RILYBOT 4: How Do I Make One?

You will need the Robotics Invention System set, a LEGO® product available through many large toy stores, and even a few computer and appliance stores that sell computer games and/or videogame systems.

The RILYBOT 4 design also includes the following additional parts:

three 2x8 conducting plates
one 2x4 conducting plate
two 1x2 conducting plates
one polarity switch
four 47K 1/4-watt resistors
two 4.7K 1/4-watt resistors
several short pieces of 24-gauge insulated wire

The conducting plates are all included in spare parts set #5037 "electric plates". The polarity switch comes in spart parts set #5120 "polarity switch". Two of the 2x8 conducting plates, the resistors and the wire are used to make the multi-input adapter plates. The third 2x8 conducting plate is cut into four 2x2 pieces and used to connect the multi-input adapters to the RCX terminals.

Once you have the robotics kit and have made the adapter plates, you need to build a robot. The specifics of building the robot are not important as long as it meets the following requirements:

two motors, connected to A and C
adapter plates connecting motor output A to sensor input 1 and motor C to sensor 3.
two touch sensors, connected to the adapter plates
one light sensor, connected to 2
when the robot is turned off you can roll it around and said rolling will cause the motors to turn without a lot of slipping
when the robot is on and the motors are running, the motors will cause the robot to move around without a lot of slipping

The combination of those last two requirements means that you can't use a lot of gear reduction between the motor and the wheels, and they also pretty much rule out the use of tank treads or legs.

Once you've built your robot, any of the RILYBOT 4 programs should control the robot as described here.

GPL notice: This document and the ideas contained herein are Copyright © 1999 Robert P. Munafo, and are distributed under the Free Software Foundation General Public License version 2.0. See the FSF GPL page for more information.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. Details here s.13