We found a cute little robot on thingiverse that used a simple, yet clever locomotion system.  Simple in that it used a single yellow (dual shaft) TT motor to control both sides, with the addition of only a battery and power switch.

The basic design is, as I said, clever. What could be done to expand on it? We could use two motors. A CRICKIT would provide finer, individual control of the motors. Using the Feather M0 Bluefruit with the Featherwing CRICKIT would let us drive it remotely. All this additional hardware will require the robot to be larger.

TT Motor All-Metal Gearbox
These durable (but affordable!) gearbox motors (also known as 'TT' motors) are an easy, low-cost way to get your projects moving. This is a TT DC All-Metal Gearbox...
$5.95
In Stock
Angled shot of rectangular microcontroller.
Feather is the new development board from Adafruit, and like its namesake, it is thin, light, and lets you fly! We designed Feather to be a new standard for portable microcontroller...
$29.95
In Stock
Angled shot of a Adafruit CRICKIT FeatherWing for any Feather
Sometimes we wonder if robotics engineers ever watch movies. If they did, they'd know that making robots into servants always ends up in a robot rebellion. Why even go down that...
Out of Stock
Angled shot of 3 x AA battery holder with 2.1mm plug. There are three AA batteries in the holder.
Here's another addition to our growing family of AA battery holders. A holder for three (3) AA batteries!...
$2.95
In Stock

If you want to use a LiPo:

Lithium Ion Battery Pack with three round cells 3.7V 6600mAh with JST PH connector
Need a massive battery for your project? This lithium-ion pack is made of 3 balanced 2200mAh cells for a total of 6600mA capacity! The cells are connected in parallel and spot-welded...
Out of Stock
Angled shot of PowerBoost 1000 Charger.
PowerBoost 1000C is the perfect power supply for your portable project! With a built-in load-sharing battery charger circuit, you'll be able to keep your power-hungry...
Out of Stock

When working at your bench/desk, this wall powered supply will give you solid power and avoid issues with batteries running low.

5V 2A Wall Wart switching power supply
This is an FCC/CE certified and UL listed power supply. Need a lot of 5V power? This switching supply gives a clean regulated 5V output at up to 2000mA. 110 or 240 input, so it works...
$7.95
In Stock

You'll probably want to add these to the legs and body for traction and noise dampening.

Pack of 4 Little Rubber Bumper Feet
Keep your electronics from going barefoot, give them little rubber feet! These small sticky bumpers are our favorite accessory for any electronic kit or device. They are sticky, but...
$0.95
In Stock

Additional Hardware

Hex head bolts are the easiest to work with. 

4 x M3 x .5mm x 25mm Machine Screws
Metric Pan Head Screws for mounting the motors
4 x M3 x .5mm Hex Nuts
Metric Hex Jam Nuts for mounting the motors
4 x M3 Flat Washer
Metric Sized Round steel Washers for mounting the motors
1 x M3 Threaded Inserts
Brass Threaded Insert Nuts 100PCS for the CRICKIT tray
8 x M3 x .5mm x 6mm Machine Screws
Metric Pan Head Screws for mounting the CRICKIT to its tray
8 x M3 x .5mm x 20mm Machine Screws
Metric Pan Head Screws for mounting the CRICKIT and battery trays
10 x M3 x .5mm x 6mm Flat Head Machine Screws
Metric Flat Head Screws, with angled head for the joint caps

This guide was first published on Oct 17, 2018. It was last updated on Mar 18, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

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