Robodrome

A red toy robot with a skirt-like lower section, thin black waist, a boxy torso, thin silver arms, black tubular neck, and an angular sculpted head. The head has two large red LED eyes and a clear dome cranium.

Wheeled Robot "Neumann"

Originally Created: 2023-08-31
"Neumann" Redesign Completed: 2025-07-25

A robot with two independently controlled wheels, light up eyes, a piezo beeper, and an IR remote. The frame, shell, and wheels are 3d-printed. The clear dome is a found object. The remote allows programming in the same fashion as the classic Big Trak.

See it in action video(mp4)

"Neumann" Redesign

A red toy robot with a skirt-like lower section, thin black waist, a boxy torso, thin silver arms, black tubular neck, and an angular sculpted head. The head has two large red LED eyes and a clear dome cranium. There is a silver mechanical detail on the belly with a faux meter in the middle outlined in black. There is a safety stripe sticker on the bottom front of the skirt, and black vents on the sides of the skirt. There is a silver and black raised name badge on the chest that reads 'Neumann'. A back view of the same red robot, showing silver faux-machinery on the small of the back and a saftey stripe sticker at the bottom of the skirt.

I was never entirely happy with the original shell design of this robot. After making the Raygun, I had a lot more metallic red filament left. So I decided to redesign the robot's shell, making it more elaborate, humanoid, and retro.

I modeled the head on Garco external link, a life-sized robot that famously appeared on TV with Walt Disney! The body is loosely inspired by skirted toy robots from the 60s. The interior of the clear dome is a much simplified take on the Lost in Space Robot's "brain". The dome itself is half of a capsule from a vending machine at a local comics and games store.

The new design is named "Neumann" for the influential paper on programmable computers written by John Von Neumann.[1] Read on to find out why!

New Programming

In addition to the new shell, I overhauled the firmware. I had always considered adding Big Trak-style programming to this robot, and I finally committed to it. The Big Trak used different units for different functions, but to simplify things, each of the commands here is given a duration in tenths of second. (Except for Repeat.)

Photo of remote layout, repeated in following table.

Vol- Play/Pause Vol+
Nothing Run Program / Abort Repeat # Commands
Setup Up Arrow Stop/Mode
Delete All Go Forward Pause
Left Arrow Enter/Save Right Arrow
Turn Left Test Last Command Turn Right
0 / 10+ Down Arrow Looping Arrow
(See below) Go Backward Delete Last
(Remaining buttons are numerals for entering the duration of the command)

The video from above again. You can see a candid programming session. video(mp4)

Original Version

A toy robot with a black trapezoidal body, small silver arms, a silver trapezoidal head, and a black face with two large red LED eyes.

A robot with two independently controlled wheels, light up eyes, a piezo beeper, and an IR remote. The frame, shell, and wheels are 3d-printed. Functions on the remote are: forward, backward, turn right, turn left, stop, and beep.

Inside

A black plastic frame with a flat bottom and a vertical partition in the center. Motors and a circuit board are mounteted against the partition.

Most of the electronics are mounted to a 3d-printed frame. The body shell fits over it, and the LED eyes and IR receiver plug into the main board. The robot is powered by two removable NiMh D Cells. A MakerDrive board provides power and motor control. An Adafruit ItsyBitsy AtMega32U4 microcontroller board controls it.

[1] I am aware most of the actual work was done by other people, but the name "Von Neumann Architecture" has stuck. He was a genius in his own right, and worth honoring anyway.

© 2025 Kyle Delaney | Site Map