers which I just got working today. I need to calibrate it and upload the grbl g code interpreter next.

erco · 2014-02-01 21:31

Martin_H: I just got a Sumobot kit but the board is bad, Help!

Does yours have an LED D8 that lights up any time the power switch is on, or only during download?

Mine doesn't light up.

Do you have any docs for this board?

Martin_H · 2014-02-02 06:38

Hi, it's been a while, so I just powered mine up and no LED. I also downloaded a program and no LED, but the program downloaded. I seem to recall being annoyed by this in the past.

I just PMed you a link to the contents of the CD that came with the robot. It includes a stub program showing how to use the motor driver, and pdf explanation of how to program it. Let me know if you can retrieve it.

I was a member of the Yahoo group a while ago and it's been dead for a while now. The Tab website is also offline so there's not much in the way of online resources now. But I can answer any questions you have.

The kit came with a remote that speaks the Sony protocol and I've used it with other projects as well.

erco · 2014-02-02 20:57

Thanks Martin! People actually sell the Tab robot cds on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sumo-Bot-PC-CD-McGraw-tab-robotics-electronics-artificial-intelligence-software-/261164072417?pt=US_Education_Language_Reference_Software&hash=item3cce977de1#ht_1412wt_1166

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Build-Your-Own-Robot-Kit-Assembly-Instructions-CD-ROM-Tab-Electronics-Software-/200958349765?pt=US_Education_Language_Reference_Software&hash=item2eca0d11c5

TAB Robot Reloaded or Robot Builder's Bonanza Roverbot?

Comments