I am an it pro starting in robotics with my daughters.
We have two cubes to build our robot. 1 belly which is 30cmx30cm and one head which is 10cmx10cm to connect those 2 parts I want to use a 5cm diameter pipe.
But I want the robot to be able to turn its head. Any suggestions on what to use. I ordered a arduino mega starter kit and there will be some motors/servos in it.
In the end I want the robot to work a bit like a robot, so without our input. I want to build a Google assistant in it and tell it to do thing (like: taking photos, following people, projecting a movie on the wall, play some music, voice recognition, guard our home with motion sensors, and use distance sensors so it wont bump into anything ) I plan to use tank tires to let itself move around.
Questions:
What is best used for the turning head? Has to turn slow and just like a human not over its shoulders.
Have ordered an arduino mega but was wondering if I could connect all the sensors to the same arduino controller or would I need more controlers?
Can all these sensors and modules co-exist with each other?
I know it is a big project and I don't have to finish it this year or even next year. Just babysteps forward.
My daughters are 6 and 4 years old and even my 3th daughter of 2 years will eventually join us in building this thing. Cause I think it's good educational processes as well.
Long story, thanks for reading and hopefully you guys have the answers. Kind regards, Dennis
It's not clear whether you are asking for advice about the engineering of a bearing that allows the head to rotate or whether you already have the bearing and want to know how to use a servo (or something else) to make the head move.
Is the neck made from rigid plastic pipe or is it flexible to allow the head to bow as well as rotate?
You have not told us anything about your fabrication capabilities or whether (for example) you have a 3D printer.
A diagram of your proposed robot would be useful. See this Simple Image Guide
A 30cm x 30cm cube? I agree that you need to learn more mechanics/shop/engineering. Along the way, solutions should be apparent to you.
How about put the body off for now and work on getting each sensor to work properly, which will take you a good while.
If the robot was bigger, I know of lazy susan bearings that would be right between two boxes.
A 10cm cube (10 long x 10 wide x 10 high) would fall through the center hole of that but could mount on a plate on top.
The center hole gives a place to run wires, easiest if the head only turns less than 360 degrees as slip couplings would be a pain.
Lazy susan can be turned with a small-ish motor-driven friction wheel against the inside rim, no need for gears or belts or something strong enough to hold the head up and turn it -- strength is in the bearing itself.
There are videos and tutorials to make your own, one Youtube uses steel cans and marbles (smaller diameter than the Everbilt) but I don't have bandwidth to watch it, it's a DIY robotics video:
Still the best, smart thing is to be able to make all the parts work FIRST before you go on to making the shell they go in. Along the way you may see and want different from what you started with.
You have 3 girls? There was a dollhouse project here a few years ago with elevator and lights (stove light was red, house lights had switches) by a grandpa somewhere in Europe. If you build such a thing you will learn much along the way directly applicable to a robot.
Rail3r:
So I have 2 cubes 1 belly and 1 head. How do I make the head move left and right?
That is still an unclear statement about what exactly you need help with.
However taking it alongside your comment "especially bad in the engineering part" I assume the first thing is to create a rotatable bearing.
One simple solution would be to have two pieces of pipe one inside the other. Maybe the 5" tube could be treated as just cosmetic with the "works" inside it. I would be tempted to make the rotating bearing from two pieces of brass tube - you can get it is a range of small sizes from many hobby shops or model-engineering suppliers. There are usually sizes that are designed to be a close fit one inside the other. I think tube that is about 8mm or 10mm in diameter would be strong enough. You could probably do the same thing with plastic tube but metal tube has the advantage of less friction compared to common plastic tube.
Google assistant, taking photos, following people, projecting a movie on the wall, play some music, voice recognition
These things are well beyond the capabilities of Arduino. Rasberry Pi territory. Maybe some time-critical tasks such as monitoring speed and distance moved and distance or collision sensors can be delegated to one or more small arduino. Think of the combination as a little like the human brain. The Pi would be the Cerebrum, one or more Arduino would be the Cerebellum and brainstem. An Arduino isn't powerful enough to be the Cerebrum. A Pi is too overburdened with operating systems and apps to be the Cerebellum, certainly not the brainstem, you need Arduino for that because it is always ready to react quickly to sensor input.
A Mega as a master controller is not going to be able to replace a Pi, so probably a waste of time/money. Beginners always think they need a Mega. It may have more pins and a little more memory than Uno, but it's still definitely in the same league as Uno, not some kind of half-way to a Pi.
Thank you all for the advise, I really need to think this over, as for the controller I know how to handle the raspberry but I thought I start out with the more basic functions
