Little Mac is my 3 pound battle bot that I will hopefully compete with later this year.
3 pounds is the Beetleweight class. The frame of my bot is a 2009 Mac Mini.
This page will be updated later with more information. For now, enjoy some pictures! 🙂
Highlights of Utah Bot Brawl 2020
Video Tour
Unopened Mac Mini
This is a 6.5 inch square
Custom 3D printed gears
Custom 3D printed gears and wheel hubs
1/4 inch thick HDPE plastic frame
Weapon is made from a rubber roller from a copier and square steel
Test fitting some parts in the frame
“Robot Salad” Weighing all the parts was a regular occurrence
Some of the tools I used. Drill, jigsaw, and rotary tool. All from Harbor Freight
Battle hardening the gearmotors with Loctite on all internal screws.
More test fitting of parts.
Designed a power “switch”. You unscrew the screw to turn the bot off.
Testing some of my code with the hardware. Remote Control -> Arduino Nano -> H Bridge Motor Driver -> Motor
New weapon motor. Extended the shaft of a printer motor.
Testing the weapon drive system
Another view of the weapon drive
Full schematic of the bot. Some resistor values have been changed
Modified R/C receiver. The connector has been moved to the other side so the receiver can fit in a tighter spot.
My interface board before the Arduino is installed. Has a 5V regulator and MOSFET for driving the weapon motor. This board connects between the H-Bridge board and the Arduino.
Completed circuitry
Completed circuitry. The LED is for status, the 3 pin connector goes to the R/C receiver
Battle hardening the circuitry with hot glue to prevent loose connections
Foam holding the circuitry in place. Beginning install of the wiring and motors. Hot glue to keep wiring from vibrating loose.
Top view of the completed internals. Only thing not in the picture is the Velcro that will hold the top plate on.
More completed views
2 red LEDs for indicating power, blue LED indicates good connection to remote
Side view of weapon spinning
Top of bot
Bottom of bot
Side view of weapon drive
Back of bot. The spikes are good as weapons and for preventing the bot from getting stuck on one side. The larger hole is where you use a screwdriver to turn the bot on/off.