A robot a 'day'. The simplest solution that works. Turning with motors Pro Preview

Here is a good problem- turning with the motors that we've built in the previous sections of the course. You noticed that turning with the robots is quite difficult because they lose balance and they fall. So we must learn the basic thing about engineering - the simplest solution is probably good enough.

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  • #791
  • 17 Mar 2018

How does a motorcycle turn?

It turns not with the handlebar, but by tilting it to the left and to the right. As a motorcyclist you do it with your weight. But our motorcycle robots don't have a motorcyclist . We are also limited to the type of parts that we could use to build it. We could only use parts of the LEGO Mindstorms sets. 

Helper wheels to the help

The simplest solution is most of the time good enough. It might not be the best solution, it might not be the most beautiful solution, it might not be perfect, but it is simple and it works. And this applies to engineering a lot. Many times it is not worth the trouble of spending a lot of resources on developing more than the simplest solution. It is a matter of balance. 

We've just placed some helper wheels on the robot and now it could very easily turn. 

 

Forger - Chopper Motorcycle with assisting wheels built with LEGO Mindstorms EV3

Building instructions for a LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Motorcycle, but this time with helper wheels. The helper wheels solve the problem of making turns with the robot. If the robot loses balance it will fall. The goal of the helper wheels is to make it easier for the robot to turn. Small modification, but really make a difference. 

Handlebar - Chopper Motorcycle built with LEGO Mindstorms EV3

Take a motorcycle and start removing parts. You get a chopper. Like this one. It is built with LEGO Mindstorms EV3. It has one large and one medium motor. It could kind of turn, but moving forward with it is very funny. There is a "more sports like version" available at Ninja - Sports Motorcycle built with LEGO Mindstorms EV3

Currently, the motorcycle has no sensors. It's more of an exercise in construction, but if you attach sensors and think of a way to attach them send us a picture. 

Join the course A robot a "day" keeps the questions awake where we will further discuss the motorcycles, how to build them and what tasks to accomplish with them. 

You can find some demo programs here.

Courses and lessons with this Tutorial

This Tutorial is used in the following courses and lessons

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