While the hoverboard craze has faded somewhat, the good news is that this means their powerful wheel motors can easily be found on online auction sites. Lukas Kaul took advantage of this component’s availability and created his own “HoverBot,” which as shown in Felix von Drigalski’s video below, acts as something in between a radio-controlled skateboarder and a rather large self-balancing bot.

The device is built around an Arduino Mega, which takes input from an RC receiver, along with a Bosch BNO055 IMU, and passes appropriate signals to the motors through an ODrive controller. 

The HoverBot is a bit unsteady at high speeds, requiring close operator supervision. However, it looks like a lot of fun, especially when attempting tricks—sometimes successfully—at a skate park.

If you’re familiar with the Segway or other vehicles that balance in what is known as an “inverted pendulum” configuration, you may think that while interesting, creating something similar would be too complicated or out of your budget. Though perhaps still not simple, Joop Brokking takes you through his design for this type of bot in the video seen here, making it accessible if you’d like to build your own.

The robot, which will cost about $80 in parts, uses two stepper motors for greater movement precision than could be had with normal DC models, and employs an Arduino Pro Mini, along with an MPU-6050 accelerometer/gyroscope for control. It can be driven around by a Wii U-style nunchuck, which transmits to the robot via an Arduino Uno and wireless transceiver module.

You can find more info and product links for this project on Brokking.net.

Ready to level-up your robot skills? ArduRoller is a self-balancing, inverted pendulum robot that’s also capable of autonomous navigation indoors or out. I created it as an entry for the annual SparkFun Autonomous Vehicle Competition: The goal was to create a nontraditional vehicle capable of quickly navigating an obstacle course […]

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The post How to Build a Self-Balancing Autonomous Arduino Bot appeared first on Make:.

Ready to level-up your robot skills? ArduRoller is a self-balancing, inverted pendulum robot that’s also capable of autonomous navigation indoors or out. I created it as an entry for the annual SparkFun Autonomous Vehicle Competition: The goal was to create a nontraditional vehicle capable of quickly navigating an obstacle course […]

Read more on MAKE

The post How to Build a Self-Balancing Autonomous Arduino Bot appeared first on Make:.

Since the introduction of the segway, DIYers have been building their own self-balancing transportation devices.  Before you go off and build a full-size version, here’s a simple project to help you learn the basics of control system design (the software which powers the balancing act).  Essentially, a microcontroller reads sensors such as gyroscopes and accelerometers, then uses a PID algorithm to make minute adjustments to the robot’s wheels.

The little robot featured above is powered by an Arduino Nano and remotely controlled via bluetooth.  Additionally, the device features three potentiometers to fine tune the balancing algorithm.  Both the wheels and body were 3D printed.  To learn how to build your own minature self-balancing robot, check out the full project details and be sure to check out these three epic self-balancing posts:

Don’t Miss Out:

• Incredible Robot Balances Perfectly on a Ball
• The Enicycle: A Self Balancing Electric UniCycle
• Build a Self-Balancing Segway Skateboard