1: Designing Your Robot

Overview

In this step you will design your robot and learn a little about computer aided design (CAD) while you're at it. After you finish the design, you will send the robot desing file to our factory via email so that we can start putting together your one-of-a-kind robot. If you already have your robot, you can skip to STEP 3.

Definitions:

• L-CLICK = left click
• R-CLICK = right click

See below to watch one of our instructors demonsrate the entire process.

Getting started with CAD

We will be using OnShape. It is free cloud-based CAD software. This will allow you to view and modify our files for 3D printing.

1. Create an OnShape account
2. Login to your account

Creating your design file

• Once you are logged into OnShape, open the Barnabas-Bot Template file.
• Create a copy by L-CLICKing on "Make a private copy"

• Name the project: "BARNABAS-BOT 2.2 [YOUR NAME]. Make sure to choose "Public".

• Once you do this, a new project should open up, which will be a copy of the original project, but with this new name.

• You are now ready to customize your robot's body!

OnShape Basics

Here are a few tips on how to move stuff around in OnShape.

• OnShape Basic Movements
  • Open the file "robot body front plate."
  • Rotation
    • Method 1: L-CLICK on arrows in the cube on the top left to rotate the entire perspective.

• Method 2: R-CLICK on a part and move the mouse.
• Method 3: L-CLICK on the "FRONT, BACK, LEFT, ETC." on the cube on the top left.
• Translating a part (moving it up, down and side to side)
  • Method 1: Hold down CTRL and R-CLICK on the part to move it around.
  • Method 2: L-CLICK down using the SCROLL button to move it around.
• Zooming
  • Use the scroll button to zoom in and out.
  • Go to "FRONT VIEW."
  • Press "F" to fit the part into your screen. This is called, "ZOOM TO FIT."

Write on your robot's body

• Open the "robot body front plate" file in OnShape.
• Change the size of the text

• Double L-CLICK on the “B” until you see a number pop up on the right side of the screen

• Change the number to a larger number (like 2 or 3). The B should be larger now!
• Change the value to “0.5”. The B should be smaller now!
• Click on the green check mark to save your changes

• Move the location of the text.

• R-CLICK on the “B” and L-CLICK on “Edit Sketch 1…”
• L-CLICK on one of the 4 blue corners (they are kinda small, you might need to zoom in) of the rectangle around the B and drag the blue rectangle up and down

• Click on the green check mark to save your change

• Change the text.

• R-CLICK on the “B” and L-CLICK on “Edit Sketch 1…”
• R-CLICK on the “B” again and L-CLICK on “Edit Text”

• Now change the text to “C”. Click on the green check mark and see if it changes!
• Now change the text to “BARNABAS”. You’ll see that it doesn’t fit on the robot face. How can you make it fit? (Change the size of the text to 0.3 or less)
• Click on the green check mark and see if it changes!

• Now change the text to whatever you want!

• It can be a single letter, or many letters. Play with different sizes. Make sure that all of the text fit on the robot! Remember to click on the green check mark to save your changes! Make sure to keep the size of the text larger than 0.3 so that it comes out well during printing!

Put your robot together

This is where you will put all your robot's body parts together and create the final file that you will share with us.

• Create an assembly file
  • L-CLICK on the “+” sign at the bottom left of your screen
  • L-CLICK on “Create Assembly”
  • Your assembly file should automatically open up

• Insert your body
  • Insert your body by clicking on the insert button

• Now select the "robot body" file by selecting it inthe list of files. Place it in your assembly file and click on the green check mark to save your work!
• Now go to the Front View
• Insert your custom plate
  • Now insert your "robot body front plate" file.
  • Align the front plate with the body by left clicking on it and dragging it. You’ll need to rotate the views to get it to align correctly

• Insert your head
  • Using the same process as before, insert the head that you want

• Insert your left arm and align it

• Insert your right arm
  • You'll need to rotate it to align it correctly
  • L-CLICK on the arm to show the rotation tool
  • Click on the circle shown in the picture to rotate it

• After it is rotated, align it correctly with the hole

• Insert your hands and ears as well!

• Create a drawing of your final assembly file
  • R-CLICK on the assembly file tab that you just created
  • L-CLICK on "Create drawing of ... "

• A screen will pop up. Make sure that "Four views" is selected under "OPTIONS", and L-CLICK on "OK"

• A drawing will be automatically created.

• Double L-CLICK on the text boxes to edit the text. Write your name as well as your robot's name.

• You are done!

Share your robot with us!

This step is necessary if you would like us to 3-D print your robot for you.

• Directions on how to shares file on OnShape
• Share it with the following email address: "info@barnabasrobotics.com"

Once you share it with us, we will provide a confirmation within 24 hrs. Now just sit back and relax as we start putting your robot kit together!

Troubleshooting

• What to do if the "B" on your robot dissapears

1: The Robotics Kit

Kit Contents

We have provided the contents of our kit below so that inventors all over the world can make their own DIY version of this simple robot kit.

Electrical Stuff

• 1 x Rectangular Arduino Uno compatible board
• 1 x A-B USB Cable.
• 3 x Servo Motors (9g)
• 1 x Miniature Bread Board (*)
• 15 x 15 cm Male to Male Jumper Wires (5 x Black, 4 x Red, 3 x Orange, 2 x Green, 1 x Blue)
• 2 x 100 Ohm Resistors (*)
• 2 x 10K Ohm Resistors
• 1 x Blue LED
• 1 x Buzzer (Active, Magnetic/Electro-mechanical, 5V, 12mm diameter)
• 1 x AA Battery Holder (*)
• 1 x 9V Battery Adapter (to plug into the Arduino-Uno compatible board)
• 1 x AA Battery (*)
• 1 x 9V Battery

Notes:

• (*) Not needed for the quick-build. These parts are only used in the full version of the class.
• Newer kits include the Barnabas Noggin board instead of the rectangular Arduino Uno compatible board. These same kits will also include an A to mini-B cable instead of the A-B cable.
• Maker Faire kits do not come with the mini breadboard because the included Barnabas Noggin comes with the light, buzzer and servo motor connections built in.

Mechanical Stuff

• Custom 3-D Printed Robot body parts
  • 1 x Head
  • 1 x Front Plate
  • 1 x Body
  • 2 x Arms
  • 2 x Ears (optional)
• 6 x #2-7/16" Screws (RTL Fastener) -- for servo motors
• 6 x 2-56 Nylon Insert Lock Nuts (RTL Fastener) -- for servo motors
• 2 x #2-9/16" Screws (RTL Fastener) -- for arms
• 4 x 1/4" Screws -- for face plate and back plate
• 1 x 5/64" allen wrench
• 1 x Miniature philips screw driver

Other Things That You Need

• Acrylic pain or Sharpie markers to decorate your robot
• Computer to program your Arduino Uno compatible board (Mac or PC)

1: Decorate Your Robot!

Industrial Design

Once you get your kit, go ahead and first decorate your robot! We typically use acrylic paints, but we have also used metallic paints as well as Sharpies. See below for some cool examples!

2: Assemble the Servo Motors

Overview

Servos motors are used to move your robot's two arms and heads. They can move a half circle, or 180 degrees. You will need to make sure that you have the following items before you start your servo motor assembly.

• 3 x 9g servo motors
• 6 x 7/16" servo screws
• 6 x Nylon lock nuts
• 1 x Allen wrench
• 1 x Robot body

Arm Motor Assembly

• Take one servo motor and place it into the right arm socket of the robot body. It should be placed from the inside. The blue top portion of the servo motor should stick out slightly outside of the body.

• Take one servo screw and put it through the outside of the body and into the corresponding hole on the servo
• Using your Allen wrench, screw it in slightly until you see the screw stick out of the other side of the hole on the servo

• Repeat this for the hole on the other side of the servo.

• While holding the lock nut, continue to tighten the screw. Once the screw and lock nut are tigtened, you are done. Be careful not to over tighten! Do this for both screws. Tweezers may be helpful to get into the side of the motor that is closer to the wall of the body.Now take your Nylon lock nut and place it on top of the protruding screw.

• Now take your left arm and repeat the process.

Head Motor Assembly

• Now that your arms motors are in, take the last servo motor and repeat the process on the head motor socket.

Cables

• After your three motors are assembled, you'll notice three cables coming out of the three motors. Take all of them and stick them through the hole on the bottom of your body. You will need to do this to wire the motors to your brain later.

3: Assemble Your Face Plate

Overview

In this step, you will now cover your robot's motor by installing your custom face plate. Things that you will need:

• Face plate
• 2 x 1/4" screws (*)
• 1 x philips head screw driver

Notes:

• (*) Kits that contain the Barnabas Noggin (rev 1A or rev 1A-S) only need 1 x 1/4" screw for assembly.

Assembly

• Find the front of your robot. It is the side where the motors are closest to. Align your face plate to your body. The screw holes on the body and the face plate should line up.

• Fasten the screw(s).

4: Attaching the Back Plate

Overview

In this step, you will now cover your robot's motor by installing your custom back plate. Things that you will need:

• Barnabas Noggin
• 2 x 1/4" screws (*)
• 1 x philips head screw driver

Notes:

• (*) Kits that contain the Barnabas Noggin (rev 1A or rev 1A-S) need 3 x 1/4" screw for assembly.

Assembly

• Find the back of your robot. It is the side where the motors are furthest from. Align your Barnabas Noggin to your body. The screw holes on the body and the face plate should line up.

5: Assemble Your Arms

Overview

Here you will connect your arms to your body. Things that you will need:

• Left arm
• Right arm
• 2 x 9/16" servo screws
• 1 x Allen wrench

Assembly

• Take your right arm and put it up to the servo motor shaft as shown below. Stick your servo screw into the hole. You will want to line it up with the shaft so that the screw will fasten the arm and the motor shaft together.

• Once you have it aligned, fasten the 9/16" servo screw. Make sure that you are using the 9/16" servo screw, which is a little longer than the ones that we used for the arm and head servo motors. Be careful not to over tighten.

• Repeat for the left arm.

6: Assemble Your Head

Overview

Every robot needs a head! You will be fastening your head to your body motor. Things that you'll need

• 1 x head (top portion)
• 1 x head (bottom portion)
• 1 x head fastening screw
• 1 x philips head screw driver

Assembly

• Find the bottom of your head and align the hole to the top of the hole on the servo motor shaft head.

• Fasten the screw.

• Now fasten the top of the head to the bottom part. It should fit in over the top. You may want to use super glue to secure it further.

1: Wiring Up Your Robot

Overview

Now that the body of your robot is built, you now need to wire him up. Wiring is necessary to allow electricity to flow through out your robot's body. In our class we discuss how the battery is like a robot's heart, and how wires are like the robot's blood veins.

Things that you'll need:

• 1 x Assembled Barnabas-Bot (Arms, Motors, Body)
• 1 x Barnabas Noggin
• 2 x 10,000 Ohm (a.k.a. 10K Ohm) resistors (*)
• 1 x LED (Light Emiting Diode) (*)
• 1 x Buzzer (*)
• 1 x Mini Breadboard (*)
• 14 x Male to Male wires (*)

(*) Not required for Rev 1A-S

Identifying your Barnabas Noggin Type

Our kits ship with different types of Barnabas Noggins (the brain of your robot) depending on when you purchased your kit. See below to identify your type. This is important because it will determine the way that you wire up your robot.

Rev 1X (Arduino Clone version)

This Arduino-Uno compatible board can be purchased from us as well as third party vendors (Amazon, Ebay, etc). It is a good choice for anyone building their own Barnabas-bot kit. You will always need a breadboard to get your robot to work when using this version.

Rev 1A (Fully soldered version)

This Arduino-Uno compatible board was designed specifically for the Barnabas-bot kit. It has special modifications made so that Barnabas-Bot's buzzer, light and servo motors are built into the board. This fully soldered version requires no soldering or breadboarding.

Rev 1A-S (DIY solder version)

This Arduino-Uno compatible board was designed specifically for the Barnabas-bot kit. It has special modifications made so that Barnabas-Bot's buzzer, light and servo motors are built into the board. This DIY soldering version is made for the adventurous maker! It requires soldering of 4 components: 2 x resistors, 1 x buzzer, 1 x LED.

Wiring basics

The following notes will help you get started with wiring.

• Resistors are used to slow down the flow of electricity. They are required when you need to reduce the current or amount of electricity flowing through a circuit.
  • There are two types of resistors in the kit. You can tell the difference using the color code. See below for the color code
    • 100 Ohm - brown black brown gold
    • 10,000 Ohm (a.k.a. 10K Ohm) - gold orange black brown
• Buzzers make a sound when turned on. Our buzzer looks like a black cylinder. There is a positive and negative side, and it matters how they are connected! The positive side is the longer leg.
• LEDs, or Light Emitting Diodes give off light when turned on. Just like the buzzer, there is a positive and negative side. The positive side is the longer leg.
• Servo Motors each have a cable with three wires (brown, red and orange). The brown wire is always connected to GND (or 0 volts) and the red wire is always connected to 5V. These two wires power the servo motor. The orange signal is used by your Barnabas Noggin to control the motor. We call this the signal.
• Breadboards are used to make strong connections between wires without electrical tape or soldering. It is an essential tool for any electronics engineer. We will be using a miniature breadboard to wire up our robot. Our bread board is made of two columnns of 17 wires (17 x 2 = 34 wires total). Each wire is connected with 5 holes.

Wiring diagram

The following notes will help you get started with wiring.

Notes:

• If you have a Rev 1A-S Barnabas Noggin type, there is no need to wire your robot using the breadboard. Instead, jump to the next section below.
• The diagram shows an Arduino-Uno (the blue thing) as the main board. If you have a newer Barnabas Noggin board, you'll need to plug the wires into the pins on your board that match the ones on the Arduino-Uno.
• The color of your wires don't need to match the diagram exactly.

• If you don't have a Rev 1A-S Barnaba Noggin, you are done with this step. You can now move on to programming!

Connecting your Barnabas Noggin Servo Motors (for Rev 1A-S only)

These directions are only for robot builders with the Rev 1A-S version of the Barnabas Noggin.

• Extra things that you'll need:
  • 9V battery
  • 9V Battery holder
• Find the cable coming out of your head motor and put it into SERVO2. Make sure to put it in the right way. It matters where the brown, red and orange wires go!

• Find the cable coming out of your right arm and put it into SERVO3. Make sure to put it in the right way. It matters where the brown, red and orange wires go!

• Find the cable coming out of your left arm and put it into SERVO4. Make sure to put it in the right way. It matters where the brown, red and orange wires go!

• Connect your 9V battery into the battery holder

• Plug the battery holder socket into the Barnabas Noggin. This will provide power to your servo motors.

1A: Soldering (Rev 1A-S -- Solder buzzer, resistors and LED only)

Overview

If you have a Barnabas Noggin version Rev 1A-S, you can solder 4 components onto your board yourself so that you don't need your breadboard or any extra wires to operate your robot.

Things that you'll need:

• Soldering Iron
• Solder
• Flux
• Components for the board
  • 2 x resistors (from your breadboard design)
  • 1 x buzzer
  • 1 x LED

Part locations

See below for the part locations. The positive and negative pins have been labeled for the LED and the Buzzer. Make sure to put these components in the right direction. If you don't, your robot won't work! Also, just like when we did the breadboard, the direction of the resistors doesn't matter.