MAKE: Noise — Discuss this article

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• mousy the junk bot
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  Dude i cant find a list of the parts. HELP!!!!!!!!!!! Please post back or send them to my email (akcatfish@comcast.net)

  Posted by akcatfish on January 05, 2008 at 22:28:18 Pacific Time

• mousy the junk bot
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  Dude i cant find a list of the parts. HELP!!!!!!!!!!! Please post back or send them to my email (akcatfish@comcast.net)

  Posted by akcatfish on January 05, 2008 at 22:28:16 Pacific Time

• DPDT relay wiring
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  The wiring diagram for the relay is designed for the Solarbotics RE1 (and others of this type with common poles on 4 and 13).
  
  I got my relay elsewhere (from Hobby Engineering - RTE24005F), and the wiring had to be adjusted.
  
  Pin 1 (+ voltage)
  Pin 4 (connect to pin 9)
  Pin 6 (right motor +)
  Pin 8 (connect to pin 1 and pin 13)
  Pin 9 (connect to pin 4 and ground)
  Pin 11 (left motor +)
  Pin 13 (connect to pin 8)
  Pin 16 (connect to 3904 transistor)

  Posted by gibsonmax on May 26, 2007 at 17:50:55 Pacific Time

• mousey's motors.
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  hey, I got mousey to work.. however he's too fast! I think this is because im using a lower voltage motor? from radioshack its 1.5-3vdc. how can i slow it down? resistors? I'm a new guy to electronics so if you could help me out that would be awesome. :)

  Posted by monkeybbusiness@msn.com on August 15, 2006 at 16:10:42 Pacific Time

• mousey's motors.
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  Too fast? Is there such a problem?
  
  Well, start by using less voltage. Try a quad-pack off AAA cells. Or yes, you can use a 1/4 watt resistor in the 10 to 47 ohm range to slow it down. But generally, faster da better in my book!

  Posted by hockeyrink on December 19, 2006 at 13:46:18 Pacific Time

• free mousey
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  you can make tons of these mouseys for all most nothing! But not with out spending about two weeks hunting down parts in old electronics. So befor spending any thing on mousey check some old stuff and garage sales. A trip to a junk yard wouldent hurt. But if you give up just by the stuff!

  Posted by hbpron on September 16, 2005 at 17:38:25 Pacific Time

• Mousey works!
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  My son (9yrs) and I built mousey from 100 percent scrap. Had some dificulty desolidering surface mount stuff, but all ended up OK. Ran it this evening, and we can not wait to build the next one.
  It was not encouraging on the breadboard. The motors seemed to spin too fast and the sensors made the motors react in an all or nothing fasion. Either the left would spin or the right but not both.
  In the actual mouse the inertia plus the frictional resistance causes the motors to act totally diferently.
  We used it in a dim room and it would chase a flashlight VERRRRRY acuratley.
  
  I changed only 2 things.
  1) I used the IR detectors not the "emitters" as suggested in the article.
  2) I changed the LED wireing so that it is just 350 ohms away from VCC.
  and hooked the + end of both detectors to a 1k resistor and that to VCC.
  
  LOVE THE MAGAZINE, I CANNOT STOP TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT IT.

  Posted by mcmspark on September 12, 2005 at 20:30:24 Pacific Time

• Mousey works!
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  Posted by Ganbaa_elmer on October 05, 2008 at 23:25:57 Pacific Time

• Mousey Tires
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  Great tire material: O-rings. Get 'em in many sizes. Make a hub out of anything round that you can get some sort of groove in. Like a wooden dowel. Even an imperfect groove will hold the o-ring in place.

  Posted by jack42 on August 27, 2005 at 00:54:25 Pacific Time

• Mousey spins in circles?
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  I'm hoping somebody can offer some advice . I built mousey on the breadboard and he worked great. I could definitely hear the motors changing speed when I ran a flashlight over the sensors and the bump switched worked great. (BTW, I built my mousey from the kit from solarbotics).
  Now that I've got him built proper (what with solder and all), I'm having a problem. He spins in circles. The good news is that my bump switch works great! However, my left motor is always going faster. Differences in light don't seem to affect mousey at all. When I connect the multimeter to the motor leads when power is switched on, the left motor has about 5.4V and the right has about 2.3V or so.
  Also, I have a question about the LED. My LED doesn't light up at all, until I grab the wheel on the left motor and slow it down. Then the LED lights up. When I do the same thing to the right motor, the LED doesn't light up.
  I'm sure I did something foolish, but I'm hoping someone can tell me (based on these symptoms) what that foolish thing was.

  Posted by volumen-1 on August 06, 2005 at 00:58:49 Pacific Time

• Mousey spins in circles?
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  Well, I found my problem(s).
  
  1) My IR detectors (I got the kit from Solarbotics) were hooked up backwards. After I remedied this problem my motors would react to light on the detectors.
  2) However, it was an all or nothing deal. Light on one IR sensor would pretty cause the other motor to stop entirely. I was going to try and tweak the eyestalks to fix the problem but I accidently broke a prong off of the detector. So, I ended up using the IR sensors from my gutted mouse. These seemed to work much better!
  3) My LED would only light up very rarely. I think because the LED's cathode lead was connected to the wires feeding both motors. It seemed like when the motors were drawing enough current that the LED got the leftovers? I'm clearly no electrical engineer, but that's what it seemed like to me. I wanted a fancy LED that was always on so I connected my LED's cathode lead to the solderpoint closest to the battery's negeative terminal. Now I have a shiny bright LED. Also, (and I may be imagining this) the LED seems to have caused my motors to get less juice, so my mousebot isn't so damned fast!
  
  The majority of these problems would have been easier to solve if I hadn't be working on them at 2am after 4 beers.
  
  Shane

  Posted by volumen-1 on August 08, 2005 at 18:55:25 Pacific Time

• Mousey motor problems
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  I have gone over my entire circuit several times and can not find the problem I even swapped out the relay in hopes that it was bad. What happens is only one motor turns until I hit the switch and then it stops and the other motor turns backward for a short time then back to only one motor turning. I have switched the leads on the motors and even connected them both to pin 4 or 13 of the relay. Pin 4 only gives the motor reverse when the reverse button is hit and pin 13 only gives forward when the reverse button is not hit. The LED get’s brighter when one eye or the other or both has light so I think that part of the circuit is O.K. At this point I’m determined to get it to work so any advice will be appreciated. ~~ Tom

  Posted by bent_pipe on July 26, 2005 at 16:25:01 Pacific Time

• Mousey motor problems
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  I am having the same problem with the motors. Did you ever get an answer?

  Posted by agj on August 22, 2005 at 19:19:57 Pacific Time

• Mousey motor problems
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  Make sure pin 9 on the relay is connected to ground.

  Posted by jstevenperry on October 24, 2005 at 18:43:05 Pacific Time

• Mousey motor problems
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  what does that mean?
  

  Posted by gmunchkin on January 01, 2006 at 09:44:50 Pacific Time

• Only Motor Runs!!!
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  I'm using the Solarbotics kit but can't get more than one motor to run at a time...anyone have this problem and solved it??? VERY FRUSTRATED! Tested everything I can think of...but I'm no expert. Thanks Mouseybot fans!

  Posted by nycmckay on July 22, 2005 at 09:05:53 Pacific Time

• Bump Switch Problem
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  After further investigation I found that the bumps switch does switch from forward to reverse and back. But it takes about 20 seconds for it to go back to forward. is that supposed to happen?

  Posted by EpsilonSun on July 20, 2005 at 08:24:48 Pacific Time

• Bump Switch Problem
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  i've got a problem with my bump switch. the motors run fine forward but when i hit the bump switch the motors reverse but they stay in reverse. i'm not sure what's wrong.

  Posted by EpsilonSun on July 20, 2005 at 06:43:54 Pacific Time

• instructions
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  Where are the instructions?

  Posted by Master_M on July 16, 2005 at 16:39:31 Pacific Time

• instructions
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  Posted by go99 on February 25, 2006 at 21:47:38 Pacific Time

• Sample PDF Updated
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  Hi -
  We've made a PDF of the full article available as a sample. If you downloaded the earlier sample, you'll find that it only contained part of the project. But as promised on "Return of the Show", the full version is now available here.
  -t
  

  Posted by terrie on July 20, 2005 at 13:17:12 Pacific Time

• Sample PDF Updated
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  The link that you posted take you exactly to the old one. Is there a place where i can find the complete instructions?
  Help!

  Posted by hippo06 on November 09, 2005 at 10:54:18 Pacific Time

• instructions
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  I just saw this on G4 but where are the downloadable instructios

  Posted by jediknight36 on July 18, 2005 at 09:32:34 Pacific Time

• instructions
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  Dude, they're in the magazine whose website you are looking at right now.

  Posted by jack42 on July 17, 2005 at 00:15:28 Pacific Time

• instructions
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  hello.
  where do i find the instructions to make my mouse? please post back

  Posted by bloodshot09 on July 15, 2005 at 21:49:42 Pacific Time

• How does the circuit work?
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  As a non-electronic-guy I'm trying to pick my way through how the circuit works. Can anybody help explain (or know of a website that can help?).
  
  I don't understand how the motors can move differentially since they both share negative leads and only one output comes out of the LM386. Won't that make them go the same speed no matter what the input? The relay is just for the speed reverse feature, right? I've looked up the pinouts on the LM386 and I'm still just as confused? Hmmmm.

  Posted by jack42 on July 15, 2005 at 14:10:55 Pacific Time

• UK Maker
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  Hi,
  
  I'm really interested in making this project, and have bought the magazines and stuff and am now hunting for the parts. I can get most of them from maplins (the big electronics company here in the UK) but some are named differently. I'm pretty sure I can figure out the same part here, but I was wondering if there were any other UK Makers, and if they knew of any good UK based electronics stores? I'm new to all this stuff.
  
  :-)

  Posted by gkoshra on July 02, 2005 at 07:51:02 Pacific Time

• Parts list?
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  Didn't the article say something about a parts list or something like that at this link??? hmmmmm

  Posted by Zodaonly on June 24, 2005 at 21:17:37 Pacific Time

• Parts list?
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  You're right. I hadn't noticed this in the article. Here's the list I posted on my website (www.streettech.com/shoptalk):
  
  1 - Junked Computer Mouse (or new el cheapo one)
  2 - Small DC motors (Solarbotics Part #RM1)
  1 - Double-Pole, Double-Throw (DP/DT) 5-volt Relay (SB Part #RE1)
  1 - LM386 Audio Operational Amplifier (SB Part #LM386)
  2 - Light Sensors (taken from mouse)
  1 - SP/ST Toggle Switch (SB Part #SWT2)
  1 - SP/ST Touch Switch (taken from mouse)
  1 - 9-volt Battery Snap (Available from Radio Shack)
  1 - 9-volt Battery
  1 - 2N3904 or PN2222 NPN-Type Transistor (SB Part #TR2222)
  1 - 1k-Ohm to 20k-Ohm Resistor (Range available from Solarbotics)
  1 - 1k-Ohm Resistor (SB Part #R1.0K)
  1 - 10uF to 100uF Electrolytic Capacitor (range available from Solarbotics)
  2 - Spools of 22 to 24-guage stranded hook-up wire (one black, one red) (available at Radio Shack)
  4 - 6-1/2" pieces of 22-guage solid hook-up wire (two red, two black) (available at Radio Shack)
  1 - Wide Rubber Band
  1 - Small piece of scrap plastic (about 1/4" x 2-1/2")
  1 - Small piece of Velcro or two-way tape (optional)

  Posted by garethb2 on June 26, 2005 at 10:25:41 Pacific Time

• instruction 14b from building the mousy bot
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  I have never used a multimeter before. I have the "22-Range Fold-Up Pocket Multimeter" from radioshack. The toggle switch came with the kit from solarbotics.
  
  I actually have all the components soldered already inside the mouse case, but the battery is getting hot. So I am trying to find a short somewhere.
  
  I want to make sure I soldered the bump switch properly. I see no wires or soldered connections touching where they shouldn't.
  
  I just need to know how to test the switch using the multimeter.
  
  Thank You

  Posted by nyjohn on June 23, 2005 at 17:51:26 Pacific Time

• instruction 14b from building the mousy bot
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  I assume you're talking about testing a mouse button switch? Put your DMM on the Ohm/Resistance setting. Hook the black meter lead to the center (common) pin and the red lead to one of the other pins. If you already know which pin is the Normally Open (N.O.), connect it to that. That's the terminal you want. With the switch unengaged (open), you should get an infinite resistance reading (often indicated by an "OL" or "OF" -- check the docs on your DMM). Engaging the switch should give you a reading of "0" or a very small resistance value.
  

  Posted by garethb2 on June 26, 2005 at 10:21:11 Pacific Time

• instruction 14b from building the mousy bot
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  Thank You very much for your response.
  
  Yes I am testing a mouse button switch. The same one from the kit on the solarbotics website.
  
  Now, I have already things soldered into it. Will I still be able to test without de-soldering?
  
  ====================================
  
  
  I assume you're talking about testing a mouse button switch? Put your DMM on the Ohm/Resistance setting. Hook the black meter lead to the center (common) pin and the red lead to one of the other pins. If you already know which pin is the Normally Open (N.O.), connect it to that. That's the terminal you want. With the switch unengaged (open), you should get an infinite resistance reading (often indicated by an "OL" or "OF" -- check the docs on your DMM). Engaging the switch should give you a reading of "0" or a very small resistance value.

  Posted by nyjohn on June 27, 2005 at 08:10:49 Pacific Time

• Attaching motors
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  I have the 4.5v motors, and looking for a better way attach them (other than putty) to my chasis. I'd like to build an adjustable mount so I can experiment with tyre type and motor angle.
  
  I've noticed that the motors I have (marked N247) have two parallel punched slits on one side of the cylindrical housing (presumably for mounting). Can anyone let me know how these slits would normally be used to mount the motor?
  
  The motor specs can be found here (Jaycar, Australia)

  Posted by JayZee on June 20, 2005 at 06:42:41 Pacific Time

• Touch Switch , Capacitor?
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  Hi guys, my mouse is running fine but it cant kicked into reverse.Nothng happened when i press the touch switch. I tried reversing soldering my 3 pin touch switch taken from the mouse and it still dosent work...wat shld i do? Im using 10kohm resistor and a (10v 100uF) capacitor. Is 10v the operating or threshold voltage?

  Posted by ultraboi on June 22, 2005 at 04:23:48 Pacific Time

• Touch Switch , Capacitor?
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  Re: Touch Switch
  It's easy to test whether it's the switch or the reverser circuit itself. Just solder on two wires in place of the switch. When you touch them, Mousey should kick it into reverse. If he doesn't, it's either a component or a wiring issue within the subcircuit.
  
  Re: Cap Rating
  The V value on the cap is the max voltage. That's how much voltage the cap can handle before it fails, so there should be no issue with your cap.

  Posted by garethb2 on June 22, 2005 at 08:00:05 Pacific Time

• Touch Switch , Capacitor?
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  i tried yr method and it really din reverse...what would be wrong? i checked the connections and all seemed right

  Posted by ultraboi on June 22, 2005 at 17:14:05 Pacific Time

• Touch Switch , Capacitor?
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  i tried again leaving the 2 wires open circuit and the motor still run forward. Is the normal? i followed exactly the soldering connections in the book and i really cant pinpoint the mistake...Shld i downside the capacitor to 6.3V instead?

  Posted by ultraboi on June 22, 2005 at 18:03:21 Pacific Time

• Touch Switch , Capacitor?
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  Im using a Aromat 5V DPDT relay.
  The specs on the relay
  0.6A 125V AC
  0.6A 110V DC
  2A 30V DC
  
  Is this relay ok?

  Posted by ultraboi on June 22, 2005 at 18:14:53 Pacific Time

• Attaching motors
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  That'd be a nice hack to add to this project (mounting the motors on an adjustable metal mount that can be bent to change the motor angles). Some of the gadgets in your techno-junk box likely have some metal that can be used. In Dave Hrynkiw's Junkbots book, he uses the bottomside of a dead floppy drive as the metal stock for the body of his Herbie robot (upon which Mousey is based).

  Posted by garethb2 on June 20, 2005 at 18:09:05 Pacific Time

• 741 Op Amp
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  I think a 741 Op Amp would probably work the same too right? looks like the internal power dissapation is lower (500mW vs 1.25W). I still have to get the motors, the transistor and relay though :(

  Posted by sasimpson@gmail.com on June 14, 2005 at 12:23:11 Pacific Time

• 741 Op Amp
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  I think the LM741 is an animal of a different color. No gain switch on pins 1 and 8 and one input inverts, one doesn't.

  Posted by garethb2 on June 19, 2005 at 11:05:17 Pacific Time

• 5V DPDT relay...
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  Just wondering if anyone's actually been able to find one of these without doing the mailorder thing... All the "electronics" stores in my area don't carry it and, per Murphy's Law, I'm unable to find the 2400 external modem I've kept for the last decade for just such an occasion. I tried it with a 12V relay and - as expected - it didn't quite work.
  
  Anyone know other common places from which one can cannibalise this part? Or is mailorder my only option?

  Posted by anatinus on June 13, 2005 at 18:04:16 Pacific Time

• 5V DPDT relay...
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  I found mine in an internal PC 28.8k modem I had lying around - its black, and its marked as:
  9622
  Meisei
  M4-5H
  F Japan
  A quick google search confirmed that its a DPDT 5v. Interestingly, I also have an old 28.8k external mac modem, which seems to be missing the relay (It did have an LM386 though!).

  Posted by JayZee on June 20, 2005 at 06:28:42 Pacific Time

• 5V DPDT relay...
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  I've only seen this relay in modems, but I've heard they're found in other consumer electronics devices and household appliances. But if you don't have a decent techno-junk box or don't want to go prying apart your gadgets, you can buy them at most online electronics shops like jameco, digi-key, and solarbotics.

  Posted by garethb2 on June 19, 2005 at 11:03:31 Pacific Time

• 5V DPDT relay...
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  I want to known the internal compoment of this relay.
  Can you give me this document that tell me this problem.
  I thanks very much!

  Posted by lethihadung on October 25, 2005 at 03:05:57 Pacific Time

• Trouble...
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  I'm working on this product, having ordered some parts from solarbotics, and harvested others from old gear. I'm curious though: my old mouse has three pronged IR emitters and receivers. I'm not quite sure if they're usable, or how to connect them up. Anyone have an idea? Also, one of them is red, and one of them is clear with a cover. I'm assuming the red one is the emitter and the covered one is the receiver. Thoughts on that too?
  
  Thanks!

  Posted by jfournier on June 10, 2005 at 19:10:38 Pacific Time

• Trouble...
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  I bet you have a three-pin phototransistor there. I have never encountered these, but I got email from at least one other builder who had. As far as I know, these can't be used in this circuit. I would recommend cannabalizing another mouse or maybe getting CdS cells at Radio Crap. They work really well.

  Posted by garethb2 on June 19, 2005 at 11:00:11 Pacific Time

• Trouble...
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  In fact every mouse I’ve taken apart has 3 pin phototransistor's (except for an OLD IBM mouse, it used a resistor like carbon disk)
  
  Just took apart mouse #6 and it's yep, phototransistors.
  

  Posted by dsellinger on July 22, 2005 at 11:23:43 Pacific Time

• Trouble...
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  Thanks. I purchased some parts and got replacements from solarbotics. So far, I've mocked up the circuit and everything works. Now I just need to get it into the case.
  
  I have one more question: I noticed on the cover of the magazine, the pic has the mousebot's bumper center mounted. In the article, you describe mounting it on the corner. I'm assuming this is because it takes less pressure to trigger the switch that way (the whole lever thing), but it might be something else... What's the scoop?

  Posted by jfournier on June 20, 2005 at 05:43:09 Pacific Time

• Trouble...
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  I think that cover image uses a bit of artistic license in depicting the "whisker" as more of a front-on bumper. I recommend mounting the bumper to one side (and the switch itself, if your mouse case allows for it), as is shown in the project illos.

  Posted by garethb2 on June 20, 2005 at 18:15:22 Pacific Time

• Trouble...
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  If you can find a "softer" NO momentary switch, I think it'll work better to have a straight bumper. The momentary switched from the mouse I've torn apart for this project clicks hard, and with an audible noise. However, a momentary switch that started life as the shutter button for an Apple QuickTake 100 digital camera is much easier to depress, and has a longer lever. I'll post some photos once I get it properly mounted...

  Posted by dlong on August 04, 2005 at 20:26:23 Pacific Time

• Just wondering...
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  Has anyone out there successfully completed this project?

  Posted by michael.brutsch on June 06, 2005 at 12:44:31 Pacific Time

• Just wondering...
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  I got the circuit working on the breadboard, and then completed soldering.
  
  The circuit didn't work at first, but then I discovered I was missing a connection from the toggle switch to the relay. Now it nearly works.
  
  Although it appears to be wired correctly, when in "forward" mode, only the right motor spins. The left motor will spin very rarely, but I can't induce it to spin by covering one or the other light sensor. When I hit the bump switch, it reverses fine (with both motors).
  
  I'm not sure what I can do to correct the imbalance that is causing it to favor the right motor. I'm curious if the length of the wires may make a difference.

  Posted by jbum on July 05, 2005 at 14:43:22 Pacific Time

• Just wondering...
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  Since posting my last message I've gotten it to work. I was getting much more power to one motor than the other, and the light sensors didn't seem to have an effect.
  
  It turned out that I had misinterpreted the illustration while soldering, and swapped the left/right pins on the Opamp.
  
  Now it works great. Due to the way I wired the photo resister leads, it seeks the dark (I assume I can swap them to make it seek the light), but I like it this way.

  Posted by jbum on July 07, 2005 at 21:47:41 Pacific Time

• Just wondering...
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  which pins on the OPAMP are you referring to? Are these the pins connected to the black wires from the eyestalks?
  
  I finished mine as well and there seems to be more power going to one motor so the bot mostly goes on a circle. The light does affect the behavior of the bot but it's hard to make it go on a straight line.
  
  I just purchased some wheels from solarbotics because the wheels I made are not that great and I think these new wheels will help it move smoother.
  
  I will post the results when I make the changes.

  Posted by nyjohn on July 27, 2005 at 08:09:57 Pacific Time

• Just wondering...
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  I have the same problem with one motor being stronger.
  
  OpAmps are very sensitive to slight differences in the input signals, so I'm wondering if it might help to put a potentiometer on the stronger eye stalk to help keep the two signals level.
  

  Posted by jbum on July 27, 2005 at 13:28:05 Pacific Time

• Just wondering...
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  I'm almost there... It's working at the breadboard.

  Posted by WalterIM on June 16, 2005 at 08:55:50 Pacific Time

• Mousey Parts and More Info
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  Just wanted prospective builders of the Mousey project to know that Solarbotics.com has a parts bundle for the project for US$19.60 (dead mouse not included). Also, there's more info about the project on my robot page, at streettech.com/robotbook, and on the "Projects" discussion on my site's BBS: streettech.com/shoptalk (in the "Building Robots" conf).

  Posted by garethb2 on June 01, 2005 at 13:22:45 Pacific Time

• Mousey Parts and More Info
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  I ordered the parts kit from solarbotics because both my old mice (logitech models) had the 3-prong emitters. I've checked and re-checked my breadboard, but I seem to have 2 problems: 1) the LED does not light/is very dim. 2) only one motor seems to run at a time. Have I done this correctly?

  Posted by jluckyiv on June 24, 2005 at 18:47:55 Pacific Time

• Mousey Parts and More Info
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  On second thought, I'm not sure the LED is supposed to light up. It is described as being part of a "sensitivity boosting circuit" rather than as an provider of meaningless illumination.

  Posted by ProfessorShiny on June 26, 2005 at 17:42:11 Pacific Time

• Mousey Parts and More Info
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  I'm also using the solorbotics "kit" of parts and have similar results. The LED (which I've confirmed is functional) does not light when placed in the circuit as described. The included emitters mostly result in only one motor running at a time, however if you get just the right balance of light between them, the motors will run simultaneously. It remains to be seen if this sensitivity is a problem, or by design.

  Posted by ProfessorShiny on June 26, 2005 at 16:59:29 Pacific Time

• Mousey Parts and More Info
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  I have the same problem. I did have my LED backward. After turning it around it now lights up but the moters still only work one at a time. One thing that is a little confusing to me is the book never tells you which lead the left or right emitters go to. Does the Left emmitter go to pin 2 or 3?
  

  Posted by bent_pipe on July 05, 2005 at 08:42:41 Pacific Time

• Mousey Parts and More Info
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  the circuit in make is incorrect, one reason that the LED doesn't light up.
  here is the correction:
  http://streettech.com/robotbook/circuitMousey.html
  and more info can be found:
  http://www.streettech.com/robotbook/mousey.html
  
  fun project

  Posted by tarquinG on March 29, 2006 at 07:17:48 Pacific Time

• Mousey Parts and More Info
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  None of my switches are marked n,no, or nc. Is there any way of finding out which is which?

  Posted by Palimpo on June 06, 2006 at 08:12:38 Pacific Time