How to Make a Prototype Robot

Constructing a prototype robot is not an overly difficult feat even for the technologically challenged. With little cost and perhaps just an hour of time, you can create a functional prototype robot that can act as a building block for your more advanced design goals later on. The process is even easier and more economical if you have a few old toys or components laying around the house.

Things You'll Need

• Wheel base
• Receiver/controller (four or six way)
• Battery
• Servos (2)
• Velcro pieces (2)
• Professional strength glue
• Dual lock tape

Instructions

1. Take note of what you have on hand. Are there any old components hanging around on garage or attic shelves? If not, look for old motorized toys such as RC cars, as a lot of the required components can be salvaged from these. Strip off any unnecessary framing of an old toy car and leave just the wheel base, setting carefully aside any additional components.

2. Make a careful selection of a receiver/controller combo. The receiver and controller should both be compatible with one another, or in other words, should be capable of the same degrees of movement. If the controller and receiver come from the same source, such as an RC car, you won't have a problem. Your prototype robot needs to have at least a four-degree compatible receiver/controller combo, so that the prototype may move left-right and up-down. Six degrees of movement is preferable though.

3. Use a powerful glue solution to affix two velcro pieces to opposite sides of the wheel base-top and bottom. Then, attach the battery to the bottom velcro piece and the receiver to the top velcro piece.

4. Use dual lock tape to attach the two servos to the top of the wheel base of your prototype robot. These two servos should be arranged so that they are near the edges of the robot and near the wheels, but on adjacent sides from one another.

5. Look at the wire leads coming from both the battery and the servos. The battery should have a three wire lead, and should be connected to the receiver via one of the receiver channels. The receiver has a number of channels on its end where components can be connected. Connect the battery to the channel listed as "Batt." Then, run the servos to the receiver and connect them in two separate channels. Make sure the servos are in side by side channels, and that the battery is connected in a channel away from the servos.

6. Test out your prototype robot, making sure it moves and reacts correctly. From here, you may take it beyond the prototype stage by adding a decorative framing or any number of tools.