Advertisement
Quick Links
The SparkFun RedBot is a platform for teaching basic robotics and sensor
integration! It is based on the SparkFun RedBoard and fully programmable
using Arduino. This guide describes the assembly of the new Shadow
Chassis for the RedBot. If you want to learn how to program your robot, see
the Experiment Guide for RedBot.
NOTE: We recommend that you read all of the directions first, before
building your RedBot.
This tutorial will cover how to install all the parts in the SparkFun RedBot
Basic Kit and the SparkFun Inventor's Kit for RedBot (SIK for RedBot).
The SIK for RedBot contains additional parts to the RedBot Basic Kit.
If you have the RedBot Basic Kit, please ignore sections pertaining to
these extra parts. These sections are marked with the label (SIK).
Advertisement
Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel
Related Manuals for sparkfun RedBot
Summary of Contents for sparkfun RedBot
- Page 1 It is based on the SparkFun RedBoard and fully programmable using Arduino. This guide describes the assembly of the new Shadow Chassis for the RedBot. If you want to learn how to program your robot, see the Experiment Guide for RedBot.
- Page 2 These simple switches are the Mechanical Bumper sensor for the Sp … The SIK for RedBot has a few extra parts that you won’t see in the Basic Kit. These include the mechanical bump sensors (whiskers), the buzzer, and wheel encoders. If you have the SIK for RedBot, you can follow all the...
- Page 3 The SparkFun RedBot Basic Kit contains the following pieces. SIK-only parts are noted with an asterisk (*). Note that several of the parts need to be snapped out of the main chassis boards. Part Bottom Chassis Plate Top Chassis Plate...
- Page 4 USB Mini-B Cable (SIK) (Not Shown) * Indicates parts included in the SIK for RedBot IMPORTANT: If you have the RedBot Basic Kit, you will need 4x AA batteries. None! The RedBot Basic Kit does not require any additional tools. The SIK for RedBot comes with a screwdriver, which you will need to mount the Bumper Boards.
- Page 5 When we talk about the “front,” “left,” “right,” and “back” of the RedBot, we are referring to specific sides of the robot when viewed from above. Notice that we consider the Mainboard to be on the “back” of the RedBot and the Bumper Whiskers and Line Follower Boards to be in the “front.”...
- Page 6 contains all the necessary mounting hardware. 1x Bottom Chassis Plate (A) 2x Encoder Mount (F) 2x Motor (K) 2x Encoder Magnet Plate (N) 2x Encoder Hall Effect Sensor Slide the Encoder Magnet Plates (N) onto the metal shaft on the back of the Motors (K).
- Page 7 Take one of the Encoder Mounts (F) and hold it so that the protruding slot is on the left. Push one of the encoder sensors through the first slot on the right. Note: The direction of the sensor does not matter. Loop the sensor and push it through the second (middle) slot.
- Page 8 Once more, push the sensor through the small protruding slot on the left. Carefully pull the wires so there is no more slack in the mount. Make sure the whole sensor can be seen coming out of the final slot (the sensor should protrude between ¼"...
- Page 9 The right encoder is a mirrored assembly of the left encoder. Take the other Encoder Mount (F) and hold it so that the protruding slot is on the right. Push the other encoder sensor through the first slot on the left. Loop the sensor and push it through the second (middle) slot.
- Page 10 Bottom Chassis Plate (A). Note that the hall effect sensors are facing to the outside of the chassis. The motors add some motion to the RedBot by turning the nice, rubbery wheels. NOTE: If you completed the previous Wheel Encoder (SIK) step, your motors will each have an encoder magnet plate attached to their rear shaft.
- Page 11 2x Wheel (L) Hold the wires near the middle of the Motor (K), and carefully slide a Rear Motor Mount (D) in from the side and over the two motor wires. Be careful not to snag the wires, the cable tie, or the clear plastic strap. Holding the motor wires, gently twist the Rear Motor Mount counter clockwise so that it snaps in place on the motor and the wires are centered in the gap of the motor mount.
- Page 12 Repeat the process for the second motor. Slide a Front Motor Mount (C) onto the protruding eyelet on the front of a Motor (K). Ensure the rounded sides of the motor mounts are facing the same way. Repeat the process for the second motor.
- Page 13 Snap one of the motor assemblies into the left 2 horizontal slots of the Bottom Chassis Plate (A). Make sure that the rounded edges of the motor mounts and the wires are facing toward the center of the chassis. Snap the other motor assembly into the right 2 horizontal slots of the Bottom Chassis Plate (A).
- Page 14 Repeat with the other wheel. In this section, you will be putting standoffs on the RedBot Sensor - Line Followers. Then you will add the sensors to your chassis. 1x Line Follower Mount (I) 1x Line Follower Mount Plate 3x Line...
- Page 15 > Attach the 3 Line Follower Boards (Q) to the Line Follower Mount (I) such that the rectangular pegs in the Line Follower Mount poke through the mounting holes in the Line Follower Boards. Make sure the sensors are facing away/down from the clip of the mount. Place the Line Follower Mount Plate (J) on top of the Line Follower Mount (I) so that the center clip of the mount is poking through the center slot of the plate.
- Page 16 Read on if you have the SIK for RedBot or are using the Mechanical Bumpers. If not, skip to the next section. One of the sensors included in the SIK for RedBot are a set of Whisker...
- Page 17 The whiskers are made from a thick music wire and a simple RedBot Bumper board. You will need to prepare the music wire by bending the wire itself. Then, you will add standoffs and screws to your mechanical bumpers, followed by adding the mechanical bumpers to the RedBot chassis.
- Page 18 The Mini Screwdriver contains a flat-head and Phillips head. To change to the Phillips head, you might have to remove the metal shaft, turn it around, and insert it back into the plastic handle. Screw a #4-40 x 3/8" screw (V) and #4-40 hex nut (X) to one of the two large mechanical bumper holes.
- Page 19 Time to bend the whisker! It is easy to bend the whisker using needle nose pliers. However, there is a trick to bend the whisker using the Mechanical Bumper Board itself. First, stick one of the whiskers (U) through one of the smaller side holes. It only needs to stick out a little bit.
- Page 20 Now that the whisker is bent, take the wire out of the PCB hole. Add a #4-40 x 3/8" Screw (V) from the bottom and loop the bent whisker around the screw. Hold this tight and secure it with a the #4-40 nylon standoff. Note: It is very important that you do not let the whisker touch the hex nut or screw on the other side.
- Page 21 Do the opposite for the other bumper. Double check that there is one mechanical bumper that has a #4-40 x ¾" standoff on the right side of the “RedBot Bumper” silkscreen and one that has a #4-40 x ¾" standoff on the left side.
- Page 22 You will need to connect a 3-Wire Jumper Cable (Y) to each of the Bumper Boards (T). Note the color of the wire attached to each pin. Bumper Connections: Jumper Wire Color RedBot Sensor - Line Follower Black White Attach both cables to the 2 Bumper Boards.
- Page 23 Route the cables through the left and right oval cutouts, respectively. With the motors and a few sensors attached, we can assemble the main body of the robot. 4x Side Strut (E) 1x Nub Caster (M) You will also need the Top Chassis Plate and Bottom Chassis Plate assemblies, which have any additional parts and sensors you attached in previous steps.
- Page 24 Plate assembly. Make sure the Nub Caster is on the side opposite the motors (the bottom side). Snap the four Side Struts (E) into the diagonal slots on the four corners of the Bottom Chassis Plate assembly. Position the Top Chassis Plate over the Bottom Chassis Plate – but do not snap the two plates together yet.
- Page 25 Right Wheel Encoder* Right * Indicates parts included in the SIK for RedBot Line up the Top Chassis Plate on top of all the struts, and carefully snap the Top Chassis Plate assembly onto the side struts and motor mounts. Press gently above each side strut individually until they each snap into place.
- Page 26 In this section, you will add brains of the robot: the RedBot Mainbooard. 2x Mainboard Mount (G) 1x RedBot Mainboard (P) > You will also need the full chassis assembly, which contains any additional parts and sensors you attached in previous steps.
- Page 27 Trace each cable poking through the top chassis plate to make sure you know what it is connected to. If you have the RedBot Basic Kit, disregard any extra sensors that are missing in your kit. These sensors will be marked with the label (SIK).
- Page 28 3-Wire Jumper Cable - 3-Wire Jumper Cable - Black Center Line Follower: RedBot Mainboard Jumper Wires Middle Line Follower Pins Board 3-Wire Jumper Cable - White 3-Wire Jumper Cable - 3-Wire Jumper Cable - Black Right Line Follower: RedBot Mainboard...
- Page 29 White 3-Wire Jumper Cable - 3-Wire Jumper Cable - Black Left Motor: RedBot Mainboard Pins Left Motor Jumper Wires LEFT MOTOR - RED Soldered on Motor Jumper Wire - RED LEFT MOTOR - BLACK Soldered on Motor Jumper Wire - BLACK...
- Page 30 RedBot Mainboard Jumper Wires Left Wheel Pins Encoder 3-Wire Jumper Cable - White 3-Wire Jumper Cable - 3-Wire Jumper Cable - Black Right Wheel Encoder (SIK): RedBot Mainboard Jumper Wires Right Wheel Pins Encoder 3-Wire Jumper Cable - White 3-Wire Jumper Cable -...
- Page 31 “A4” male header pin on the RedBot Mainboard, and attach the Accelerometer Board (R). Read on if you have the SIK for RedBot or are using the RedBot Buzzer. If not, skip to the next section. Every robot should be able to make some sounds. Adding the buzzer will...
- Page 32 Buzzer Board on top of the “9”, “POW”, and “GND” male header pins. The last step is to provide a power source for the RedBot. If you do not have the SIK for RedBot, you will need to provide your own AA batteries.
- Page 33 Battery Holder. Insert the Battery Holder (Z) with batteries into the back cavity of the RedBot. Position the Battery Holder so that the barrel jack cable comes out on the left side of the robot.
- Page 34 Push the clip down into the vertical slots in the Bottom Chassis Plate so it snaps in place. Route the barrel jack cable out of the left side of the RedBot and up to the Mainboard. If you have a motor encoder (SIK), make sure that the cable does not interfere with the magnet or the hall effect sensor.
- Page 35 If you find that you need to replace the batteries in the RedBot, the process is simple. Unplug the battery pack from the Mainboard. Turn the RedBot over and push on the Battery Holder through the hole in the Bottom Chassis Plate. This will cause the Battery Pack Clip to unsnap...
- Page 36 Change the batteries, and follow the steps in Attach Battery Pack section above to put the Battery Pack back in the RedBot. Now that we have built the RedBot, we should verify that it works. If you would like a more in-depth explanation of how to program your robot, visit the Experiment Guide for RedBot with Shadow Chassis.
- Page 37 To program the RedBot from your browser, make sure you have the FTDI drivers and Codebender plugin) installed. Plug in the RedBot using a USB mini cable. Turn the RedBot POWER switch to ON and the MOTOR switch to RUN.
- Page 38 (quite rapidly) for 2 seconds. You might want to pick the RedBot up so that it doesn’t run away from you! The RedBot will drive forward for only 2 seconds and then stop. If you want to run the code again, you will need to press the RESET button on the RedBot Mainboard.
- Page 39 You might have noticed some odd-looking hole patterns in the top plate and side struts. The RedBot’s chassis is manufactured to accept Actobotics parts. Feel free to add other mounts, gimbals, servos, and claws!
Need help?
Do you have a question about the RedBot and is the answer not in the manual?
Questions and answers