Omni Wheel Robot Upgraded with Extra Grip, Power, and Lights

In late November 2018, I wrote about on omni wheel robot that I’d been working on for months and had gotten to the point where I could at…

Jeremy Cook
5 years agoRobotics

In late November 2018, I wrote about on omni wheel robot that I’d been working on for months and had gotten to the point where I could at least show off. It would lurch left, right, and turn under Bluetooth control, and as far as I could tell, it was just a matter of tweaking a few things to get it rolling properly… This, however, was far from the case.

What followed next was a tale of troubleshooting, including upgrading the battery and several — sometimes rather strange — attempts at making the wheels work better. In the end, the solution was to swap out the type of wheels I was using, with 3D-printed adapters used to mate the new wheels to the robot’s stepper motors. What’s obvious in hindsight isn’t always so clear while you’re trying to figure things out. Also, surrendering to the fact that you’ve purchased the wrong component isn’t always easy.

Regardless, enhancements I made through the process, along with a few extra “accessories” — eyeball-shaped lights, a camera mount, and potentiometer input for speed control — made the robot better in the end. While troubleshooting can be frustrating and time consuming, it’s always a learning experience. Plus, if what you try as solutions to the main problem will make your device better whether it is the solution or not, it’s beneficial either way.

Check out the build process in the videos below, including a “rousing” discussion on the use of cheap-o dental tools just before 5:00 in Part 2. You can find the project listed on Hackster as well!

Jeremy Cook
Engineer, maker of random contraptions, love learning about tech. Write for various publications, including Hackster!
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