Teach elementary and middle-school students about robotics with a DIY battle bots kit.
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Functional battle bot prototypes made with coroplast for the body.
Successfully got everything wired up and running using the Arduino, motor board & sensor shield.
Successfully got the bots working with a PS2 controller over bluetooth.
Created custom 3D printed spinners that can be used on the battle bots.
Working on flipper that can be installed on the battle bots.
Working on 3D printed body designs for the battle blots.
Uploaded the 3D print obj files for the main bot body (side walls, bottom plate, top plate, front/back plates). Holes are in the exact positions needed to attach L brackets for assembly. We will upload a 3D print file for L brackets soon along with illustrated instructions.
Next up is creating the 1st extension piece that will go on the front of the bot. We plan to create 3 of these (typical slant piece, spinner piece, flipper piece).
We are also working on illustrations for creating all of these pieces with coroplast or cardboard for those who don't have the ability to 3D print.
We are now working on a standard body that we can add different attachments to. This will allow for students to expand on the standard body making different types of battle bots. This will also allow for more creative freedom vs. 3 set battle bot designs because students can expand upon the standard body with our designed parts or they can design their own.
We have come up with a simple body style that can easily be assembled with 3D printed L brackets. We are now experimenting with different body sizes and thickness to determine what works best.
The body design for the 1st battle bot kit is being worked on. It has taken a few prints thus far and lots of tweaks but it's getting closer. The challenge is to have the same designs being able to be created with coroplast or cardboard for those who want to save on costs or don't have access to a 3D printer.
I want to make sure these kits can be affordable enough for educators to bring into the classroom, so it is really important for me to keep costs in mind.
I will have pics to share soon.
You can view the current guide from https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/codedigs/build-a-battlebot-controlled-with-a-ps2-controller-fbc033
Keep in mind that this is going to change significantly as we simplify the setup and improve the body designs.
We will provide them with a lot of starter code that they can modify. Expecting this age to code it all from scratch would be a pretty big barrier imo.
Misty Lackie
Russell Hay
SelfCAD
Greg Zumwalt
ProgressTH
This is a cool way to engage students! Do you think that age will be able to write the programs for these bots?