Ce 023 Electrical Build Guides Doodle Bot

8/21/2021 Doodle Bot
Doodle Bot
Introduction
Materials
Tools
Building the Basic Doodle Bot
Assembling the Basic Bot
Testing and Iterating
Other Options for Your Build
Moving the components inside
Decorating and Finalizing
Incorporating Arduino
Resources
Introduction
Here are some step-by-step instructions for how to build the Doodle Bot that Mark
makes in Lesson #9.
You can use this guide on its own, or you can follow along with Mark as you watch
the video, using this guide to help fill in the details along the way. Either way, it's a
great way to get up-to-speed on basic circuits, or create a Doodle Bot to use as part
of your build.
https://rober-build-resources.monthly.com/build-guides/doodle-bot 1/15
Materials
You'll need the following items:
• For the basic Doodle Bot:
• A plastic or cardboard cup
• A 6V or 3V motor
• You should have one in your Arduino or ELEGOO starter kit:
• AA battery
• Your Arduino starter kit may come with a larger battery, but you
should try to find a AA battery to use for this if you can
• A rubber band (at least 1/4” wide)
• Blue putty
• Tape
• Mark uses gaffer's tape, but you can use any sturdy tape.
• A set of markers
• Poster-board or paper
• For decorations and add-ons:
• Anything you would like to decorate with! This might include:
• Popsicle sticks
• Googly eyes
• Cotton balls
• An LED or other small object to use as a nose
• For Arduino add-ons:
• If you're incorporating an Arduino circuit, the exact electrical

components you need will depend on the circuit you want to build, but
you should be able to find most of what you need in your starter kit.
You'll almost definitely need:
• A breadboard
• Wires
• A set of resistors
• The rest of the components will depend on your build. If you want to
build Mark's circuit, which controls when the Doodle Bot and an
additional servo arm move, based on the presence of light, you'll need
the following components from your starter kit:
• A photosensor
• A transistor
• A diode rectifier
• A servo motor
• A 3-6 V motor
• You can use the one from the basic Doodle Bot build, but it may
be easier to have a separate one so you don't need to
disassemble your Doodle Bot when you're prototyping the
circuit.
• A 10 kΩ resistor
• If your resistors aren't labeled with numbers, look for one with
this color code.
• A 220 Ω resistor
• If your resistors aren't labeled with numbers, look for one with
this color code.
• You may also want to consider using a smaller Arduino board, like a
Nano, and a miniature breadboard, which will be easier to attach to your
Doodle Bot.
Tools
• Optional: Hot glue gun with glue sticks
• Optional: Scissors and other craft tools for decorating
Building the Basic Doodle Bot

Assembling the Basic Bot
(1) Choose 4 marker colors you think would look good together.
(2) Tape 3 of your markers to the outside of the cup, so that they extend an inch
or two beyond the lip of the cup.
These will be the “legs” of your Doodle Bot. There will be 4 total, so leave room for
the last one!
(3) Align the fourth marker to the plane created by the other 3 to ensure that your
Doodle Bot will be level.
Then, tape that one on too. You should now have 4 markers, evenly spaced around
the outside of your cup, which your cup can stand on.
(4) Wrap a rubber band around the outside of the battery, long-ways, so that the
rubber band covers the two ends of the battery.
This rubber band will be used to hold the wires in place, which will connect to motor
to the positive and negative ends of the battery. Depending on the length of your
rubber band, you may need to cut it and leave a tail.
(5) Secure the rubber band around the center of the battery with a piece of tape.
(6) Tape your motor to the top of the cup.

Note: Mark has already added some putty to his motor shaft here to add mass. You
can do that as well! You can always add more or take some away as you’re testing
your Doodle Bot.
(7) Remove the caps of your markers, and make sure your Doodle Bot can still
stand.
If not, you may need to adjust the attachment of the markers. You can also add or
remove markers.
(8) Slip the ends of the wires connecting to the motor under the rubber band, so
that the wires make contact with the positive and negative ends of the battery.
The black wire should connect to the negative side of the battery, marked with a “-“,
and the red wire should connect to the positive side of the battery, marked with a
“+”.
Note: As soon as you properly make these connections, the motor will start to run!
Testing and Iterating

(1) Let your Doodle Bot run for a few seconds and evaluate the outcome.
Note: If you need to stop the Doodle Bot, you can pull one of the motor wires out
from beneath the rubber band to break the connection with the battery. Make sure
you don't touch the actual metal wires when you do this!
(2) You can make changes to your Doodle Bot’s motion pattern by adjusting the
additional mass on the motor.
See what happens to the motion of your Doodle Bot, and the resulting drawing,
when you make the following changes:
• Add additional putty to the motor shaft
• Remove putty from the motor shaft
• Change the shape of the putty on the motor shaft so that more mass is further
from the center of the motor.
• Add additional mass in the form of metal nuts or other small objects
(3) Continue iterating until you’re happy with the motion of your Doodle Bot and
the drawings it is producing.
Other Options for Your Build

Moving the components inside
You could use the Doodlebot as-is, or clean up the presentation a bit by moving the
main components to the inside of the cup, like Mark did in the video.
(1) Relocate the markers and the motor to the inside of the cup.
Mark did this by:
• Taping the markers to the inside surface of the cup instead of the outside,
and reducing the number of markers from 4 to 3.
• Hot gluing the motor to the flat surface of the cup, and poking a hole in the
side to fit the motor shaft through. You’ll need to remove any mass affixed to
the shaft so that you can poke it through the hole in the cup.
• Taping the battery to the outside surface of the cup and reconnecting the
wires.
(2) Add mass to the shaft, on the outside of the cup.

You’ll need to go through the testing and iterating process again to figure out the
right amount and position of the mass. This time, Mark hot glued a popsicle stick to
his motor shaft so he could easily adjust the position of the putty relative to the axis.
Decorating and Finalizing

Don't forget, your builds for this class should be story-motivated! If you're using this
for your actual build, you'll want to think about how this circuit fits into your specific
story.
Here are a few examples of builds that might use the Doodle Bot:
• The Doodle Cat: Model your Doodle Bot after your favorite pet or animal.
See if you can try to mimic their movement patterns with your Bot's motion!
• The Doodle Colorer: Build a frame that your Doodle Bot will stay within, and
run the Doodle Bot until it has colored in the space within the frame to your
liking.
• The Custom Color Doodle Bot: Design your Doodle Bot so that it colors with
only one color at a time, and so you can replace the markers with a different
set. Then, you can create layered art with different amounts of different
colored doodles!
(1) Use markers, googly eyes, cotton balls, or anything you have on hand to
decorate your Doodle Bot.
Use this to help tell your build's unique story!
(2) You may also want to use the cup-based Doodle Bot as your prototype, and
make a new one from scratch with a body made out of a different material (like
wood, cardboard, or even a 3D printed shell)
A Doodle Bot with a different shape and mass will move differently, so you'll need to
run some more tests to get the final version working the way you want it to.
Incorporating Arduino
Adding Arduino to your Doodle Bot build allows you to do things like control when the
Doodle Bot moves based on light, motion, or any other type of input from a sensor.
You can also add extra functionality, like a waving arm. Mark gave some ideas for how
to incorporate Arduino into a Doodle Bot build in Lesson #9.
• If you want to follow Mark's build idea, in which the circuit either moves the
Doodle Bot or a servo arm based on how much light is present, you can
follow this circuit image and use this code.
• For a simpler walkthrough of the Arduino circuit-building process, and some

other code examples, see the Knob and Servo or Blinking LED guides.
• You can also check out the Arduino Project Hub for more examples of code
and circuits that you could incorporate into your builds.
We recommend that you follow this process:
(1) Create a proof of concept of your circuit using just the electrical components
and your full-size breadboard.
You can transfer this to a mini breadboard later, but it's easier to see and make
connections on the larger board. Make sure your circuit is unplugged from the
power source when you are working with it.
(2) Plug your Arduino board into your computer using the USB cord that came in
your starter kit, and upload the code you need.
Then test your circuit and see how it's working. You may need to troubleshoot or
fine-tune your design.
(3) When you're happy with how your circuit is working, unplug your Arduino
board from your power source and transfer your components to the mini
breadboard.
You may also want to consider using a smaller Arduino board, like a Nano, which will
be easier to attach to your Doodle Bot.
(4) Then, attach all of your components to the body of your Doodle Bot.
Reconnect to power, test, troubleshoot, and iterate as necessary.
If you'd like your Arduino circuit to run without being plugged into the computer,
connect a 9V battery to your board (the positive side should plug into the voltage
input ("Vin") port and the negative side should plug into a ground ("GND") port.
Your starter kit may have also come with an adaptor like the one shown below,
which allows you to connect the battery directly into a combined power port.
Once powered, the Arduino will run the program that was most recently uploaded
to the board. Consider adding a switch to your design so you can turn it on and off
more easily!
Resources
Getting Started with Arduino UNO
Arduino Upload Troubleshooting
Arduino Project Hub

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8/21/2021 Doodle Bot

Building the Basic Doodle Bot

Assembling the Basic Bot

Testing and Iterating

Other Options for Your Build

Moving the components inside

Decorating and Finalizing

You'll need the following items:

• For the basic Doodle Bot:

• A plastic or cardboard cup

• You should have one in your Arduino or ELEGOO starter kit:

• A rubber band (at least 1/4” wide)

• For decorations and add-ons:

• Anything you would like to decorate with! This might include:

• An LED or other small object to use as a nose

• For Arduino add-ons:

• If you're incorporating an Arduino circuit, the exact electrical

• Optional: Scissors and other craft tools for decorating

Building the Basic Doodle Bot

(6) Tape your motor to the top of the cup.

Testing and Iterating

• Add additional putty to the motor shaft

• Remove putty from the motor shaft

Other Options for Your Build

(2) Add mass to the shaft, on the outside of the cup.

Decorating and Finalizing

• For a simpler walkthrough of the Arduino circuit-building process, and some

We recommend that you follow this process:

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