Build Your Own All-Terrain Robots

Includes plans to build two fully functioning video controlled robots capable of traversing hostile terrain. Build using easy-to-find and inexpensive parts, both robots are controlled via wireless audio/video link and can send full color images and sound back to a base station.

This book fills a gap in robot building genre as it takes the brains from the intelligent yet fragile desktop rover and combines it with a robust and easy to build chassis that can easily carry a 200 pound payload and run for hours from a single battery charge.

A robot such as this can be sent on dangerous missions hundreds of feet away from the base station into territory to hostile for human habitation.

Standing over three feet tall, with a cyborg-like head, Oberon is not only a rugged exploration robot, but a showman as well. The robot takes on a life of it own as you remotely control it from hundreds of feet away, seeing and hearing what it does on you base station receiver. Not only can you see and hear what the robot does, but you can pan and tilt its head and speak through it - projecting your presence to remote locations while you sit comfortable in your control center chair. Oberon is a remotely operated robot platform that can easily carry 200 pound and run for 8 hours or more on a single battery charge. Range can be well over two miles.

Goober is another video controlled robot capable of sending color video, and clear audio back to a base station several miles away. Goober is more of a workhorse, capable of carrying over 300 pounds through terrain that would make a military vehicle nervous. Using dual high torque gear motors, Goober can easily pull a parked car, yet is agile enough to be operated in a crowded indoor environment. Goober can also speak to bystanders and also features infrared night vision, and an extremely rugged steel body. Both of these robotic platforms use parts that can be easily obtained, such as wheelchair and scooter motors.

An old wheelchair is stripped down for parts, which are mounted to a simple frame made from 1.5 inch square tubing. Oberon can carry two very large marine batteries for a full day of operation on a single battery charge. The frame is articulated at the rear so that it can travel over uneven ground and negotiate obstacles such as large rocks, craters or city curbs. Just about any wheelchair can be used for parts, and all of the other hardware can be easily found at any scrap yard or hardware store.

Goober's frame is made from 1.5 inch mild steel tubing. The wheels are directly connected to the motors to keep things simple and compact. These motors are salvaged from a shopping scooter or mobility device and are quite common. Goober's frame is built to carry two 60 amp hour gel batteries which will allow the robot to run for a full day on a single battery charge. The tires used on this robot are available at any hardware store, and are commonly used on dollies and utility cards. 

Using a combination of thin plywood epoxied to fiberglass cloth, Oberon's body is not only lightweight, but extremely durable and weatherproof as well. This type of body construction is east to do, and can be done to form a variety of different shapes. The result is a smooth rigid shell that looks professionally manufactured.

Goober's cover is made from 16 gauge steel sheet cut and welded together to form an amazingly tough and weather proof shell. This type of construction is great for a robot intended for heavy outdoor use, or in hostile environments.

Oberon's video camera, audio system, and transmitter are housed in a weatherproof head made from an old motorcycle helmet. The one way lens allows the video camera to see the world, yet keeps the bystanders curious. The head also contains the speaker to project the operators voice. Oberon's head can turn left and right as well as tilt up and down - this allows for surveillance without needing to move the body of the robot. The ability to look left and right also makes navigating a crowded area or crossing city streets a lot easier.

Goober's head contains a color video camera and transmitter, high gain microphone and preamplifier, as well as a bright headlight and night vision LEDs. Made from the same sheet steel that makes up the main body, this tiltable head is extremely strong and weatherproof. The front panel is made from half inch thick nylon and supports the headlight and most of the video electronics. To allow Goober to speak, an FRS radio is also placed in the head and connected to an external speaker. At the base station this can be connected to a headset to allow the operator to talk directly to bystanders, or through a computer voice synthesizer to project a "real" robot voice.

The motion control electronics, and remote control unit are a combination of easy to build parts and readily available technologies. Depending on your electronic abilities, you can decide how much of the control electronics to make from scratch, although a fully working robot can be made be using pre made devices available from a large number of different sources. Remote control does not need to end with the controller in the hand of a human operator - interfacing to a computer for full autonomous operation is just another step that could be implemented once the link between robot and remote control has been established.

Parts for your robot can come from a vast array of sources - scrapped electronics, old wheelchairs and scooters, car yards, bicycle parts, even that old washing machine. Depending on your scrounging abilities and workshop ingenuity, you may be able to build a fully working remotely operated robot using junk that cost nothing, or next to nothing. You do not need a machine shop full of high tech tools to make any of the parts needed to build these robots, just basic tools found in most garages and a little patience. Take your robotics project to the next stage!