Brainibot

New from Magenta Electronics is the Brainibot - a clever new buggy originally designed to provide an interesting and entertaining project for young “craft and technology” students. At first glance it is a simple two wheeled buggy, but its responses to signals from its three sensors make it appear to be surprisingly intelligent. The mechanical parts have been kept as simple as possible, using just basic components, but other hardware can be adapted to run from the same circuits - providing plenty of room for experiments.

To keep the assembly simple, the control board uses the minimum of components, and the smallest PIC microcontroller that would provide sufficient inputs and outputs. The final design uses an 8 pin microcontroller to demonstrate some interesting PIC programming and hardware techniques. With its clever programming, twin feelers and built-in light-sensor, Brainibot has a performance that would be expected from something much more complicated!
The basis of this project, like most other buggy designs, is a simple two wheeled chassis stabilised by front and rear 'bumpers'. The wheels are driven independently forwards and backwards, and steering is achieved by driving one wheel whilst the other wheel is either at rest or driven in the opposite direction. The buggy is programmed to avoid obstacles and seek brighter light.

The two motors drive the rims of the wheels by simple friction contact. To provide the right force without slipping, the batteries and motors are fitted to a section of the chassis which is folded over. The combined motor and battery weight provides a steady force between the motor spindles and the tops of the wheels.
A cadmium sulphide light sensitive resistor gives the buggy its 'eye'. A piezo transducer driven with a square wave from the microcontroller chip provides a 'beeper' function. Optional: Brainibot with PC serial lead l.e.d. programmable system (Kit 911). The l.e.d. is flashed by the serial port and received by the Brainibot light sensor, so that the buggy can be programmed with a sequence of functions. PC software is supplied on CD ROM and can be downloaded - progbot2.zip 393kB Right-click and go Save As... to save to your hard disk.

© The Brainibot design and PIC™ source code are copyright Analogue Information Systems Ltd. and are provided free for non-commercial use only.

Kit 910 is a kit for the Brainibot design, as published in Everyday Practical Electronics Magazine (Feb 2003 issue).

Kit 911 is a more powerful programmable version that does everything that Brainibot I does, but has a better processor (12C671) and also includes a 9-pin PC serial lead fitted with an l.e.d., plus PC software on CD.

Brainibot's 12C508/ 509 PIC Microcontroller is also available separately from Magenta