Over the coming weeks/months this is what I would like to achieve – unfortunately work has got in the way recently!!

• Add a robotic arm/gripper so I can pick up and carry items
• Add Knight Rider style lights to the front – not very functional I know but will look cool (and I grew up loving KITT as a child!)
• Create Python app (or web interface) to show webcam view, allow control of robot and to show ultrasonic sensor readings
• Improve code so when sensors detect an obstacle it can stop or manoeuvre round it
• Write some code to make it autonomous, so it can explore house/garden and find its own way around
• Add the ability for the robot to speak and to do speech recognition
• Make more use of the camera so it can recognize items or even do facial recognition
• I would also like to make use of the PiJuice which I have backed through Kickstarter to add an alternative power source with rechargeable battery and a solar panel so that the robot can recharge itself

Chassis  – http://www.technobotsonline.com/makerbeam.html

Floor / Motor Guards – http://www.technobotsonline.com/perforated-metal-sheet-200x110x0.5xs3mm.html

Wheels – http://robosavvy.com/store/dagu-pack-of-4-all-terrain-wheels-metallic-silver.html

Top/Lid = cut to size aluminum – http://metalcuttosize.co.uk/index.php/

PiBorg Reverse – https://www.piborg.org/picoborgrev

PiBorg BattBorg – https://www.piborg.org/battborg

PiBorg UltraBorg and 4x HC-SR04 ultrasonic modules – https://www.piborg.org/ultraborg

Raspberry Pi 2 – https://www.amazon.co.uk

Raspberry Pi Camera – https://www.amazon.co.uk

Wireless Dongle – https://www.amazon.co.uk

Bluetooth Dongle – https://www.piborg.org/accessories/bluetooth

6 x 12v 100 RPM motors = http://www.piborg.org

Next step was to add more sensors to the robot – for this I chose the UltraBorg (again from PiBorg) which allows you to control servos and ultrasonic sensors

I drilled some holes in my acrylic sheet and mounted two sensors at the front and one at the rear and connected them up to the UltraBorg

Next I cut out some black acrylic sheet which slides nicely into the MakerBeam beams to fill in the front, back and sides of the robot chassis

I then created some motor guards for the bottom of the chassis to protect the motors and motor wiring using some more perforated metal sheet

For the top (lid) of the chassis I cut to size a piece of aluminium sheet in which I drilled a hole to fit the power switch

I have now finished building the chassis using MakerBeam and added the motors, Raspberry Pi 2, PicoBorg Reverse (motor controller), BattBorg (so I can power Pi and Motors using AA batteries), Batteries and Wheels

For the chassis of my new larger robot I chose to use MakerBeam which is a fantastic product construction kit designed for prototyping and building models (like meccano for adults!) – it consists of aluminium beams and various different fixings to allow you to easily build just about anything – it is also very strong and lightweight so ideal for my robot chassis

For UK readers I highly recommend Technobots as a supplier for MakerBeam

For the base of the chassis I chose some perforated metal sheets – again purchased from Technobots – as the holes would be perfect for mounting the Pi and all other electronics

After several days of playing around with my DiddyBorg and trying out all the great software and the web interface that PiBorg supply I decided that I wanted something bigger – having been inspired by the monster robot (tank) that PiBorg created called the DoodleBorg

This morning I received my DiddyBorg Metal Edition kit and promptly got to work putting it together and taking it out for a test run – what a fantastic piece of kit!!!

This blog is to show the progress of the building of my Raspberry Pi powered robot

I have always wanted to build a robot and the versatility and ability of the Raspberry Pi seemed a great way for me to achieve this

I have done lots of research over the last few months, looking at all the different options available for chassis, controllers, motors etc and I was very impressed with the products from PiBorg, especially the DiddyBorg robot kit

I spoke to Tim the owner of PiBorg who was extremely helpful and told me that he was going to create a limited edition metal version of the DiddyBorg – as soon as this product was released I very quickly placed an order!!