Insectronic

The first Insectronic was constructed at Churchill by Tarek Rahim in 2003.
Student interest in this programmable robot surged in 2007, when thirteen
were built. Twenty insectronics are currently well underway (2010-2011).
The robot is fun to build but demands good layout and machining skills.
We use a Nomex professional mitre saw with a 32 TPI blade to cut the
aluminum parts (Lee Valley Tools Ltd.), and a drill press for the holes.
The Hobbico Command CS-60 servos cost about twelve dollars each.
A final note: each student builds his or her own insectronic from scratch.

Karl Williams. 2003. Insectronic: Build Your Own Walking Robot. Toronto: McGraw-Hill, TAB Robotics. ISBN 0-07-141241-7

Karl William's Insectronic

We are converting the controller for the Insectronic to Arduino. A printed circuit board design for this Arduino controller and supporting details will be uploaded before July 2013.

Arduino Controller

Click the image to view the .pdf file or the text below it for the .DSN file.

Controller Circuit Schematic (S. Dao & J. Lim)Controller Circuit Schematic (C. Tully)

Cameron Tully (Grad 2013), Sean Dao, and Jingjie Lim contributed the schematics.

Insectronic Arduino Controller Mask

Click the image to view the .pdf file or the text below it for the .pdsprj and .lyt file respectively.

Sean Dao & Jing Jie Lim 05.03.2014Cameron Tully 2013

Construction Drawings (Metric)

Click the image to view the .pdf file or the text below it for the .dwg file.

Parts A&BParts C-GChassis Assembly Top
Chassis Assembly SideParts H-KParts L-O
Parts P-WPart X & Servo HornLeg Assembly
Battery HolderCS-60 Servo

Construction Drawings (Imperial)

Click the image to view the .pdf file or the text below it for the .dwg file.

Parts A&BParts C-GChassis Assembly Top
Chassis Assembly SideParts H-KParts L-O
Parts P-WPart X & Servo HornLeg Assembly
Battery Holder

Arduino Printed Circuit Boards

1. Arduino Controller

Students are investigating and testing infrared sensor circuits (January, 2013).

2. Arduino IR Sensor

Students are investigating and testing infrared sensor circuits (January, 2013). A promising design has been submitted by Henry Liu.

Arduino Sketches

Clicking each subtitle produces the source code, and the thumbnail a pdf. REM statements offer operational information.

Bob Yang and Jimmy Hung wrote the code. Michael Margolis, Arduino Cookbook (2011) was their main resource.

Single Servo CalibrationMulti-Servo CalibrationIR Sensor Calibration
Insectronic WalksInsectronic Avoids ObstaclesDancing
Forward-Backward

Standalone Arduino on a Breadboard

Pulse Width Modulation

IR Sensor Board Calibration Instructions

Click the image to view the calibration instructions.


PCB Designs

Click the image to view the .pdf file or the text below it for the Proteus Ares layout file.

Produced by Henry Liu, 2010, with permission of Karl Williams, 2005.

Controller boardIR Sensor board

Revised IR Sensors Schematics

Produced by Henry Liu, 2013

Simple IR Sensor Schematic
Simple IR Sensor
Schematic
Less-Simple IR Sensor Schematic
Less-Simple IR Sensor
Schematic

PIC-BASIC Pro Program for PING))) Ultrasonic Sensor

This program works well with the PING))) ultrasonic sensor.

Kenneth Wong adapted Karl Willliams' original code for the Devantech SRF04 Ranger in 2006.

Hobbico CS-60 Servo Specifications