Make: Robot Build Contest, entry #2

Here is a quick picture of one of my thoughts as far as layout for my robot.  I’m really not happy with where the MCU is sitting in relation to the motors, but that my just be a necessary evil.  I’m going to try putting some shielding in to minimize EMF interference.  I’m also still not one hundred percent sure if I’m putting the gearbox underneath the CD body and everything else on top, or if everything will go on top.  I think mounting considerations for the drive wheels of the treads will be the deciding factor there.  Probably going to need two power sources, since the MCU takes 9V and the motors take 3V.  That’s normal, though.  May see if I can run the Arduino on 5V from an Adafruit MintyBoost over USB, which would make the power issue a little easier to manage.  I’m having ideas, oh yes.

I’ve got one of the motors out here trying to figure out what their ideal voltage is.  I think they’re around 3V, as I’ve managed to get above 2V just spinning the shaft manually.  You can connect a multimeter to the motor contacts, see, and basically run it backwards as a generator instead of a motor.  That gives you a range of voltage values to experiment with, at least.

I’m also still undecided on how best to manage the motors.  I may throw an H-bridge circuit, or dual H-bridge chip in there for good measure, but really, with 3V motors?