Design Project 2Ba IWT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 2014
Stairclimbingrobot
MDF
The use of MDF is more advantageous than that of
Birch since the cut of MDF is neater. Another
favorable property is its flexibility which is important
to avoid fracture. It is also a very lightweight
material. Weight must certainly be considered,
because it’s one of the most determining factors in
the robot’s ascending speed.
Mixing silicones
The mixing silicones are very important for the grip.
They were a major improvement over other tested
materials and provided the support surfaces with
the necessary grip not to slip. The disadvantage is
that dust sticks to the silicones which might cause
the robot to lose a bit of grip from time to time.
Cleaning them off once in a while will eliminate this
issue completely.
Arduino Uno
Arduino Uno is a single board microcontroller. It is
the core of the robot’s electronics. The controller
runs the compiled code and gives the user the
ability to write or read data to or from its pins.
What made the Arduino so popular are its
expansion capabilities. Shields can be added to
make additional things possible. The robot’s
electronics uses three shields to power the Stepper
motors and the DC-motor, and one shield to enable
wireless communication. This will be explained
more thoroughly in the electronics chapter.
Xbee
The XBee is a little radio module. It makes wireless communication between the computer and the robot possible. The settings that were used are the following: Baudrate: 19200 Channel: D Pan ID: 2308 Destination Adress High: 0 Destination Adress Low: 3331 16-bit Source Address: 3333
Components
DC engines
Stepper engines
PCB
Plexiglass
Different layers of Plexiglas were used to create
spurs. This provides them with a noticeable solidity,
but makes them brittle. Nylon spurs, which are
convincing on every aspect, were made as spare
materials.
Battery pack
ABS plastic
The ABS plastic is light and strong. Pieces of ABS
were made to hold the battery pack in its place. Its
flexibility is useful to make different kinds of pieces
which can be stressed.
