14. Radio-controlled Robot

The new challenges

We consider our tank-robot project as a very successful one - our creature can be nicely controlled remotely over Wi-Fi, or navigate around in the autonomous mode avoiding dangers and collisions. Still, there are questions which we could not answer:

• Remote control over the Wi-Fi lags even if you connect your agents directly. Is there any better way to control the robot? Can the Radio Controlling system be the answer?
• Do you really need to purchase expensive factory-made chassis, or there is some better way?
• Could LCD displays be useful for a small robot?
• Is it hard to use Li-Ion battery in the project?

To answer these questions - we decided to build a new robot, which will be a lightweight peer for our tank.

3. Chassis Selection

The Plan

Preparation steps may take a lot of time. I and my son spent more than two months learning the basics and running small experiments with Arduino. We used a custom-built starting kit, passed a couple of beginners ramp-up courses, played with Arduino board, sensors, LED and electric motors driven by transistors. Ultimately, we figured out what can we expect from the Arduino-based robot, and what kind of the tasks it can perform.

We decided to build a rather big robot which should be able to wander around the rooms. It needs to be capable going over 5 cm (2 inches)  doorsteps (because that is the height of the doorsteps in our house. Also, the robot must be stable and capable of wearing lots of sensors, a video camera or a cell phone, and/or some small TFT screen. Imagination instantly paints some caterpillar-chassis robot 10 cm high and 20x20 cm long and wide (~4x8x8 inches).