Designation: E.S.M.E 1
Expect – Some – Mechanical – Errors
Name: Ladybug / Ladybird Robot
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About our Ladybug Robot
Our ladybug robot was one of our first ever robot builds as a home educating family. It was based on a design that we can no longer find, but that used a twin AA battery compartment as its central body. The bug used two 3 volt motors that were hot glued onto the battery case at an angle and slightly off center, so that it leaned towards one end. The side leaning upwards was the front of the bug, and the side leaning down was the back.
For the back, a bead was used on a specially fashioned paperclip to create a tailwheel, and on the front, two switches were mounted that would ultimately be used to control the robot. The switches were mounted at steep angles on the front (see pictures), so that more paperclips could be fashioned into the bug’s ‘antennae’, and then attached to the switches.
The bug when switched on would simply use the motors to move forward (erratically and very quickly), and would turn when one of the antennae came into contact with an obstacle. It was wired such that (and we don’t have an exact diagram at the time of writing), hitting an antennae on the left would turn off the motor on the right. This would mean the left hand motor only would turn the bug to the right, which then moved the bug out of the way of the obstacle. The motor would stay blocked while ever the antenna was triggered or switched. It could roughly navigate a room like this, and so, in a very rudimentary way, it was autonomous.
It was difficult to built with just hot glue, and keeping the antennae on the switches proved ultimately to be the bug’s downfall. We did try to experiment with different ways of keeping the antennae fastened on (tiny cable ties or different adhesives), however this would then interfere with the switches. The antennae, would regularly fall off.
The shell of the robot was made from half an easter egg casing, which was mounted via meccano and then decorated with matching coloured paper spots to allow us to imitate a ladybug/ladybird.
We no long have this robot, so it is very difficult for us to demonstrate it, or show better images until we either recreate it, or find the original designs we loosely based ours on. If either of those things happen, we will update this page and send an email out to subscribers of this website.
Full Stats:
Version: 1.0
Designation: E.S.M.E 1
Name: Ladybug
Utility: Exploration/Fun
Purpose: Home education
Drive: 2WD
Relative Speed (to our other robots): Very fast
Power: 2 x 1.5v AA Batteries (3v total)
Motors: 2 x 3v motors
RPM: Estimated between 12- 20,000rpm
E.S.M.E 1 Ladybug – Gallery
