Make Robot Car That Is Smartphone Controlled With 6WD
by ROBO HUB in Circuits > Robots
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Make Robot Car That Is Smartphone Controlled With 6WD
Hello there, In this instructable I will show you how you can make a Robot Car that Is Controlled by a Smartphone and has 6WD.
This robotic car communicates over Wi-fi and you can drive this robotic car on almost every irregular surface, i have tested this robotic car on different terrains across my place, and to my surprise, this works really well, thanks to the 6 geared motors that directly drive the wheels giving it a good torque.
In short, let me explain how this car works
This robotic car has an Esp8266 board that is widely known for its Inbuilt Wi-fi on board and it's inexpensive too.
Esp8266 runs the motor driver and wheels, this board is controlled by a smartphone with an app
To use this all you have to do is turn on wifi, connect to the board, open the application, and drive on your desired terrain.
I have given all the steps required to build this project along with a working video and circuit diagram.
Supplies
- ESP8266 Board
- BO motors with wheels
- Jumper Wires
- LED strip
- Couple of wires
- L298N Motor driver
- Popsicle sticks
- Switch
- Magnets
- 18650 batteries
- Cardboard
- Hot glue and super glue
- Battery holder
- Markers and ruler
- Wire strippers
- Soldering lead and iron
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Preparing the Wheels
After gathering the materials we will start to assemble the wheels with the motor, in my case I will be using the dual shaft motor, always adding the wheels to the opposite direction of the connection point of the dc motor.
This will help in hiding the wires of the dc motor and avoid any mess.
After you add the wheels to the shaft of the dc motor we should add the popsicle sticks to the sides. You may wonder why this is necessary, This is to elevate the height of wheels from the cardboard and to make this robot overcome across medium terrains on its path.
Use a generous amount of hot glue to attach popsicle sticks to the BO motor. Repeat the same steps for all other 6 motors too
Reinforcing the Cardboard Base
The cardboard by itself can handle all the shocks coming from the wheels when the robotic is working, but as time passes by this may deform the shape and make the cardboard weak.
To avoid this issue I will be using a simple method to reinforce the base, I used a few popsicle sticks and hot glue and glued them all over the surface of the cardboard as you can see in these steps.
This makes the cardboard base a lot stronger and you can test it by yourself, try to bend the cardboard and you will be surprised to see its strength.
Allow the glue to dry completely and now we can add the wheels to this base.
Adding the Wheels
This work is filled with fun, we have the base ready and the wheel part ready.
All we have to do is insert the wooden strips into the slots, starting from one side, I have added the 3 motors first.
Check the alignment of the wheels with the help of a ruler or any straight thing, and make some adjustments if any motor is misaligned.
Repeat the same steps for the other sides too, Now for the protruding end add the superglue.
Wait for the glue to dry completely and trim off the extra edges, use a wire striper for this purpose.
Circuit Building
The circuit is simple even though if you are a beginner you can easily build the connections.
To make it a lot simpler i will explain the circuit diagram here
The main thing here is the BO motor connections, We are using 6 BO motors
The 3 motors are connected together and likewise the other 3, Before connecting the motor to the driver check if the 3 motors have the same direction of rotation, if not change the terminals of the motor with different directions of rotation and make it to work in same direction.
Now from the Nodemcu and l298n driver, we are using jumper wires to establish a connection
Ena to D5, IN1 to D8, IN2 to D7, IN3 to D4, IN4 to D3 and finally the Enb to D6 pins on nodemcu.
The power supply goes like this, The driver has 3 terminals, 12v, Gnd and 5v
Connect gnd and 5v pin to nodemcu, Battery supply will go to the 12v and gnd pins via a switch control.
Secure the motor driver to the board with the help of hot glue and also add the sticks to the holes of the driver to ensure double safety this is because this part may face a lot of movements when the car is working.
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Connecting to Phone
After all the circuit connections are made, Upload the code given below and finally you can connect the battery to the circuit so we can check for working.
Power on the switch so as to activate the circuit, this activates the Nodemcu and you should see the LED bulb glow on the esp8266 board.
Now on your smartphone device open wifi and you will see a name with 6WD, There will no requirement for password, just click on the name and you are connected now.
In the phone install this application and open
You will have control button to control the car, just press front, back, left and right.
If everything goes well head over to next steps, if not check the wire connections again and this will solve the problem.
Downloads
Finishing
Well, this is an optional part but I would highly recommend you to do this.
You can simply increase the attractiveness of this robotic car by adding a strip of LED light.
The circuit is very basic on and off circuit since I'm using a 12v LED strip i coupled the 18650 batteries in series and added a switch to control the LED strip.
Use the adhesive on the back of the LED strip to attach them to the cardboard.
I have hidden the batteries inside so that the project looks clean, To make it attachable and detachable I used magnets.
One magnet goes to the lid and the other to the base, refer to the last image on this step.
Once this is put up we can head over to the final steps necessary for finishing this car.
Testing the Robot Car
This is the most interesting part of any project, Watching your creation work.
This is the best feeling ever and in my project this robotic car has 6wd meaning all the 6 wheels are responsible for movement, I have tested this robotic car on a few terrains! and the results were just amazing.
It can easily pass across small humps and obstacles.
No need to worry about the battery backup, Those 18650 batteries are very good at keeping up the charge in a long run.
When you are done finishing up the battery, all you have to do is pull up the cover and remove batteries, Recharge them, and there you go, you can start to explore the places around you!
This was all about building this project if you have any questions ask in the comments, Thanks and happy build
Working Video
Here is the video that shows few adventures from this robotic car, If you are not able to watch the video directly paste this https://youtu.be/SrrVfBOOD44 on you browser, Hope you enjoyed this project.
Try building this project and like always thank you for showing interest