RobotCar

DIY Android app controlled robot. Manual control to go forth and back, turn and swing it’s ‘eye’ (ultrasonic sensors).

The hardware:

You can buy and assembly the parts separately (the harder way) or you can just order (almost) all in a pack what we need (the simpler way):

DIY pack of keyestudio’s Mini Tank Robot

• An Ardunio UNO R3 compatible controller
• Shield for motors
• Sensor shield
• HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor
• HC-06 Bluetooth module
• Two motors
• Servo motor for the ultrasonic sensor
• + few other accessories for the Robot

Some more items which I added to the pack:

• Li-on battery (from legacy of my father)
• Charger for the battery
• Few extra connectors

The software

Though keyesstudio offers an android app, I wanted to make my own app for it — for better and simpler UI, and the possibility to add exciting new features for the robot later.

Install

First, download the latest apk and ino files of RobotCar from the release page

• Ardunio firmware: Open the ino file with Arduino IDE and upload to the robot.
• Android app: Copy the APK to your phone and install it.

Enable the Bluetooth on the phone and power up the robot. Scan for available Bluetooth devices, the phone should show the robot as HC-06. The pairing code is 1234 by default.

Run

Just run the RobotCar app and grant any access it requests (should not ask for other than Bluetooth).

The app automatically tries to connect to the robot’s HC-06 Bluetooth. If that was successful, you should see the text ‘Connected: ‘ (see 1.). Otherwise, you can try reconnect by tapping the ‘Connect to’ button (2.).

Controls of the robot:

• Turn the ‘face’ (ultrasonic sensors) right and left: top slider (3.)
• Go forward: ‘Up’ button (4.)
• Turn left: ‘Left’ (5.)
• Turn right: ‘Right’ (6.)
• Go backward: ‘Down’ (7.)

Have fun 🙂 and don’t forget to charge the batteries sometimes!

Feedback

If you have any problems, you see a bug or you would like to see a new feature, just open a new issue on GitHub here.

Would you see what’s behind the curtain? See the source code on GitHub.

You wanna contribute? Just add a pull request here.