"Mousey the Junk Bot" Competition

During last weeks meeting we discussed having a new competition with "Mousey the Junk Bot" created by Gareth Branwyn. "Mousey the Junk Bot" is a light seeking bot made from easily accessible parts . For more info check out the following links:

http://www.youtube.co...

http://www.instructab...

The idea behind this competition is to teach members some basics in electronics/robotics as well as allow all members, regardless of skill level, to compete on an equal playing field.

Here are my thoughts on how the competition will play out.

Objective:

To make it to the brightest point on the playing field the fastest.

Rules:

Bot must use only the parts listed in the instructable excluding wheel size and motor size.

Bot must be housed in a standard PC mouse.

Some other thoughts:

Bonus points or seperate competion for craftsmanship.

Please feel free to comment and add any ideas you have for this competition. No rules or regulations have been set. However, remember this is a competition designed to include all members.

Patrick

Hey, Patrick - those look kind of cool. do you have a link to the pdf from page 100 of the make magazine they keep referring to?

When are you thinking about having this comp?


jamie

Jamie, check out the instructables link in the post. You should be able to log into instructables.com and download the pdf.

If I get enough feedback maybe have a build session during the next meeting and have the competition the meeting after.

Patrick

Looks good to me....I say let's go through piles at home and see what all we have on hand...post things you can bring here. Then we can see what items members will need to buy on their own.

Here is a link to the schematic:

http://www.streettech...

Parts List:

1 Ball Mouse
2 Small DC Motors
1 Toggle Switch
1 DPDT 5v Relay (Aromat DS2YE-S-DC5V works)
1 LM386 op-amp
1 2N3904 or PN2222 NPN Transistor
1 LED (any color)
1 1K Resistor
1 10K Resistor
1 100uF Electrolytic Capacitor
1 Audio Cassette Tape (you know, from the 80s...) Optional
1 CD-ROM or Floppy Disk (for the bumper)
1 9V Battery Snap
1 9V Battery
2 or 3 Wide Rubber Bands
22 or 24 Gauge Wire (some stranded and some solid core)

Patrick

Count me in. I can bring a couple of soldering irons, solder, dremmel, some wire... I will also look thru the junkbox for parts.

Steve

That's great Steve. I have about 8 mice so far for anyone needing one. They have the bump switches and the light sensors in them.

Anyone know a good local source for the relays? I found some online for about $1.50 a piece but shipping was $7.00.

Patrick

Sorry about my over-brevity-ing. This is more like a reversed shopping list.
anyway:

I have a bunch of 1 (and 10k needed?) resistors, so we are covered in that respect.

Also, I have a lot of NPN transistors (plenty of PNP, can I bring those?) and 100uf capacitors, plus plenty of short bits of wire (nothing longer than three inches, bummer).

I could bring my extra green LED's, but not that many.

I'll bring my own soldering tools, and two glue guns.
Hmmmm safety glasses? and a way to disperse the lead fumes... I have a desk-mounted fan, works good.
Extension cords? I can bring some, if it would help us all from being crowded around one outlet.
Also, a nice big table or twenty so the hot irons can spread out. (I need elbow room)

I don't have a good LM386 (I have a damaged one...), so I'll have to go to radioshack unless if someone volunteers an extra for me in time.

The schematic linked to is faulty and misleading. I can draw a better one on-site, and I'll bring a pinout of LM386 for reference.

For photodiode eyes, we can get them from the mice themselves, assuming they are not the newer motion-detector types.

I have a mouse I've looked at for this type project, just never had a competitive motivation for it. Should I bring my other extra (one or two) mice?

Multimeters! We'll need them for determining the photodiode orientation. I have four, how many should I bring?


Lever switches AKA micro switches: doubtful about their neccessity, we just need two (normally open) wire contacts; use paper clips for that, Radioshack will price gouge you for the switches!

I can bring a few 8-pin IC sockets...


An aside, I'm working on another photovore designed for coolness. It's not built inside of a mouse.

good night...yawn....

oh, and I found a cheap source of identical motors, 1$ per motor....ask for more info if interested....zzzzz....zzz..zzzzzzz

Dustin, you sure that schematic is incorrect? It has a little note above it saying the one in his book was incorrect and the one shown is correct. Can you tell us where the errors are for those of us who want to bread board the circuit?


Thanks,
Patrick