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DiddyBorg v2 - Build Instructions

Written by in Build, DiddyBorg V2 - Build on .

Step 1. Open the box. If using a knife or blade, be careful not to cut deep as the Perspex parts are on top.

Step 2. In the packaging are two rolled up bubble wrap bags. These contain motor mounts and hubs - don't discard them!

Step 3. Lay out the parts to make sure you have everything. There should be six wheels, a pack of 6 motors, 6 brackets, 6 hubs, 3 pieces of Perspex (one is a small camera mount), a ThunderBorg motor controller, a packet of screws, cable, a battery holder, a reuseable cable tie and a 9V battery connector. Please Note. DiddyBorg's from 01/06/2018 have wire pre-soldered to the motors.

Step 4a. (Diddy Purple) Check you have all the screws, posts, nuts and washers for the build. Click this picture for a better resolution image.

Step 4b. (DiddyBorg RED Edition) Check you have all the screws, posts, nuts and washers for the build. Click this picture for a better resolution image.

Step 5. Carefully peel back the protective layers from the bottom plate.

Step 6. Orient the chassis so that the two diagonal holes are on the left as shown in the above picture. Take a motor mount and position it so that the smaller center hole is facing the Perspex chassis. Place an [M3x12 cheese screw] in the far left corner as shown. For the Red edition, use the M3x10 screws.

Step 7. On the other side, screw on an [M3x40 post] and tighten by hand. Make sure the motor bracket is parallel with the edge of the Perspex chassis.

Step 8. In the center place two [M3x12 cheese screws] towards the bend of the bracket. For the Red edition, use the M3x10 screws. Screw on two [M3x40 posts] and tighten by hand.

Step 9. Repeat this for the remaining brackets. The posts should be in the far corners and the middle outer edges as pictured.

Step 10. Take one of the 16 [M3x10 cheese screws] and place these in the remaining motor bracket holes. For the Red edition, use the M3x10 screws.

Step 11. On the other side of the screw, place on a [M3 Nyloc nut].

Step 12. Repeat this for remaining motor bracket to chassis holes.

Step 13. Take a flat bladed screwdriver and a 5.5mm socket driver, socket or spanner and tighten. Do not overtighten or you could crack the Perspex.

Step 14. Your DiddyBorg should look as pictured. The front of the DiddyBorgV2 is to the right of the picture.

Step 15. Add a [M2.5x6 posts] to the front rightmost hole. Please note in this image the front is to the left of the picture.

Step 16. Underneath, add the [M2.5 nut]. These are the smaller of the two nuts.

Step 17. Repeat the above for all 8 front-most holes as pictured.

Step 18. Remove the motors from their packaging. Please Note. DiddyBorg's from 01/06/2018 have wire pre-soldered to the motors.

Step 19. Put a motor through the mount from the inside. Align the screw holes to the top left and bottom right holes as shown.

Step 20. Place an [M3 Spring washer] on a [M3x6 cheese screw] and screw it in to the motor. Repeat for the other screw hole of the motor and tighten.

Step 21. Repeat for all 6 motors as pictured.

Step 22. Open the packaging containing the ThunderBorg motor controller.

Step 23. Place the motor controller with the green connectors pointed towards the back (away from the other four white M2.5x6 posts). Use four [M2.5 screws] and tighten in place.

Please Note. DiddyBorg's from 01/06/2018 have wire pre-soldered to the motors. The wires simply need cutting to the correct length.

Step 24. Strip about 4mm of insulation from the Red cable. Ideally use a wire stripper. If you've never stripped cable before, it's a good idea to experiment a few times! Be careful how much cable you use though, as there will only a little amount left over after building the robot kit.

Step 25. If you don't have a wire stripper, a pair of side-cutters will do, but be careful not to cut or score the conductor.

Step 26. Orient the chassis so that the back of the robot is to your right. Solder the Red cable to the positive connection of the motor - the positive side has a + symbol and a Red dot near it. You may want to place an antistatic bag or similar underneath the connection you are soldering to protect the Perspex from damage. (See step 32)

Step 27. Put the other end of the cable through the hole on the side closest to the motor.

Step 28. Pull the cable gently so that it is taught, and run the cable over the top of the green terminal on the M1- connector. The length should be so that it goes slightly past the back of the connector. Step 31 has a good picture of this length. Strip approximately 7mm of insulation from the end.

Step 29. Repeat this for the center motor. Again Red wire to Red dot (+) symbol on the motor.

Step 30. Thread it through the hole next to the previous motor you soldered.

Step 31. Again trim off slightly past the connector. This cable will go in the same M1- connector.

Step 32. Solder the last motor on that side. Again Red cable to Red dot (+).

Step 33. Trim end and strip 7mm of insulator.

Step 34. Combine all three cables and screw into the connector M1-. Make sure all three cables are clamped in the hole. If you are wondering why M1- and not M1+, that's because we want this side of the robots motors to normally drive backwards. That way when we put positive power to both motors, the robot drives forwards rather than rotating on the spot.

Step 35. This is what the underneath should look like.

Step 36. Take the Black cable and remove about 4mm of insulator. Solder the black cable to the motor terminal.

Step 37. Place the other end of the black cable through the same hole in front of the red cables.

Step 38. Pull gently until the cable is taught.

Step 39. Again cut the cable just past the terminal block. Strip approx 7mm of insulator. The black cables will end up in the M1+ connector.

Step 40. Repeat for all three motors with black cable.

Step 41. Screw in the three black cables to the M1+ connector.

Step 42. Orient the robot the other way around and place the Red cable into the connector on the motor closest to the red dot (+). The three cables will go through the other hole. The red cables on this side will connect to M2+.

Step 43. Repeat the process for all three motors and tighten into the M2+ connector.

Step 44. Screw in the three red cables into the M2+ connector.

Step 45. Repeat the process for the black cables. These will go into the M2- connector.

Step 46. Screw in the cables into the M2- connector.

Step 47. Your robot should look like the above image.

Step 48. Take the switch and unscrew the two nuts and washer.

Step 49. Place the switch through the switch hole. It should be parallel with the edge of the Perspex chassis.

Step 50. Put the washer on the switch and screw on one nut. You can tighten this with a socket or spanner. Don't overtighten.

Step 51. Add the second nut and tighten against the first nut.

Step 52. Make sure it is still parallel with the chassis.

Step 53. Take the [Quality 9V cable] and trim the ends so that they go just past the edge of the connector.

Step 54. Screw the Red cable into the V+ terminal and black cable into the GND terminal. Make sure these are the correct as getting these around the wrong way will damage your ThunderBorg.

Step 55. Orient the cable so that it goes over the switch as shown.

Step 56. Cut the red cable in between the two terminals of the switch. If your switch has three terminals, we will use the center connector and either one of the other connectors.

Step 57. Strip approx 5mm of insulator from each end of the cable.

Step 58. Solder the cable to the switch. Make sure that there is a gap between the two cables. In other words, make sure the two connectors aren't shorted out.

Step 59. This is what the soldered switch should look like. Flick it towards the back of the robot (towards the side of the two pins you just soldered).

Step 60. Not too far to go now :)

Step 61. Put the SD card into the Raspberry Pi. If you haven't already done so, it's a good idea to install software at this stage as getting to the HDMI slot and USB connectors is easier than when the Pi is installed in the robot. Getting started guide is here.

Step 62. Screw the Pi in. Make sure the HDMI connector is facing forwards and the IO pins are on the ThunderBorg side.

Step 63. Take one of the three pin cables and plug so that white is connected to Pin 1 on the Raspberry Pi. Pin 1 is the one closest to the display connector. Make sure this is correct. Please double check against image above.

Step 64. Take the other end of the cable and plug the white connector into Pin 1 on the 6 pin connector on the ThunderBorg. Pin 1 is labelled with a '1'.

Step 65. Take another connector and plug it into the Raspberry pi directly next to the first connector. White, red and black should line up with each other.

Step 66. Connect the other end into the ThunderBorg. Again white, red and black should line up with each other.

Step 67. Peel back the protective layer from the camera mount.

Step 68. Undo the nuts and washers from the [M2 bolt set]. Place the screw through the mount and camera

Step 69. Place the washer and then the nut on the end. This can be quite fiddly. Sometimes it is easiest to use the end of your finger to screw it on as pictured. Repeat for the other screw.

Step 70. Remove the protective film from the Raspberry Pi camera slot.

Step 71. Gently lift the black section around the camera slot. It should pop up about 2-3mm.

Step 72. Push the camera cable into the slot. Make sure the blue side of the cable is pointed to the USB/Network ports and that the silver pins are pointing towards the HDMI side. With a small amount of pushing, it should locate in the camera connector.

Step 73. Push down gently on the black holder. This should friction lock the cable in place.

Step 74. Take the battery holder and add the batteries. Be sure that you put the batteries in the right way around. Negative on the battery should be connected to the spring side. Once all in, to double check polarity, make sure each battery is rotated with respect to it's neighbour.

Step 75. Place the battery holder so that the connector is to the back of the robot and towards the chassis. Make sure the small connector is lined up with the large one. Carefully connect the 9V connector. If the ThunderBorg lights come on when you connect it, turn the switch off.

Step 76. Take the reusable cable tie and orient the head as pictured. Put the end through the hole next to the switch and bring it back over the other side.

Step 77. Align the head so it is just below the battery pack, place the tail through the eye and pull tight whilst holding the battery. Keep the head just below the battery line as pictured.

Step 78. Put the end of the cable tie through the hole in the chassis. This will keep the cable tie tidy and prevent damage.

Step 79. Power on the switch and the LED on the ThunderBorg should come straight on. If it doesn't make sure your connections are correct. If the batteries or the ThunderBorg gets hot, turn it off immediately - You may have a short circuit or may have connected the battery connector around the wrong way.

If the LED comes on, it should go through a Red, Green, blue and then to battery monitoring colour. This by default should be an orange-yellow colour. This is because the battery monitoring is set to be the full range of the potential input voltage for the ThunderBorg.

If you wish to change this now so that green represents a charged battery and red represents a flat one, set the battery monitoring limits here.

Step 80. Remove the protective layer from the Lid. If you are using the MultiPurpose top plate, click here for more information about advanced DiddyBorg v2 builds.

Step 81. Align the camera plate and the top plate. The top plate should go over the posts. If you can't get it to slot in, you might need to wriggle the posts.

Step 82. Add the [M2.5 nuts] to the top of the posts.

Step 83. Carefully turn the robot over so we can add the hubs.

Step 84. Take a hub, unscrew the silver M4 screw out of it, and loosen the grub screws with the allen key. Looking through the hole, the grub screws should not extend past the hole.

Step 85. Align the grub screw to the flat part of the motor shaft. Slide the hub on to the shaft and then tighten the grub screw a small amount (leave it loose enough so that the hub can slide on the shaft, but tight enough that it won't turn).

Step 86. Align the hub so that the end of the hub is just beyond the motor screws. This image shows correct alignment. Make sure the allen key is completely in the grub screw before you tighten as you can strip the grub screw head. Tighten the grub screw on the flat side first, then tighten the other side, then the flat side again. These want to be fairly tight.

Step 87. Repeat steps 84-86 for each of the remaining hubs.

Step 88. Put the wheels on with the M4 screw that came out of the hub. Tighten with a screwdriver.

Step 89. Repeat the above step for all the wheels.

Step 90. And we're finished. You can take off the protective film on the camera lens and get to programming your DiddyBorg v2! Here are some code examples you can use.

Last update: Nov 09, 2022

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