Pet Robot

I always wanted a pet robot--one that runs around and takes care of itself.

Roamer 2 wanders about, detecting objects using sonar and her front bumper. She mostly stays out of trouble.

Her maximum run time is about 11 minutes, but she starts hunting her charger (using a Pixy camera and Arduino) after 4 minutes. Charge time is around two minutes. Because she is powered by super capacitors, she can charge and discharge tens of thousands of times (at most any rate) without degradation of the capacitors. The charging station is a 12" x 12" metal plate with a pole in the center. Roamer 2's front bumper contacts the pole and a spring (lowered by a servo motor) contacts the metal plate. A bench power supply, set at 12 volts (max) and 1.6 amps (max) supplies the energy.

Boost converter

500 farad, 2.8 volt capacitor

Lever switch, momentary

photo resistor

(2) Arduino

Arduino motor shield

Vacuum belt

Three amp diode

(4) 4.7 k resistor

breadboard

aluminum duct tape

spring, 5.5 mm x 38 mm

sheet steel

Bench power supply

Wire, solder, 3mm screws

3d printed parts (files available in this Instructable)

Gear

Servo motor

Pixy camera

Ultrasonic module

Relay module

The schematic is shown here. There are two Arduino processors. One manages the Pixy camera and the ultrasonic transducer, sending results to the motor control Arduino.

Print the 3d files.

Install the motors in the base.

Attach the spring power pickup to the servo motor.

Installl the servo motor and capacitors.

Place the tires (vacuum belts) on the wheels.

Attach the switch to the switch bracket. Add the bumper and wheels to the base.

Add the caster wheel to the rear of the base.

Add foil tape to the front bumper.

Add the camera and ultrasonic transducer to the body.

Drill a hole in the center of the steel base plate. Install the pole (wrapped in metal foil). Add the target color paper to the pole (target color should be something not visible any where else within the habitat).

Set the voltage on the power supply at 13 volts, current at 1.6 amps. Let your new pet roam!