As long as I can remember, I'm a big fan of the Johnny 5 robot. And since I started designing robots, I've always thought this was the ideal model to follow: friendly head, functional arms and hands, and tank tracks as a method of locomotion.

I developed several similar projects, and with each iteration they became bigger, stronger, with more functions and possibilities, and improved my creative skills. Therefore, this project is a sequel to a lineage of robots inspired by Johnny 5.

The robot has an Arduino Mega 2560 to control all 13 servo motors. Also connected to the Arduino is an H-bridge (L298N) to control the grippers (hands) and another H-bridge (VNH2SP30) to control the tank tracks DC motors (locomotion). There is one more Arduino (Nano) inside the head, which controls the LED matrices. At the bottom of the head is a Wi-Fi camera to stream images to a smart phone. This camera was taken from a Syma X5SW-1 quadcopter.

Most of the parts were designed and created by me using simple materials and DIY techniques, which will be described as shown in the following steps. The photos summarize the work, and the videos show in more details how the parts were made.

The construction took place around four main steps (it is not the sequence in which the parts were made, but which I thought was best to describe them: from top to bottom):

1. Head

2. Chest + arms

3. Chest pan/tilt mechanism

4. Chassis

1. Head

The head is what gives the robot its personality. It has a face with LED matrices, which I designed to display facial expressions and looks. The head has two presence sensors and an ultrasonic sensor. In the head construction video you will see that it has an antenna, which was initially for aesthetic purposes only, and was later replaced by an antenna of NRF24L01.

The head was constructed of high impact polystyrene pieces, on which I applied the templates with the toner transfer method. Pieces of PVC pipe were also used. All glued with instant adhesive, sanded to a good finish, and painted with gray spray.

2. Chest + arms

The chest was made with fiberglass applied over a Pepakura mold. Then body filler was applied over the fiberglass. Then many hours of sanding. More body filler. More sanding. And to finish, I painted it with gray.

The arms were made with a combination of brackets and servo motors, and a gripper to handle objects.

3. Chest pan/tilt mechanism

This part, not so significant in size, but very important for its functionality. Although not very large, it took several hours to produce. Its function is to allow the robot to pan / tilt. Also, connects the chest to the chassis.

This part is one of many that were made with high impact polystyrene. As it is a part that moves the full weight of the robot's upper part, it needed to be well reinforced. Therefore, several layers of the material were combined, bonded with instant adhesive. 

For the tilt, I made two pulley reductions, as well as using two servo motors (one on each side) to get enough torque. For the pan, I made a gear reduction.

4. Chassis

This is the largest and one of the main parts. It was probably in this that I spent most of the construction time.

Its function, besides supporting the entire upper part of the robot, is that which forms the locomotion system. This is where the battery and control module of the DC motors that move the rubber tracks is also housed. Also in this part there is a display to check the battery voltage and the main power switch.

Right behind is a caster wheel to give more stability and prevent the robot from falling backwards.

It was also made with high impact polystyrene, glued mainly with instant adhesive. But this piece required reinforcements with aluminum profiles and epoxy adhesive.

- Remote controller -

This was not a planned step at first, but it turned out to be a necessity because the way I like to play with my robots the most is by remote controlling them.

The controller has an Arduino Nano and an NRF24L01 module to send commands to the robot.

It was also made with high impact polystyrene. The undersides were painted matte black. And at the top I applied a carbon fiber adhesive.

Most of my robots are remote controlled and use NRF24L01 modules, so I can use this controller with all of them.

- Final considerations -

The entire construction took around two years, including all the work of making and finishing the parts, electronics and programming.

There are still a few things I'd like to improve on, especially developing the code for it to run autonomously.

All the time devoted to construction was very enjoyable, making my own parts, and it is certainly the project I have devoted the most time to in my life, more resources and attention to details. It is a personal achievement as a roboticist and I consider it my masterpiece.

Feel free to ask me about any additional information you might want to know about building this robot.

If you enjoyed this project and the videos, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel: youtube.com/mechdickel

Thank you! ;)