This is the beetle robot instructables revisited a la MythBusters style!
It has been 1 year that I have posted about my beetle robot.

It is now time to show you a new version of this wonderful robot. This new version is much easier to build and fool proof!

<-- edit july 14 2008 By popular demand, here his the new robot in action! Enjoy! end edit -->


Don't forget to vote for me for the robot contest! :o)

If you don't know about the beetle robot, it is a very simple and efficient robot that use no electronics component to avoid obstacle in his path. It use two SPDT switch to avoid obstacles by reversing the opposite motor to pivote and free himself.

These pictures where taken for an article that I wrote in the MAKE magazine Volume 12.

<-- edit july 3 2008 Guess what I found today, Top articles in MAKE 1 - 12.
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/03/top_articles_in_make_1_12.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

Here is the digital version of my article, one of the most read article!! WOW MAN! that's so cool!
http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol12/?pg=150
end edit -->

I took 134 pictures, that is 235Mb of files! I had a really hard time to choose the perfect pictures to make this instructable!


If you enjoy this instructable, please vote for me for the RoboGames robot contest.

Thank you!

Jerome Demers

edited 03/07/2008 - intro
edited 05/07/2008 - step 2
edited 14/07/2008 - step 1 video

This is what you will need to build this robot.

Items for the robot:
2 x 1,5V motors
2 x SPDT ( single pole double throw ) switches with a metal lever
2 x AA or AAA battery
2 x Terminal connector ( see picture )
1 x AA or AAA battery holder
1 x Plastic or wooden pearl ( Spherical bead )
1 x 1 inch x 3 inch piece of metal or aluminum
1 x Toggle switch for the on/off switchs

Paper clips big and small
2 feets of wires around 22/24 Gauge size
Heat shrink that will fit over the motor shaft and some that will fit over the terminal connector
Electric tape and masking tape

Items for the body shell :
Round plastic lid to make the shell of the robot
Some spray can paint, the colour you want.
Clear varnish
Autobody filler putty or epoxy glue
2 x Small magnets to attach shell to body.


You need some 1,5Volts motor, not 3V or no event 12V!!
Each motors are powered by a single AA battery. You will drain your battery if you use a bigger motor. You can find them in toys or even at your local dollarrama, in little car, fans, etc! ( beware, they might really suck you battery down )

the recommended tools for this project:
1 x safety glasses!!
1 x soldering iron
1 x glue gun
1 x wire strippers
1 x side cutter
1 x scissors, knife, x-acto, etc


I recommend you to take the time to read this entire instructable before starting. In every page I have added a lot of pictures, so don't forget to look.

This is the main component for this robot. The most expensive.

You might get them free or pay from 1$ to 4$ each.

the SPDT switchs need to be really sensitive! These switches are the most expensive part of the robot... around 1$ to 4$ each. The one I use are from Cherry.
http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/switches/sealed/dcjk.htm

If you recycle old electronic, it might be all FREE! Try searching old VCR, PS2, old toys, printer, etc
Back then, I use to recycle everything, I got everything FREE, old VCR are very good for gears and something SPDT switchs!!! Playstation have great motors, the one that makes the laser move.

<-- edit july 5 2008 I was surfing the website and found this cool instructable
http://www.instructables.com/id/Recycle-old-PCB-components/
His name is Nick and he is 14 years old!
He told me that is was going to build the beetle robot this weekend because he has all the parts!
He took the time to recycle. :P I did the same thing when I was his age! :)

At the end of his tutorial, I saw a picture of the blue recycling bin of is municipality - Blainville! That is like 10km from where I am living while making my internship!!

The world is small!

end edit -->

The SPDT switchs position is the new twist in this design.

You are going to cross the antenna so that nothing can get stuck between a chair leg like the old design.

Glue them together like in the picture. Hot glue will do.

You need grip to get around! Without tires, your car won't go anywhere. Try driving on your rims... does this make you think of police footage, bad guys trying to get away with busted tires :P

Same thing with the beetle robot.

The shaft of the motor is the rim and the heatshrink is the tire. Since the robot rests on the shaft of the motor to move around, you will need some grip.

You will need to shrink the heatshrink onto the motor shaft. I use a heat gun but the tip of your soldering iron will do.

Here we are going to build a motor mount instead of glueing the motors to the battery holder.

It will look more professional.

Take your metal or aluminium plate and cut it to make a rectangle 1 x 3 inch. It does not really need to be exactly 1 x 3 inch.

If you don't have access to aluminium you can glue the motors to the battery holder.

You can also salvage metal from a old computer, VCR, etc.
In a lot of electronic equipement they have metal plates that are used to reduce parasite noise by grounding these plates to the main ground of the equipement. These plates are easy to cut with metal scissor.

This is an easy step but you need to be carefull for the motor polarisation.

If you get this step right, you have good chances it will work the first time!
( I hope so :P )

Look at this picture to understand. I have use electric tape to attach my motors.

Here we simply glue the metal plate to the front of the robot.

These are a few problems that arose:

1 - The motor mount unglued from the battery holder.

You can simply glue the metal plate to the battery holder with epoxy. You will never be able to remove it!

Here is my tip: I tape a piece of masking tape to the battery holder and one to the motor mount. I then use epoxy to glue the two parts together. The glue dries onto the masking tape and not on the plastic of the battery holder. If one day I need to remove any item, I simply rip off the masking tape! Clever hen? In resume, you glue two pieces of masking tape together!



2 - The front of the robot is too heavy and the robot tilts to the front.

To avoid the tilting, you can try to mount the bracket to the front and not to the middle. This might not really help. On the next step you will see another solution. You can always put some weight on the back of the robot.