Overall Goal

Create a robot which resembles and moves around like M-O from WALL-E.

MVP

  • Resemble M-O
  • Fully functional remote control
  • Functional LED screen with eyes

Stretch Goals

  • Movement - Arms, Head L & R, Head Up & Down
  • Emoted animations
  • Speaker for M-O noises
  • Collision prevention - lights/screen affected by proximity to objects

*Highlighted sections in the strech goals were completed successfully.

System

The robot's motions and actions are determined via input from a remote controller, which is then sent to a motor shield and RGB Matrix Shield.

Architecture

Sprint 1 - "Box That Moves"

Mechanical Goals:

  • Box with wheels
  • Generally matches dimensions of M-O

Electrical Goals:

  • No external power source for the robot
  • Generally matches dimensions of M-O

Software Goals:

  • Basic movement
  • Wireless remote control

Sprint 2 - "Fancier Box That Moves"

Mechanical Goals:

  • Laser cut version of M-O
  • Head added on top of main body
  • Simple arms added to sides
  • Design remote controller

Electrical Goals:

  • Finalize all electronics used & start determining layout
  • Determine component configuration for remote controller

Software Goals:

  • 16x32 Matrix - eyes blinking
  • Tune wireless remote control

Sprint 3 - "It's a M-O"

Mechanical Goals:

  • Skeleton laser-cut M-O
  • New head and neck design that support movement
  • Servo mounts for head and arms

Electrical Goals:

  • Integrate new components into electric layout
  • Wire remote controller

Software Goals:

  • Animate different expressions for M-O's eyes
  • Integrate previous wireless control into new remote controller

Demo - "Holy S-M-O-Kes"

Mechanical Goals:

  • Exterior shell around M-O skeleton
  • Rounded out arms
  • Painting M-O shell
  • Adding roller between arms

Electrical Goals:

  • Clean up wiring in M-O body and controller

Software Goals:

  • Refactor code into clean libraries
  • Ensure radio chip integration all-around is functional

Firmware

The software challenges involved writing code for various electrical components, including radio chips, joysticks, buttons, motor controllers, dc motors, servos, and an LED Matrix.

Electrical

The electircal challenges involved determining a chargable battery to run M-O unteathered, finding components for all of the implemented features M-O has in the movie, and ensuring clean wiring.

Mechanical

The mechanical challenges involved designing M-O's body and head in order to match the movie as closely as possible and providing fixtures for electrical systems.

Financials

Financial information for the features that were present in the final version of M-O. Parts that were acquired free of cost were included with approximated prices.