I needed a flexible and low cost robotic platform for a community Hackathon to be accessible for children and hackers alike. The robot is easy to alter and assemble, controllable via wifi and costs around 30 €.
Client/Partner: Hack.Institute
Supported by ILIFE / Zaco
Year: 2018
Fotos: Hack.Institute / David Grieshammer
Cardbots can be build by using regular cardboard boxes of around 20 x 15 cm. In these you place two gear motors bound by strap ties, punch two holes in the cardboard and add some wheels on the outside.
For controls you can use all kind of micro-controllers, for an easy start Arduino compatible boards are best. I used cheap esp8266 wifi boards and motordrivers from wemos and ultrasonic sensors for obstacle detection.
Modifications and other sensors may be added as needed.
Additionally to running standalone the microcontrollers served a local website, allowing to control the robots via tablet or mobile phone.
The flexible platform can also be freely modified and combined with toys, lego, rc vehicles and even other robot vaccum cleaners.
Thanks to all participants, hack.institute and ILife / Zaco