A DIY Zipline Robot With Arduino, 3D Printed, and Lego-compatible Parts
Introduction: A DIY Zipline Robot With Arduino, 3D Printed, and Lego-compatible Parts
Introduction
Have you ever thought of robots that are involved in sports and recreation activities? Robots that could mimic the act of athletes like runners and, gymnasts. Such robots are extremely interesting for robotics enthusiasts, makers, and inventors. One of the sports and recreation activities that attract boys and girls, young and adults are ziplining. Ziplines are designed to transfer cargo or a person from the top to the bottom of the inclined cable. The cargo or the person is propelled by gravity and moves on the cable through a freely rotating pulley. The zipline robot that we are going to make looks like a monkey that moves on a cable by using its two arms. Making such a creature that uses its arms for locomotion on a cable is a challenging task. 949
However, in this tutorial, we are going to make a fun and easy-to-build zipline robot with Lego Technic components, an Arduino board, and some off-the-shelf electromechanical components. The instructions are prepared in a way that you can build them at home.
Step 1: General View of Biped Robot
The zipline robot hangs itself from a cable and uses its two arms for locomotion across the cable. In its simplest setup, the zipline robot is made of Lego Technic components, an off-the-shelf DC gear motor, 3D printed parts, and an ON/OFF toggle switch.
Step 2: Combination of Body Structure and Gear Motor
For more sophisticated applications, an Arduino NANO board is added to the zipline robot to significantly increase the expandability and programming elements of the project. As you know, various adds-on shields can be added to any Arduino board to expand the project’s capabilities.
Step 3: Electrical Assembly
For instance, in the current project, a microphone from Adafruit is added to the zipline robot that enables a user to control the motions of the robot by clapping. This feature adds a lot of interactivity to the zipline robot. For example, you can control the speed of the robot by clapping, so that, the faster you clap, the faster it goes. Very fascinating.
Step 4: Zipline Robot With Arduino Board and Microphone
In this tutorial, we will make the zipline robot’s body structure out of Lego Technic pieces and then drive the arm’s mechanical mechanism using an off-the-shelf DC gear motor that is attached to the body structure through a 3D-printed housing. The gear motor’s torque is transferred through a pair of bevel and worm gears to both arm mechanisms.
Step 5: Materials
List of electronic parts
A) 1x 9v Battery Connector, Male DC Connector
B) 1x TT Gear Motor
C) 1x 3D Printed Gear Motor Housing
D) 1x 3D Printed Lego-Compatible Coupling
E) 2x Breadboard, Mini Size
F) 1x Arduino Nano
G) 1x M3 x 10 Machine Screw
H) 1x M3 x 30 Machine Screw
I) 1x L298N Mini Motor Driver
J) 1x MAX4466 Microphone Module
K) 1x Power Jack, Barrel Type
L) 1x Mini Switch, Toggle Type
M) Male to Male Jumper Wire
List of Lego Technic components
A) Frame, 5x7-module
B) Beam, 5-module
C) Beam, 3-module
D) Double bevel gear, 36-tooth
E) Gear, 24-tooth
F) Worm gear
G) Double cross block, 3-module
H) Connector peg with friction/axle, 2-module
I) Connector peg with friction, 3-module
J) Bevel gear, 12-tooth
K) Gear, 8-tooth
L) Angular block 2, 180
M) Axle, 2-module
N) Bushing/axle extender, 2-module
O) Bushing, 1-module
P) Angular block, 5(157. 832