14 DAY TRIAL // If you’re into building robots and geek things like that, you will probably love this next project I’m going to be telling you about.
Believe it or not, a self-balancing robot built from Lego parts exists. What’s even cooler is that it runs Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 platform, while being based on a Galileo prototyping base.
The robot is assembled from the above-mentioned board plus two LEGO XL motors (but other 9V motors should also work OK).
Furthermore, you’ll need a DFRduino L298P motor shield, DC-DC step down converter (one of them is based on LM2596 IC), Sparkfun IMU Fusion board (3D accelerometer, 3D gyroscope) and an 8.4V battery (or anything between 7.4V – 9V that can power two motors).
Intel’s Galileo is based around a low-power Quark processor that has been designed for embedded systems. The Quark is a system on chip 32-bit x86 device which arrives with most of the memory and interfaces you’ll need to build a custom device.
Originally designed to run an embedded Linux OS, Microsoft has installed its own UEFI firmware on its Windows on Devices Galileos.
You can check out the assembly options over at Github, if you think you have what it takes to give this project a go.
Once you finally manage to put to robot together, you’ll be able to control it via Bluetooth.
