Ballo Project

[bugs78]

Hi all,

I have an idea for an arduino project but, im struggling to find a arduino that I think will be small enough.

Our cat has to be a house cat for the next few months so iv been looking at toys and other stuff to keep her occupied, which is when I came across Sphero which, I really like the idea of and im pretty sure I could recreate a similar device using a Arduino Mini. The Sphero can be controlled via bluetooth via an app, I`m not too bothered about this (thankgod) but having it as a radio controlled vehicle would be nice.

The main things I want are two motors to drive it and id like it to be fairly quick, so i`m assuming a couple of DC motors would be the way to go.

accelerometer might not be needed but, would be nice.

Bluetooth communications.

also id like it to be run off a rechargeable battery some like a Lithium Ion

both the tinyduini and the tinylilly do everything I need but I want to be sure before I go off and buy everything, the plastic ball I want to use is 3" in diameter so it would need to fit inside that with the motors and whichever shields I need to run it.

i`v been messing around with raspberry pi's for a few years but this is my first venture into Arduino land so i`d love to hear any advice or guidance

[goforspaatz]

Hi bugs78,

Your idea sounds cool! The Motor X4 TinyShield and Bluetooth module are compatible, based on https://tiny-circuits.com/index.php/tiny-duino/tinyshield-compat/. Because the accelerometer only uses SDA and SCL, you could add that too. Your biggest challenge is going to be getting a small enough battery that can power the TinyDuino and the motors. Check out some online R/C suppliers (HobbyKing, Hobbypartz, etc.) for batteries. Take a look at cheap R/C helicopters, as their motor size and batteries are probably pretty close to what you need.

All the best,

~goforspaatz

[Grimstone]

The new Tiny Circuit LiPo's for the latest TinyDuino are very small and last a long time. Sounds like a fun, doable project.