Chassis and motors Several versions available.

  1. CoderBot
  2. Make
  3. Chassis and motors

This section describes all mechanical parts required to build a CdoerBot

Chassis

The chassis can be built using several materials: acrilic, wood, or corrugated cardboard.

For each material, a specific stencil is available. The stencil can be used to lasercut the chassis from a makerspace or lasercut service.

Motors

CoderBot can drive two kind of motors: dc or servo.

The choice of the motor type depends on the what activity the robot will be used mostly: servo are more precise although a little slower and more expensive tha dc.

Ball caster

We suggest to use a ball caster like this one, easy to find in an hardware store.

Screw and bolts

Screws M3x20 and bolts, M3x10 e M2x10 are needed to lock the camera.

Parts list

Parts are listed according to the chassis type.

Chassis: acrylic (plexiglass), motors: DC

This chassis is made from acrylic plastic. It can be transparent or coloured.

The transparent version let all the parts visible, the main disadvantage is the material is fragile and will not survive a fall from a table (tested).

It is specific for dc motors

Component Quantity link
Chassis (plexyglass 3mm) 1 stencil for lasercut can be cut here
DC motors 2 link link
Wheels 2 link link
Ball caster 1 link
Spacer 10mm 2 link
Spacer 30mm 7 link
Spacer 5mm 4 link
Screws M3x5 2 N/A
Screws M3x10 7 N/A
Screws M2x10 4 N/A

Assembly

  1. Bind the motor to the chassis
  2. Bind the wheels to the motors
  3. Bind the ball caster to the chassis
  4. Put the motor controller board on the Raspberry PI
  5. Put the SD card on the Raspberry PI
  6. Put the wifi adapter in the Raspberry PI USB port
  7. Bind the two 30mm spacers to the chassis
  8. Bind the videocamera to his support
  9. Mount the lateral walls and the CoderBot logo tile to the main chassis
  10. Bind the videocamera to his support
  11. Bind the videocamera and his support to the chassis vertical parts
  12. Bind the videocamera and support to the main chassis
  13. Bind the Raspberry PI to the chassis
  14. Connect the videocamera to the Raspberry PI
  15. Connect the motors wires to the motor controller board
  16. Bind the "kill switch" in place
  17. Connect the "kill switch" to the motor control board
  18. Put the battery in the chassis
  19. Connect the battery to the motor controller and to the Raspberry PI, the CoderBot, will bootstrap.

[Coming soon: Assembly video tutorial]

Chassis Corrugated cardboard (6mm), motors: DC

This chassis is made of corrugated cardboard of 6mm thick.

The main advantage of this material is the low price, it can also be painted with pens or brushes.

Thanks to the joints and reduced use of screws, it can be assembled in minutes, even by children (initially with a tutor).

It is quite robust and resilient to falls, although it tends to flex and loose the mechanical properties over time.

Component Quantity link
Chassis Corrugated cardboard (6mm) 1 stencil per laser can be cut here
DC motors 2 link link
Wheels 2 link link
Ball caster 1 link
Spacer 30mm male-female 3 link
Spacer 40mm male-female 2 link
Spacer 30mm female-female 2 link
Spacer 5mm 2 link
Screws M3x30 4 N/A
Screws M3x5 3 N/A
Screws M3x10 2 N/A
Bolts M3 9 N/A
Roundel M3 6 N/A

Assembly

  1. Mount the lateral walls and the CoderBot logo tile to the main chassis
  2. Bind the wheels to the motors
  3. Bind the motor to the chassis
  4. Bind the ball caster to the chassis
  5. Put the motor controller board on the Raspberry PI
  6. Put the SD card on the Raspberry PI
  7. Put the wifi adapter in the Raspberry PI USB port
  8. Bind the Raspberry PI to the chassis
  9. Bind the videocamera to his support
  10. Bind the Raspberry PI to the chassis
  11. Bind the videocamera and his support to the chassis vertical parts
  12. Bind the videocamera and support to the main chassis
  13. Connect the videocamera to the Raspberry PI
  14. Connect the motor wires to the motor controller board
  15. Bind the "kill switch" in place
  16. Connect the "kill switch to the motor control board
  17. Put the battery in the chassis
  18. Connect the battery to the motor controller and to the Raspberry PI, the CoderBot, will bootstrap.

[Coming soon: Assembly video tutorial]

Chassis wood, motors: servo

This chassis is made with a plywood (poplar or harder woods are ok) of 3mm thick.

Good compromise of robustness, economicity and durability. It can be painted, like the cardboard version.

Thanks to the joints and reduced use of screws, it can be assembled in minutes even by kids (initally wit a tutor).

It is quite resilient to falls.

It is designed to use servo motors. Wheels are the actual (large) wheel provied with the servo. They must be covered with rubber to avoid slides

Component Quantity link
Chassis wood (plywood 3mm) 1 stencil per lasercut can be cut here
Servo motors 2 link link
Ball caster 1 link
Spacer 10mm 3 link
Spacer 5mm 2 link
Screw M3x30 4 N/A
Screw M3x5 3 N/A
Screw M3x10 2 N/A
Bolts M3 9 N/A
Bi-adhesive tape 10cm N/A

Assembly

  1. Mount the lateral walls and the CoderBot logo tile to the main chassis
  2. Bind the motor to the chassis
  3. Bind the ball caster to the chassis
  4. Put the motor controller board on the Raspberry PI
  5. Put the SD card on the Raspberry PI
  6. Put the wifi adapter in the Raspberry PI USB port
  7. Bind the Raspberry PI to the chassis
  8. Bind the videocamera to his support
  9. Bind the Raspberry PI to the chassis
  10. Bind the videocamera and his support to the chassis vertical parts
  11. Bind the videocamera and support to the main chassis
  12. Connect the videocamera to the Raspberry PI
  13. Connect the motor wires to the motor controller board
  14. Bind the "kill switch" in place
  15. Connect the "kill switch to the motor control board
  16. Put the battery in the chassis
  17. Connect the battery to the motor controller and to the Raspberry PI, the CoderBot, will bootstrap.

[Coming soon: Assembly video tutorial]