Your Smart IOT

<p>I have been doing software for almost as long as I have memory. I have also been following the<a href="http://ift.tt/vOvCib" target="_blank">open source hardware</a> movement since its inception a few years ago, but I have never found the time or the disposition to attempt a hardware project myself.</p>
<p>Until now, that is.</p>
<p>I have decided to do a small hardware project to get my feet wet, a project that I will fully document and discuss here with the hope to encourage and motivate others to do the same.</p>
<p>Here is the list of articles I have published:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://ift.tt/1102KgV" target="_blank">Part I: Hardware Components</a> (this article)</li>
<li><a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrI8N" target="_blank">Part II: Programming the Arduino</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ift.tt/1Q5a6WJ" target="_blank">Part III: Assembling the Robot</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrKxF" target="_blank">Part IV: A (Not So) Basic Robot Firmware</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ift.tt/1Q5a557" target="_blank">Part V: Avoiding Obstacles</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrI8O" target="_blank">Part VI: Remote Control</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Deciding what to build</h2>
<p>For the hardware platform I have decided on the <a href="http://ift.tt/ktcSHT" target="_blank">Arduino</a>. This was an easy choice, as this is a platform that is widely used by hardware tinkerers all over the world, which means there is plenty of information and resources available.</p>
<p>The choice of a project that is in line with my (limited) knowledge was also pretty easy to make. I knew I wanted to build a cool toy, something I can impress my kids with. That pretty much reduced the list of options to just one: a robot.</p>
<p>But what kind of robot? A humanoid robot would be awesome to build, but it does not seem like a good choice for a first project. I needed something easy enough that I can complete in a relatively short amount of time, yet hard enough to be interesting and challenging.</p>
<p>After some Googling to see what other people do with Arduinos I have settled on a remote controlled robot vehicle.</p>
<p>As I said before I wanted to make this challenging, so I decided against buying a kit that includes all the parts, the software and the instructions. Instead, I decided to come up with a relatively custom robot design, get the parts I needed and figure out how to build it and program it without any specific instructions.</p>
<p>Here are the features I decided my robot will have:</p>
<ul>
<li>It should be a vehicle that can move forward, backwards and turn.</li>
<li>It should be easy to assemble and disassemble.</li>
<li>It should have a mode in which it is able to move on its own, detecting obstacles ahead and avoiding them.</li>
<li>It should have a mode in which it can be fully controlled from my Android smartphone.</li>
<li>It should be easy to hack, change and improve.</li>
</ul>
<p>Does this sound interesting enough to you? I hope it does, it certainly does to me!</p>
<h2>Shopping list</h2>
<p>With the above feature list in hand I went on to research what parts I needed for my project. Here is the list I came up with:</p>
<ul>
<li>Arduino board</li>
<li>Motor controller</li>
<li>Distance sensor</li>
<li>Bluetooth slave</li>
<li>Prototyping board and cables</li>
<li>USB cable</li>
<li>Vehicle kit</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Arduino board</h3>
<center><img alt="Arduino Robot" src="http://ift.tt/1VkrI8R" /></center>
The Arduino board will be the brain of the robot, as it will be running the software that will control all the other parts.
<p>My son had an old <a href="http://ift.tt/R5bOOG" target="_blank">Arduino Uno</a> that he ended up not using, so I did not need to buy one. There are plenty of Arduino models or even Arduino compatible boards that can be used.</p>
<p><em>My recommendation: <a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrKNU" target="_blank">Arduino Uno R3</a>, currently $21.95 at Amazon.</em></p>
<h3>The motor driver</h3>
<center><img alt="Arduino Robot" src="http://ift.tt/1Q5a7d4" /></center>
The Arduino board cannot directly control a motor. The tricky part is to be able to make the motor selectively run forward or backwards, which requires swapping power and ground inputs into the motor.
<p>There is a specialized circuit called an <a href="http://ift.tt/r4hV2E" target="_blank">H-Bridge</a> that can do this, and there are several implementations of this circuit readily available for the Arduino platform, or you can also <a href="http://ift.tt/1rHhdKI" target="_blank">build one from basic parts</a> for next to nothing.</p>
<p>Without having much knowledge about this I bought the cheapest motor controller board I’ve found, a fully assembled version of the <a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrI8U" target="_blank">Adafruit motor shield</a> at Amazon for $13.99. Later I realized with this board I will need to work around a design issue, so if I had to buy again I would get a more expensive one. More about this later.</p>
<p><em>My recommendation: <a href="http://ift.tt/1Q5a7d6" target="_blank">Arduino Motor Shield R3</a>, for $33.01 at Amazon.</em></p>
<h3>The Distance Sensor</h3>
<center><img alt="Arduino Robot" src="http://ift.tt/1VkrKO0" /></center>
Distance sensors send an ultrasonic signal forward and then wait to receive a bounced signal. Depending on how long the signal takes to bounce back the approximated distance to an obstacle can be calculated. I will use this little device to prevent the robot from hitting walls or other obstacles in its way.
<p>Browsing on Amazon I found a cheap and highly regarded component, the <a href="http://ift.tt/1Q5a558" target="_blank">HC-SR04</a>, currently selling for $6.59. This is a nice component that will not only give the robot the ability to see but also give it cool looking eyes!</p>
<p><em>My recommendation: <a href="http://ift.tt/1Q5a558" target="_blank">HC-SR04</a>, for $6.59 at Amazon.</em></p>
<h3>The Bluetooth Slave</h3>
<center><img alt="Arduino Robot" src="http://ift.tt/1VkrKO2" /></center>
The easiest way to control the robot from a smartphone is via the bluetooth serial interface that all modern smartphones have. The phone will act as a master, so I needed a bluetooth slave for the robot.
<p>Browsing on Amazon I found the <a href="http://ift.tt/1SwJdSv" target="_blank">BT2S Bluetooth to Serial Slave</a> which seems to fit the bill nicely.</p>
<p><em>My recommendation: <a href="http://ift.tt/1SwJdSv" target="_blank">BT2S Bluetooth to Serial Slave</a>, for $14.95 at Amazon.</em></p>
<h3>The Prototyping Board and Cables</h3>
<center><img alt="Arduino Robot" src="http://ift.tt/1VkrL4r" /></center>
<center><img alt="Arduino Robot" src="http://ift.tt/1Q5a7d8" /></center>
One of the restrictions I decided to impose myself with this project is that I would not do any soldering, so that I can assemble and disassemble the robot to my heart’s content without ruining any parts.
<p>Then I needed a platform where I can easily connect all the components together. For this kind of task people typically use a <a href="http://ift.tt/1tNFG5A" target="_blank">breadboard</a>. Browsing on Amazon I found one from <a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrKO7" target="_blank">microtivity</a> that comes with a set of jumper cables.</p>
<p><em>My recommendation: <a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrKO7" target="_blank">microtivity IB401</a>, for $8.66 at Amazon.</em></p>
<h3>The USB Cable</h3>
<center><img alt="Arduino Robot" src="http://ift.tt/1Q5a7da" /></center>
The Arduino board is connected to a computer via a USB port. The USB connection is used to upload software and also can be used as a power source when testing.
<p>I took a cable from an old printer I have, so I did not need to buy this item. If you need to buy a cable, make sure you get the right connectors. The computer side is the standard A-Male, but on the Arduino side you need a B-Male connector.</p>
<p><em>My recommendation: <a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrKOb" target="_blank">Amazon Basics USB 2.0 A-Male to B-Male Cable, 6 feet</a> for $5.49 at Amazon.</em></p>
<h3>The Vehicle Kit</h3>
<center><img alt="Arduino Robot" src="http://ift.tt/1Q5a5lm" /></center>
There are many choices for robot friendly vehicles. My only requirements were that it had a large platform where all the parts can be mounted and that it came with the wheels and motors.
<p>In the end I decided to get the <a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrNJz" target="_blank">Magician Chassis</a>. This is a kit that is extremely simple to build. It includes two motors and a battery box that plugs directly into the Arduino board.</p>
<p><em>My recommendation: <a href="http://ift.tt/1VkrNJz" target="_blank">Magician Chassis</a>, for $25 at Amazon.</em></p>
<p>The total cost for the parts above gets to around $115 if you go with my recommendations, but if you want to save money you could certainly spend less and do more work.</p>
<h2>Final words</h2>
<p>Thank you for reading the first part of my tutorial series, I hope you found it useful.</p>
<p>In the second article I will fire up my Arduino board, introduce you to the Arduino development environment and finally write a few little Arduino programs to demonstrate how to control each of the parts of the robot.</p>
<p>If you have any questions or comments please write then below and I’ll do my best to address them.</p>
<p>See you next time!</p>
<p>Miguel</p>
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Building an Arduino Robot, Part I: Hardware Components

I have been doing software for almost as long as I have memory. I have also been following the open source hardware movement since its ince...

Building an Arduino Robot, Part I: Hardware Components

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