This article describes how to build a very simple Arduino robot that is made from paper and can be controlled via Bluetooth with an Android device. This guide is especially useful to beginners, and it is going to briefly explain the electronics and programming of the robot.
The Arduino Robot Components
Here is a list of parts used:
- Robot chassis
- DRV8833 dual motor driver
- Arduino Uno or compatible
- Bluetooth modem
- Android phone or tablet
Also you are going to need these basic things to build and program your robot
- Computer with the Arduino IDE
- Soldering iron
- Some solder and wires
The Assembly of the Robot
After you have assembled your robot, soldered your motor driver and modem, the next step is to wire up all the parts. See below image for the electronis wiring.
- Arduino PIN GND — DRV8833 GND
- Arduino PIN 10 — DRV8833 ain2
- Arduino PIN 11 — DRV8833 ain1
- Arduino PIN 5 — DRV8833 bin1
- Arduino PIN 6 — DRV8833 bin2
- Arduino PIN GND — DRV8833 GND
- Arduino PIN VIN — DRV8833 VIN
- Arduino PIN (TX)1 — Silvermate RX
- Arduino PIN (RX)0 — Silvermate TX
- Arduino PIN 5V — Silvernate VCC
- Arduino PIN GND — Silvernate GND
- Silvermate CTS — Silvermate RTS
Arduino Programming
Download the attached sketch and flash it to your Arduino.
If you are new to Arduino you can always reference their home page and or the Playground for ideas and insight into everything Arduino.
After flashing our Arduino with the sketch, we can use USB to send motor commands from the Arduino. We can use the Arduino IDE serial monitor to do this.
Make sure that your baud rate set on your serial monitor window is the same as the baud rate in our sketch (115200). For example, we can do commands like this.
- f – Forward
- b – Back
- l – Left
- r – Right
Android App to Control your Simple Arduino Robot
Here is a basic Android app that sends string commands through Bluetooth to our Arduino. To use this Android App, simply transfer the .apk to the SD card on your phone or tablet and use an app like ES file explorer to gain access into the SD card and install the .apk.
You can also write your own Android App to achieve this if you know how, to take advantage of the accelerometer, or touchscreen using sliders for motor speed and direction.
That’s All!
This hopefully has helped you get a basic understanding of how to incorporate Arduino with Bluetooth and Android. Enjoy your new wireless robot and now you can start planning your next modification to your robot with sensors, servo arms, cameras or higher level programming control with a PC over Bluetooth.
Here is the printable Design of the robot, shown in the video, which you can print on card stock at home. Take notice of the page size as it is 10′ x 16′, if this is too big for your printer use a photo editor to break up the images to a printable format.
