Mousebot Revisited

Mousebot from Make vol 2 is a fun introduction to robotics. So fun that I've created this expanded documentation of a Mousey build from start to finish, with a few extra little tips you won't find in the mag. This how-to is best understood after reading the original article from page 100 of Make vol 2 however it is probably not required.

Mousebot is a simple bot that uses two "eyes" to sense light and then turns towards the light. A single large "whisker" is mounted on the front of the mouse to detect collisions. A collision with a wall will cause the mouse to reverse and turn then take off in another direction. This project is pretty cheap, if you have a mouse to use the other parts can be obtained for less than ten dollars.

If you have any questions or comments you can get me at jacob@makezine.com
         
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Step 1Gather Materials and Tools
Gather Materials and Tools
i
MATERIALS
1 Ball Mouse
2 Small DC Motors
1 Toggle Switch
1 DPDT 5v Relay (Aromat DS2YE-S-DC5V works)
1 LM386 op-amp
1 2N3904 or PN2222 NPN Transistor
1 LED (any color)
1 1K Resistor
1 10K Resistor
1 100uF Electrolytic Capacitor
1 Audio Cassette Tape (you know, from the 80s...)
1 CD-ROM or Floppy Disk (for the bumper)
1 9V Battery Snap
1 9V Battery
2 or 3 Wide Rubber Bands
22 or 24 Gauge Wire (some stranded and some solid core)

TOOLS
Multimeter
Phillips screwdriver
Dremel
Small pliers
Wire cutter/stripper
Razor knife
Soldering iron
Desoldering tool of choice
Superglue or epoxy
Hot glue gun and glue
Hacksaw
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Jan 24, 2012. 5:08 PMkidkid108 says:
how much will this cost in all?
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Jun 5, 2011. 3:55 PMtoxiq2011 says:

Hey, I just finished mine but unfortunately it does not work. Don't know what I'm doing wrong... One motor spins real fast & the other spins really slow.

Thought I had done some wiring mistake the first time & re-wired the whole thing again, but still the same issue.

Any guess's, adding in a pic of what I have as if now though.


06062011278.JPG
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Dec 22, 2011. 8:26 AMVapolord says:
hey dude i had the sam problem; once he had a circuit here and its different from the stuff he tells u; search for the circuit, it might be in the pdf
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Nov 5, 2011. 8:15 PMmr.future11 says:
i mthe beginner of electronics student. can i be helped by anybody of following members who hav tried this project. i would great thankful 2 him or her
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1
Jul 29, 2011. 8:16 PMms10 says:
its a very cool project simple and great can you tell me where did you get all those things
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Jun 13, 2011. 6:20 AMfluffybunnys123 says:
hi I can't find the lm386 chip but have a tda2822m. is this alright to use instead???
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Oct 26, 2010. 7:52 PMsparkspooky says:
PLEASE ANSWER...ANYBODY
hoe do you make a simple robot without programming to follow light=(



=D
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May 30, 2011. 3:17 AMdaliad100 says:
A circuit like this should do the trick although you will almost certainly want some bigger transistors/ darlingtons.

When the light level increases the resistance of the LDR drops causing the NPN transistor to turn on. The sensitivity of the circuit is set by the fixed resistor with a lower value needing a brighter light to turn on the motor.

The point in having the left ldr hooked up to the right motor and vice versa is so that when light falls on it the robot will turn towards the light until the intensity is the same and then drive forwards.
Light follower.png
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10
May 29, 2011. 7:44 PMThe nerdling says:
i might post how to post it it is really simple
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8
Apr 10, 2011. 2:20 AMjwoo2023 says:
just make a robot going forward or open up a tennis ball and put a vibrobot in to it then it will move around.
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23
May 29, 2011. 10:40 PMilpug says:
so, this is basically the same exact thing as the Herbie The Mouse-bot kit by SolarBotics, but built inside a computer mouse?
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10
May 29, 2011. 7:43 PMThe nerdling says:
i know how to make a really simple one with two photo resistors and motors.
it only follows light
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5
May 16, 2011. 12:40 AMthelastonekills says:
hi, this is a good idea, 5/5
be cool if u could do this with a still working wireless mouse and have it still be able to opperate as a mouse :P
Reply
May 15, 2011. 8:39 PMR.A.T.M says:
what voltage is the mortors
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Apr 12, 2009. 3:35 PMcartilige says:
I'm busy making a different project, but it requires a lot of similar components. I am looking for a LM386 op-amp but I'm finding it very hard to get, any ideas where I could get one. DO NOT SAY RADIO SHACK. I live in the UK and can't travel very far from Newcastle so where could I get one, if it is used in any household products I have aces to a whole range of them which I can strip down. Thanks
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8
Apr 10, 2011. 8:00 PMjwoo2023 says:
maybe a amplifier? strip it down and try to find one!
Reply
Apr 14, 2011. 2:26 AMavishadur says:
some stores (I don't know what equivalent of jaycar is in england, maybe they have one) will mail your components out to you so it can be just a matter of searching electronics hobby stores in the UK and checking if they mail out to you.
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Sep 18, 2009. 5:02 AMcoleyy says:
http://www.radioshack.com
Reply
Feb 28, 2010. 3:33 PMthestyrofoampeanut says:
 you are retarted
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7
Dec 22, 2009. 12:50 AMmagiccowy says:
jesus read what he wrote before you comment he said HE DOESNT LIVE NEAR ONE
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Jan 7, 2010. 4:43 PMmilsorgen says:
whoosh
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Aug 6, 2009. 8:19 AMMelonSponge says:
maplin
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10
Jul 15, 2009. 12:41 PMrobomaniac says:
go at radio shack man!
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Jul 12, 2009. 6:45 AMmmattson says:
soundcard, modem, most devices that have an audio compononent. LM-386 is an audio amplifier.
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7
Jan 28, 2010. 1:55 AMmagiccowy says:
+ is always the longer wire but look inside the actual thing and the smaller one is the anode (+) the larger one above it is the cathode (-) hope that helps
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8
Apr 10, 2011. 8:01 PMjwoo2023 says:
thankyou very very very very very very much!
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8
Jan 27, 2010. 11:33 PMjwoo2023 says:
Is the a mark?
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8
Apr 10, 2011. 4:07 AMjwoo2023 says:
wow thanks a lot
!!!!!
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Nov 5, 2009. 2:48 PMVapolord says:
i bulit this mousebot.
first i used a 32volt Electrolytic Capacitor ,but my battery was alwaysw dead.
with a 16 volt Electrolytic Capacitor th mousebot's battery has got a longer live.
both work....i hope i could help you jwoo2023
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8
Jan 1, 2010. 3:56 AMjwoo2023 says:
thnx
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8
Apr 10, 2011. 2:52 AMjwoo2023 says:
luckily i had the 16 volt!
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Feb 18, 2011. 5:19 PMchristinb says:
I found through some testing that putting a resistor across the gain (Pins 1 and 8) of the OpAmp chip (LM386) rather than just soldering them together gave me better results. Every robot will be a little different because we're all using different IR emitters or IR LEDs in our bots.


You can read about my experiments and how I determined that a 200 Ohm resistor resulted in my mouse moving in the straightest line on my blog.

http://robotfun.wordpress.com

-Christin Boyd
IMG_2158.JPG
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Jan 21, 2011. 3:15 PMthe science girl says:
can i use a 12vdc relay, or can i use two relays?
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Feb 18, 2011. 5:03 PMchristinb says:
The number on the relay is telling you how many volts are required to trigger the switch by sending the voltage through a coil between two pins. If your robot uses a 9VDC battery, then you will need a relay that can be triggered by about 5 or 6 VDC. A standard 9V battery won't trigger a 12VDC relay.

You want one Double Pole Double Throw (DPDT) relay rated for 5VDC or two Single Pole Double Through (SPDT) relays rated for 5VDC.


You can purchase and appropriate 5V DPDT relay from Solarbotics or just read more about how they work on their site. http://solarbotics.com/products/re1/

Hope this helps.


Sincerely,
Christin Boyd
http://robotfun.wordpress.com
Reply
Jan 21, 2011. 3:53 PMthe science girl says:
can i use a 6 notch relay? will that change anything?
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8
Jan 10, 2010. 10:53 PMjwoo2023 says:
how do you know which pin is 8 and 1?
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Jan 15, 2011. 2:43 PMnsaripalli says:
it is on one of the pictures
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8
Jan 10, 2010. 10:54 PMjwoo2023 says:
is there a mark?
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Jul 26, 2010. 11:45 PMjaketheman987 says:
I'll explain it a little easier. You should see a notch, hole, bore, or whatever a noticeable mark is called. If you lay it on a table with the notch looking up, and pointed straight ahead. top left =1 then going down its 2,3,4,then the bottom of the right side is 5, then going up its 6,7,8
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Jul 17, 2010. 3:48 AMbrad turd says:
A little imprinted dot on the top of the ic indicates pin one. It counts counterclockwise when you see the ic from the top. Pin eight is the last one on the opposite side of pin one as you see on the photo. Some ics have a notch on one narrow side, counting starts left of it. -