Entering the MAKE coasterbot contest
MAKE Magazine has created a contest to make a coaster bot. The basic rules are pretty simple:
Contestants will build “CoasterBots,” mini robot development platforms, made using CD/DVD media as the main body components (“coaster” being slang for a dead/damaged CD/DVD). Your goal is to create a CoasterBot that can navigate a space on its own, avoiding obstacles, and that is designed so that additional sensor systems (proximity, heat, light, sound, etc.) can be added “on top” of this obstacle-avoidance behavior. Contestants are free to use the CD/DVD media in any way they choose. Extra points will be given for creativity and innovation in the overall design.
I have never built a robot before. But I want to.
I have done large parts of “Robot Building for Beginners”. That robot does not have a microcontroller, though, so once I understood the basic concepts — and used many of them for the Speed Vest — I lost interest in building it. So this contest is perfect, challenging and creative, but not (I think) ridiculously hard.
The contest is sponsored by Jameco, who offer a bundle of parts to build the bot. I already had much of the basic hardware, but in the end I decided to go ahead and buy it for the more specialized components, some of which were not available separately at Jameco. It is a nice kit with a few surprising decisions. For example, they provide a spool of black 22 AWG wire, which I think every workshop will have, and various basic screws and nuts. But only two wheels come in the bundle — which won’t be enough for the robot to balance. It will need another wheel or roller.
For the included Ardweeny, there is no USB-to-FTDI cable or board. Without it, you can’t program the Ardweeny. I was fortunate here — I have a leftover board from MachineScience that will do exactly this.
One of the first steps is to design a chassis. Some people have already done some impressive work in this department, bending the CDs with a heat gun or deforming them in an oven. I am having a bit of trouble thinking of something unique to do. One option, there are a ton of unused children’s toys around here. It would be a point of pride to recycle them into a project. And toy parts are pretty!