Make: Robot Build Final Report

Well, final makes it sound so… FINAL.  My robot ended up taking a lot more work than I predicted it would.  That, combined with a number of technical issues that arose at the last minute, has resulted in me missing the final build deadline of Monday night (tonight at midnight).  Basically, nothing turned out the way I initially expected it to, from the motors (one runs faster than the other!), to the H-bridge circuit I soldered (didn’t work with the 3V supply I had for the motors and had to power it form the Arduino), to the sensors (they return the same value no matter what they’re facing, even each other).  The other problem I had is that every CD I thermoformed spontaneously cracked under some mysterious and unknown stress.  It always happened when I wasn’t handling them – they would just turn up cracked after a few days.

So, even though I won’t be able to finish it in time to enter the Make: Robot contest, I’m still going to finish it because this build really has been a good learning experience, and dammit, I want to have a working robot!