Introduction: WAV3BOT

About: I am a high school student in Greenville, SC. I like making cool things.

WAV3BOT is an inexpensive open source robot that uses an accelerometer based control system.

Website: wav3bot.github.io

Step 1: Gather Materials

Flat Board (any material)

Motors and wheels that look like these: https://tinyurl.com/yajyuk2d

L298N motor driver

Arduino UNO

Wires (and some really long ones)

Breadboard (if you want)

Hot Glue Gun or some other adhesive

Mini Breadboard

3D Printer (or creativity)

MPU6050 accelerometer

Screwdriver

Arduino Software

USB Type A cable

Step 2: Base

The robot needs a base. Any material can be used, but it is suggested to use cardboard because it repurposes something that will otherwise go to waste. Cut out a base in the shape desired.

Step 3: Board Assembly

Glue or stick the Arduino UNO, the L298N motor driver, and the optional breadboard onto the base. The breadboard may be used to place electronics of your own choice onto WAV3BOT in the future. **Make sure that all ports are accessible.**

Step 4: Wheels and Motors

Attach the wheels to the motors.

Step 5: Attach Motors

Glue or stick the motors to the bottom of the base. Make sure the wheels are not being blocked from turning by the base.

Step 6: Wiring Motors

Attach the wires to the motor driver as shown in the image. Do this by unscrewing the two blue components across from each other on the motor driver and placing the negative and positive motor wires (from the top) to the motor driver's left side, then do the same with positive and negative (from the top) on the right side. Screw the wires in tightly.

Step 7: Wiring Cont.

Attach Vin to the first port on the left on the blue component on the bottom of the motor driver. Then attach GND to the middle port.

Step 8: Wiring Cont.

Attach the pins 6-11 to the pin nearest to the bottom blue component on the motor driver to the pin farthest from the blue component, respectively. (As shown in the image.)

Step 9: Battery Pack

Attach the 9V AA battery pack to the bottom of the robot. (A 9V battery may be used in place of the 9V AA battery pack.)

Step 10: Caster Wheel

Attach the caster wheel to the bottom of the base on the end opposite of the motors. This will provide stability and mobility.

Step 11: WAV3BOT Gauntlet

3D print the model (after resizing the hand cavity to fit your hand size), or create a hollow structure to place electronic components on. Model available at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2434486

Step 12: Accelerometer

Place the Mini Breadboard onto the gauntlet and then place the accelerometer (MPU6050) vertically on the breadboard.

Step 13: Wiring of Gauntlet

Strip the wire on the ribbon cable and slide them through the convenient cable management built into the gauntlet. Make sure there is a wire attached to the Int, SDA, SCL, GND, and VCC.

Step 14: Wiring of Gauntlet Cont.

Attach as follows:

Int --> Pin 2

SDA --> A4

SCL --> A5

GND --> GND

VCC --> 5V

Step 15: Code

Upload the Arduino code from: https://github.com/vigneshrajmohan/WAV3_BOT/blob/master/WAV3_BOT.ino onto the Arduino.

Step 16: Completion and End Note

Congratulations! Your WAV3BOT should work perfectly fine now. This is a very simple project, but the goal here is for you to break off in your own direction. Find something that matters to you or that you enjoy, and implement this immersive technology into it. Some ideas to explore: Use a marker or pencil attachment to make an art-bot. Use Bluetooth to make the robot wireless. Use the gauntlet device to control a helicopter or quadcopter. Control your computer with the gauntlet. The possibilities are endless. If you end up making this project or making anything cool out of it, I will be delighted to see it. Please send a video or pictures of it to me: vpr1999@yahoo.com