Building a Rover-Pi robot with forward driving motors

Creating robots does not need to be an expensive hobby. A small, rover-type robot can be constructed using household items for the chassis (the base everything is attached to), and a couple of small driving motors can be used to move it.

The Rover-Pi robot is a small, buggy-type robot that has just two wheels and a skid or caster at the front to allow it to turn. One such robot is shown in the following image:

A home-built Rover-Pi robot

While it may not be in the same league as a Mars Exploration Rover, as you will see, there is plenty for you to experiment with.

You can also purchase many inexpensive robot kits that contain most of what you need in a single package (see the There's more… section at the end of this example).

Getting ready

The Rover we are building will need to contain the elements shown in the following diagram:

The separate parts of the Rover-Pi robot

The elements are discussed in detail as follows:

• Chassis: This example uses...