Building A Robot: Chassis
The point of this part of the project is to get an understanding of what our motors can and can't do. They drive pretty fast, but not at lightning speed. One thing to note is because of the gearing, reverse is a little slower than forward. Hopefully, you also noticed that differential turning (using both motors to turn) is far superior, than simply using 1 motor to do left or right turns. With a chassis built and motors tested you're ready to move forward.
What To Do Now
The next step is to go to Part 2: Motor Control of the Building A Robot series and to start building a motor controller so that we can program movements into the robot. As we have it right now, we can only turn the motors off and on, let's add some intelligence!
Conclusion
The goal of the first part of the Buiding A Robot project was to get a robotic platform (the magician chassis) put together and confirm that the motors work properly. Also, it was important to take a look at how this robot would move, so we tested out connecting the motors straight to batteries and experimented with the capabilities available to us. But now it's time to move on to the far more fun part, motor control.
If you have any further questions, I implore you...don't be shy, take a look at the forums or ask a question there. I check them out regularly and love getting comments & questions.
The point of this part of the project is to get an understanding of what our motors can and can't do. They drive pretty fast, but not at lightning speed. One thing to note is because of the gearing, reverse is a little slower than forward. Hopefully, you also noticed that differential turning (using both motors to turn) is far superior, than simply using 1 motor to do left or right turns. With a chassis built and motors tested you're ready to move forward.
What To Do Now
The next step is to go to Part 2: Motor Control of the Building A Robot series and to start building a motor controller so that we can program movements into the robot. As we have it right now, we can only turn the motors off and on, let's add some intelligence!
Conclusion
The goal of the first part of the Buiding A Robot project was to get a robotic platform (the magician chassis) put together and confirm that the motors work properly. Also, it was important to take a look at how this robot would move, so we tested out connecting the motors straight to batteries and experimented with the capabilities available to us. But now it's time to move on to the far more fun part, motor control.
If you have any further questions, I implore you...don't be shy, take a look at the forums or ask a question there. I check them out regularly and love getting comments & questions.