It's the first time I've assembled a kit with no instructions. Technically, there were instructions, but a blurry photocopy in Chinese doesn't work for me.
It's amazing that these kits have been around for a long time, yet Ebay sellers and Banggood just say "no English instructions". If you surf around, you can find plenty of photos of the finished item. IMO the only tricky part is mounting the phototransistors and illuminating LEDs, since they are just hanging down and need to be almost scraping on the ground. Maintaining alignment is very important for calibration, but these are easily bent (and/or pads broken off) in a collision when they go off course. I think the kit should include a simple front bumper to hang off the front skid bolt.
The article looks good IMO, editor Robin does a great job on the layout and is super easy to work with. Once again, I encourage everyone here to submit an article for print publication. SERVO is a robot magazine, and the only game in town now that ROBOT magazine is gone. Hopefully it will survive and thrive for a while, but there are no guarantees. So right now. WRITE NOW!
Several forumistas have written for SERVO: Carol Hazlett, Bill Henning, Geo Leeman, Chris Savage, to name a few. It's a nice way to "give back" and get paid to help fund your future projects. Just get in the habit of taking photos and documenting your projects along the way. So much easier than taking your bot apart afterwards to take internal detail photos and trying to remember the tricky parts.
The editors are wide open to subject matter, most anything of general interest. Tech articles, tutorials, construction tips, combat weapons, product reviews, whatever. Check out the writer's guidelines at http://www.servomagazine.com/index.php/writers-guidelines and get crackin'! Tell 'em Mr. Roboto sent you.
Looks like it uses those nice narrow tires. Wish they sold just those (and the gearbox motor). Everyone sells the weakling motors with the fat tires, and those robots have terrible steering problems. The narrow tires are better.
Aren't the 'tires' just O-rings? There are cheap O-ring kits on Ebay and other places. Of course, that doesn't help with the gearbox and motor supply issue.
O-rings mounted on a wheel. The wheel has the proper molded double-D shaft hole, for specific use with the gearmotors. These wheels are not nearly as widely available as the wide-track tires normally sold with these motors.
The LFR kits with gearmotor modules use foam tape for assembly. Simple and quick but it just falls off after a month or so, and the sticky mess is hard to clean up and repair. I'm not normally a fan of worm gears, but these alternative kits (same price, as low as $4) work great and will last much longer if properly assembled.
These li'l dudes arrived today and work great. They really hug the line and acquire it easily. I was about to make a video, but turns out there are plenty already. Comes with 4 watch batteries installed.
Building & tweaking some of these cheap analog Line Following Robots for an upcoming Maker Faire. I can't believe how popular these were last time, I plan to give some away at the Faire.
Edit: I just noticed this is a new version of the chassis PCB. It uses metal brackets to hold the gearmotors, and there is a third LED in the center of the board. Hmmm...
Comments
One transistor was installed backwards. While the bot looks like everything is mirror-imaged (the LEDs are), both transistors face the same way.
http://servo.texterity.com/servo/201707/?folio=8&pg=8#pg8
The article looks good IMO, editor Robin does a great job on the layout and is super easy to work with. Once again, I encourage everyone here to submit an article for print publication. SERVO is a robot magazine, and the only game in town now that ROBOT magazine is gone. Hopefully it will survive and thrive for a while, but there are no guarantees. So right now. WRITE NOW!
Several forumistas have written for SERVO: Carol Hazlett, Bill Henning, Geo Leeman, Chris Savage, to name a few. It's a nice way to "give back" and get paid to help fund your future projects. Just get in the habit of taking photos and documenting your projects along the way. So much easier than taking your bot apart afterwards to take internal detail photos and trying to remember the tricky parts.
The editors are wide open to subject matter, most anything of general interest. Tech articles, tutorials, construction tips, combat weapons, product reviews, whatever. Check out the writer's guidelines at http://www.servomagazine.com/index.php/writers-guidelines and get crackin'! Tell 'em Mr. Roboto sent you.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2WD-Smart-Car-Tracking-Robot-Car-Chassis-DIY-Kit-Reduction-Motor-Set-For-Arduino/172854089141
https://www.ebay.com/itm/D2-5-Intelligent-Tracking-Line-Car-DIY-Kit-Suite-TT-Motor-Electronic-Component-/192289152912
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202273586488
O-rings mounted on a wheel. The wheel has the proper molded double-D shaft hole, for specific use with the gearmotors. These wheels are not nearly as widely available as the wide-track tires normally sold with these motors.
Free coasting (no binding) may be efficient, but it stops these $4 worm drive LFRs from following the line! Live & learn.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intelligent-Tracking-Smart-Car-Robot-Kits-with-TT-Motor-Wheel-Electronic/153026637942
Act fast, ad says only 3 items and 3 hours left!
Stocking stuffers for budding roboticists? "Tis the season all too soon.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/362780819611
Edit: I just noticed this is a new version of the chassis PCB. It uses metal brackets to hold the gearmotors, and there is a third LED in the center of the board. Hmmm...