SimpleSumo Link Hub

This page is the ‘visitors center’ to help you find all things SimpleSumo!

About:

SimpleSumo is an awesome little open source robot which allows anyone to build their very own mini-sumo robot with no prior knowledge in robotics at a price point that almost anyone can afford.

Instructions & Support:

Software Downloads:

Arduino IDE (Arduino User Interface) (Required)
NotePad++ (Recommended for viewing/editing code, but not required)
https://github.com/mechengineermike/SimpleSumo (All released programs)

Where to Get Parts:

Recommended Reading Material: SimpleSumo doesn’t have an official textbook, and you don’t have to buy any books to learn arduino. There are lots of free resources & videos online. But if you learn best with a book in hand then these are the go to’s:

”Robot Sumo: The Official Guide” by Pete Miles This book is a great read for a budding mechanical engineer. Provides graphs and in depth discussions of physics so it has depth but it never gets boring. Single best book on robo-sumo I know of.
“Getting Started with Arduino” by Massimo Bonzi. Recommended for the absolute beginner. A fun and informal introduction to Arduino.
“Programming Arduino: Getting Started with Sketches” by Simon Monk. Reads like a dictionary so less entertaining but very thorough resource on arduino hardware, program definitions, & capabilities.
”An Introduction to Robot Programming: Programming Sumo Robots” by Eric Ryan Harrison This book is a good resource for a budding computer scientist. Sumo relevant in-depth arduino programming discussions. Can get heavy but is intended for kids.

3 comments

This is really nice. A quick question… I couldn’t find information about the Nano Shield, but I expect that it’s giving 5V in those red connectors, as it has some others tagged with a 3.3V. But, what’s the maximum current you can take from that shield? How have been your motors behaving? It seems (https://www.pololu.com/product/2820/specs) that the stall current at 6V is 800mA, and for four motors (in case you use the accessories) you have 3A… and I don’t think that little regulator can handle that current.
Looking forward to hear about your experience. If nothing has burnt yet, then the regulator is OK for this.

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EngineerDog.com says:

January 17, 2018 at 12:15 pm

Super late response here 🙂 Yes those connectors supply regulated 5V through the shield (bypassing the arduino) so the current limit per line is in the hundreds of ma range. I dont remember what exactly, but the battery can only produce 1A max anyway. For that reason we arent capable of using every motor to the extent of its limits at the same time. On the other hand the continuous motors ‘should’ never reach stall conditions because they slip across the floor well below their max torque.
So far I have yet to have issues burning out any motors or the shield for any reason. That the motors have little plastic gears has been more problematic in practice. Some kids want to grab/lockup the motors and throw robots around and the gears just cant take it. Unfortunately no one sells continuous motors with metal gears.

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Reply
- aguadopd says:
  
  January 31, 2018 at 1:49 pm
  
  Perfect. I’ll try to build some soon, but I was thinking on using a small cellphone power bank, as they last longer, are rechargeable and easy to find. They normally output 1A, so probably things won’t burn in this case either. I’ll update if that happens!
  
  LikeLike

What do you think? Cancel reply

aguadopd says:

December 13, 2017 at 4:17 pm

This is really nice. A quick question… I couldn’t find information about the Nano Shield, but I expect that it’s giving 5V in those red connectors, as it has some others tagged with a 3.3V. But, what’s the maximum current you can take from that shield? How have been your motors behaving? It seems (https://www.pololu.com/product/2820/specs) that the stall current at 6V is 800mA, and for four motors (in case you use the accessories) you have 3A… and I don’t think that little regulator can handle that current.
Looking forward to hear about your experience. If nothing has burnt yet, then the regulator is OK for this.

LikeLike

- EngineerDog.com says:
  
  January 17, 2018 at 12:15 pm
  
  Super late response here 🙂 Yes those connectors supply regulated 5V through the shield (bypassing the arduino) so the current limit per line is in the hundreds of ma range. I dont remember what exactly, but the battery can only produce 1A max anyway. For that reason we arent capable of using every motor to the extent of its limits at the same time. On the other hand the continuous motors ‘should’ never reach stall conditions because they slip across the floor well below their max torque.
  So far I have yet to have issues burning out any motors or the shield for any reason. That the motors have little plastic gears has been more problematic in practice. Some kids want to grab/lockup the motors and throw robots around and the gears just cant take it. Unfortunately no one sells continuous motors with metal gears.
  
  LikeLike
  
  - aguadopd says:
    
    January 31, 2018 at 1:49 pm
    
    Perfect. I’ll try to build some soon, but I was thinking on using a small cellphone power bank, as they last longer, are rechargeable and easy to find. They normally output 1A, so probably things won’t burn in this case either. I’ll update if that happens!
    
    LikeLike