So last week a dear friend of mine (incinerator who happens to be a member of this fine LebGeeks community), asked me to check out a link to a simple beetle robot built. It was certainly easy enough to start with if someone's a beginner robo builder and still hasn't acquired much knowledge about electronics.

I promised him to try the built myself, but had to inject a couple of tweaks of my own. Finally, I had the time to do it today and here are the results:

Since I have 15 more PM reports to finish for work, I won't be able to post how to build it just yet (promise to do it over the weekend). What I will post is the required tools and components to those who want to do the built before the weekend. The list is derived from Katranji's website, as well as the price quotation. Note that the robot's lighting system (the perforated board with all the components and battery on it) is not included in the components list because I want to discuss it on its own (but in this thread of course).

Tools Needed:

1. soldering iron: "Goot 220V 30W Ch" (thin tip) + "Solder Stand" (whatever you do, DON'T buy the
SLD1141 because it sucks big time): about 8$ and 4$ respectively
2. wire stripper: "Wire Striper Ch": around 5$
3. electronic solder (i.e. "kasdeer"): "SW 100G 60 0.8 mm": around 7$
4. diagonal cutter (i.e. "katta3a"): "Cutter China": around 3$
5. Mini glue gun: just use Eltico if you don't already own a glue gun.

Components for the robot:

1. 2x – small 3 Volts motors: "Motor 3V DC" (PPN13PB125C): 1.8$ (0.9$ per motor)
2. 1x – small paperclips
3. 1x – big paperclip
4. 4x – batteries AA (any store for 1000 L.L)
5. 1x – battery holder AA: "HB-004" (4*AA battery holder + cover): 0.6$
6. 1x – 2 cm of heat shrink: "Heat Shrink 1.5": 0.3$
7. 1x – wooden pearl (for the caster): any circular bead with a hole (just to let the beetle roll forward)
8. 1x – meter of electric wire: you can get it from any electronics shop (a roll for 1000 L.L)
9. 2x – Sub-mini lever SPDT (single pole double throw) switches: "HS-502" (micro switch medium): 0.6$
(0.3$ per switch)

What the Robot Does

The original design is meant for the beetle robot to move forward while avoiding obstacles (the motors shift accordingly when one or both of the antennas, which are connected to the SPDTs, are triggered). The additional circuitry on top is my design of a light system which is triggered when the beetle moves to a dark space: it is equipped with a photocell which causes the LEDs to light up once it doesn't detect light around it). Also, I added a home-made switch on the bottom of the robot so that I don't waste the batteries when I want the robot to be turned off.

Home-made switch (pink paper with two pins and a paperclip):

Note: If you build the beetle robot and it is turning in circles, then one of the motors shafts is not turning (either it's stuck so move the robot a bit or turn the shaft manually to trigger it to move on its own). Let the robot go for a few runs (turn the switches on, wait for like 5 minutes, and then switch them off).

Why Salihinator the Incinerator

My beetle robot is named after two of my friends: a) incinerator who encouraged me to built the robot in the first place b) Salah El-Mallah, an old friend from school and university who made me promise him one day I'll name a robot after him.

I'll try to post a video on how it operates as well.