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Summary of Contents for Variobot variAnt
- Page 2 Safety instructions Before building and using the robot, it is important variAnt may only be used indoors. Do not use ● to read the following precautions. Please follow this robot in traffic areas! them! Do not use variAnt on tables and other ●...
- Page 3 General Battery Information Although the constructions and circuits introduced in this instruction manual were designed and tested Rechargeable batteries (RBs) should be kept ● with as much accuracy and detail as possible, errors out of the reach of children! cannot be entirely excluded. Do not charge conventional batteries.
- Page 4 Introduction Thank you for buying our variAnt robot kit. We did Content our very best to make it as much like a real ant as Section A (Construction) of this manual uses ● possible. numerous images to show you how to build Thanks to its innovative and compact running your robotic ant step-by-step.
- Page 5 16) Attaching the Sensors 17) Attaching the Mandibles We will continue to optimize and expand sections B) and C) as well as the variAnt library. 18) Attaching the Antennae We welcome your feedback so that we can 19) Installing the Battery incorporate it into future updates if necessary.
- Page 6 List of Abbreviations Connections on the variAnt board (front) Connections on the variAnt board (rear) Digital-I/O Left 0 Analog-Input Left 0 Digital-I/O Left 1 Analog-Input Left 1 Digital-I/O Left 2 Analog-Input Left 2 Digital-I/O Left 3 Analog-Input Left 3 Digital-I/O Right 0...
- Page 7 A) Construction Before you begin, remove the acrylic parts from Fragile! Handle with care! their individual transparent plastic film. When handling the acrylic parts, be careful Begin with the bottom body component. not to bend them too much until they are connected to their counterpart.
- Page 8 Now attach 6 brass spacers with 4 mm screws onto long screws (8 mm) and an Allen key at the the bottom of the plate where variAnt’s legs will be indicated positions on the top side of the acrylic mounted.
- Page 9 Press the motors’ red cables right next to the black caps of the motor housings (3). This will prevent them from bumping into the gears while using variAnt. Now, ensuring you use little pressure, slant the motors and set them into the corresponding openings.
- Page 10 3) Prepping the Cables Carefully use a utility knife (held almost horizontally) to split the 10 cm long flat ribbon cable into 4 two-colored twin cables. Keep the leftover cable in case you decide to do some additional wiring. From one of the 20 cm long flat ribbon cables, sepa- 1 rainbow flat ribbon cable, 10 cm (10 pin) rate the outer four pole strands.
- Page 11 Now place the breadboard into the 2 cable onto the back pin header of the control board large openings on variAnt’s head, (brown » +5 V, . . . , black » GND). just far enough that it sits firmly.
- Page 12 5) Installing the Long Cables Tie a knot in the 4-pin cable (brown, ..., yellow) as Insert the 4 connectors directly in front of the shown, and then thread the 2-pin branches from cables of the same color into the breadboard. the center through the 5-pin cable strand Place the brown-red cable between the motors (brown, ..., green).
- Page 13 6) Connecting the Short Cables Insert the orange-red and white-gray cables (each Knot the left motor cable. Then, connect both 10 cm long) directly in front of the cables of the motor cables to the contacts MR and ML on the same color on the breadboard.
- Page 14 7) Prepping the Top Body Component Attach 6 short spacers to the top body component Then slide the clip cable for the battery through the using short screws. small rectangular opening (1) and connect it to the available contacts in the middle of the control ‒...
- Page 15 8) Connecting the Body Components Now, press the diagonally positioned motors apart For now, secure the upper component only to the at the top, and push the cables that are in between head and the abdomen using 5 long screws. downwards.
- Page 16 9) Prepping the Drive Shafts Ideally, the bending angles of the 6 drive shafts When variAnt runs into an obstacle, the impact should be exactly 10°. However, they may have upon the gears is very high. To prevent the some manufacturing tolerances.
- Page 17 10) Putting on the Gears Start by sliding one brass bushing over Use pliers to hold the shaft near the bend and a the roughened ends of each of the 6 piece of cloth to slide the gear off the shaft. Then, bent shafts.
- Page 18 Now, secure each of the 8 shafts with a shaft collar. you marked in the opposite direction of their bending, through the middle oval Place variAnt on its feet, and adjust the height of holes (3). the brass bushings so that the gears just barely If the brass bushing gets stuck in the second hole, rotate without touching the ground.
- Page 19 12) Securing the Bushings and Attaching the Ball Joints Begin by disassembling the six temporary feet and 6 medium-length screws (6 mm) placing the whole thing on its gears. 6 brass balls with holes (5 mm) While applying slight pressure to the center of the body (to keep the brass bushings from slipping out of place), carefully tighten the acrylic pieces at the remaining positions using 4 long 8 mm screws.
- Page 20 6 left leg elements They compensate for lateral leg movements 48 short screws and even increase variAnt’s speed. 24 short spacers 6 short shafts (8 mm) Carefully remove any rough edges on these shaft 6 small shaft collars collars using a utility knife.
- Page 21 14) Attaching the Legs Begin by applying some lubricant to the outside of Insert another ball onto the shaft until it reaches the 6 brass balls mounted earlier, distributing it the elongated hole (5), and then tighten the screw evenly. Also apply some lubricant to the holes of 12 below it (4) so that the leg can still move smoothly additional brass balls.
- Page 22 15) Defining the Step Sequence Now align the gears so that the teeth you marked Bend the leads of the reed face outward toward the corresponding brass switches by 90° and trim 12,5 bushings (1). them to a length of 8 mm using a wire cutter.
- Page 23 16) Attaching the sensors Using a wire cutter, trim the leads of 8 of the phototransistors to exactly 8 mm. Then, correctly polarize 4 of them and connect them to the cable terminals of the legs. The positive terminal (collector) of the phototransistors is located on the short pin or the side of the housing that is flat (K).
- Page 24 17) Attaching the Mandibles Attach 2 short spacers to both a left and a right mandible element using short 4 mm screws. The left and right mandible elements differ only in how they are serrated. Now, mount the 2 counterparts onto the spacers, but use only one screw for each, namely at the tip of the mandible.
- Page 25 18) Attaching the Antennae Attach 4 short spacers to each of the unengraved sides of the two right antenna elements using 4 short screws. Slide a shaft collar onto each of the 2 short shafts and insert them into the opening at position 5. Now, place the left antenna elements on top and secure them with 2 short screws (1 and 2).
- Page 26 19) Installing the Battery Mount the 2 battery holders on the small spacers in If your kit does not include a battery, make the center of the body using 4 short screws. sure to use a rechargeable 9 V lithium-ion battery or, a 9 V lithium battery.
- Page 27 20) Mounting the Electronics Trim the leads of the blue and red LEDs as well as the 2 push buttons to a length of 6 mm. For the LEDs, you can identify the negative terminal (cath- ode) by the shorter leg and the larger "flag" (K) inside. To ensure the contact for the 3 red LEDs in the sockets is good, you’ll need to twist the ends of the legs 90°...
- Page 28 VARIOBOT kit, unlike conventional 9 V alkaline battery level and can take up to 2 hours. batteries or NiMH batteries, can deliver a current of up to 600 mA. It provides power to variAnt for a Key specifications for the VARIOBOT battery: minimum of 3 hours.
- Page 29 "Tools" Now the board will appear in the menu: "LGT8fx Boards/LGT8F328" Select the board: ● Your kit includes a Nano variant with a "Internal" Select the clock source: ● powerful LGT8F328 processor that can be "16 MHz" "32 MHz"...
- Page 30 This is how you can install the library in the and right motors using the reed switches. Arduino-IDE: In the menu, click The VariAnt Library has 2 data files for each of the Sketch/Include Library/Add .ZIP Library... classes, VariAnt and AntMotor. VariAnt.zip Open the file you downloaded.
- Page 31 Save your initial sketch, for example, under the name "variAnt_test.ino". VariAnt ant; First create an object of the VariAnt class in the program void setup( ) and give it a name like "ant", for example. ant.setup( );...
- Page 32 At the beginning of the upload, the blue LED (L) moving offset by 180°. on both the Nano board and the VariAnt board (DL3) will blink if the left red switch (LEDs) is The red LEDs (RSL and RSR) indicate the pressed.
- Page 33 6) Implementing Outputs The USB connection can also be used to run input and output #include <VariAnt.h> operations via the PC, which is particularly useful for testing or troubleshooting purposes. #define TEST Initialize the serial connection with "Serial.begin()". Use the VariAnt ant;...
- Page 34 The sensors on the hind legs should be shaded simultaneously with the eye sensors on the same variAnt's phototransistors are connected in side, just as the sensor on the rear part and the series between GND and 5 V, and they provide central sensor on the head should be.
- Page 35 In this case, the sum of these sensor if(ant.senseShadow(900, L0, L2, R2)) values is compared to the threshold value. ant.stepBack(1,4); if(ant.senseShadow(900, R0, R2, L2)) This causes the "variAnt" to rotate one step to the ant.stepBack(4,1); right when the left front leg "L1" is shaded, using "stepBack(0,1)".
- Page 36 In addition, unlike other robots, variAnt does not Always use a smooth surface to enable lateral need to emit infrared light to detect lines or compensation movements that use the rollers on objects.
- Page 37 Using "setLed(R1)" turns on the corresponding LED at the digital output "DR1", while "setLed(R1, LOW)" "run(FORWARD)" allows variAnt to move in the sel- turns it off. ected direction, either "FORWARD" or "BACKWARD". "turn(LEFT)" enables variAnt to rotate in the The LEDs may need to be set again in each desired direction, either "LEFT"...
- Page 38 C) Appendix 1) Overview of the Components...
- Page 39 2) Schematic Diagram of the variAnt Board...
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