Small robots can be found at all levels from STEM toys for kids all the way through to complex hacker projects. Somewhere along that line between easy enough for anyone to build and interesting enough for hackers lies the PlayCar, from [ComfySpace]. It’s a small build-it-yourself tracked robot that’s controlled from your smartphone via an app.
At the PlayCar’s heart is a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, and surrounding it are a set of inexpensive off the shelf modules for power and motor control. The juice meanwhile comes from a set of AA batteries, and the motors are geared DC units. Having acquired all the components, the 3D printable parts can then be downloaded from Printables, and the ComfySpace app can be downloaded for either Apple or Android platforms.
It’s clear that ComfySpace is a start-up targeting the education sector, and we wish them every success. The approach of making an open platform is one we like, as it has the potential to create a community feeding back designs and add-ons rather than remaining proprietary. You can take a look at the video below the break for more information.
Very nice but for educational expandablity its hard to beat https://hackaday.com/2024/03/06/the-16-pcb-robot/
Hi Garber, this is Thomas, the creator of PlayCar.
this is a very good point! Will keep that in mind.
Thank you for the feedback.
ComfySpace looks like a nice app, but while it doesn’t need any cloud connection to perform as a robotic controller, it still has that to gather PII (personal identifiable information) from the user. So a free app is not so free after all.
Looks like you could easy replace RsPi with some ESP PCB (for example my version https://hackaday.com/blog/?s=miharix ) and don’t use any app at all.
@Thomas Nice project !
Thanks for the feedback, Ewald.
We do hope to eventually get to cloud connection one day, but felt it’s quite not necessary for the scopes of the project right now.
As for gathering information, you can just create a normal username (if you dont want to share your email), hope that helps answer any worries!
Now that’s what I call a real educational robot! :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HERO_(robot)
The 2000 model could run a real PC operating system.
Just like this toy robot with its Raspberry Pi can now.
http://www.theoldrobots.com/hero2k.html
It looks just like a self-propelled office computer case! I wonder if people working in the cubicles in 1990s had nightmares about this thing chasing them around the office…
Lol! This thought has quite some Daleks vibes. 😁
I vaguely remember there also was an episode of MacGyver about robots chasing people around the office/lab.
I just remebered the Hero series because of an epiosode of The Computer Chronicles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxQXBebHrc4&t=860
The original Hero robot was released over 40 years ago, it seems.
It’s still cool, though. The various sensors and the robot arm are still a must have in robotics, I think.
Something like a Hero could be used as a night guard in a museum or something.
It could patrol the large corridors and cause an alarm if something moves. That’s when the sensors come in handy.
Hi again. I thought about the matter and I think I understand now.
Back in the 80s/90s people rather thought of industrial robots or household robots when they heard “robot”.
Nowadays, it’s rather the image of a planetary exploration robot, such as the rovers Pathfinder or Opportunity.
That would explain why this toy robot looks like it does.
This is Thomas (creator of PlayCar). I actually love those retro-computing robot style *chef kiss.
Thanks for recommending those!
Very cool, though I have an deep aversion to using AAs for power, two 18650s and a little usb-c charging board would keep a lot of disposable batteries out of landfills.
There are loads of different make rechargeable AA batteries around, haven’t used single use AAs in years. Mind you 18650s are far better but bigger.
I want to give my kids little robots like this, but I don’t want to give them a phone. I think having the option for a simple controller would be nice.