Here is a laser cut rover I’ve made, using the LCD-button-board as the controller. The motors are cheap, modified Hobbyking servos. It’s a very simple build, and it is programmable using the keys on the LCD-board. The LCD-board has connectors for two servos and one sensor, giving access to two IO (one of which is P1.6, an analog input, required for the IR sensor).
The software is programmed using Energia, which is an Arduino-clone for MSP430.
It uses a home-made IR proximity sensor.
The firmware used on the video is here and you also need the LCD library for the board, which is here. If you think this is interesting you may also want to look at one of my other, even simpler builds, which requires less components.
If you’d like to make one yourself, you can do it without the laser-cut kit also. You can just get a 3-cell battery box as on the picture and use double-sided tape to glue the servos on top of it, and the board on top of the servos. Use something round (CDs?) as the wheels. Will work fine. But make sure you use 3 NiMH batteries (1.2 V each, 3.6 V in total), since this will give a good voltage you can feed directly to the servos and to the MSP430/LCD without breaking anything. If you use 3 Alkaline batteries, you need a regulator for the MSP430/LCD.
If you want a laser-cut kit, I can make one for you. Send me a message and I’ll add it to the store.
Here’s the Youtube video:
