Bucket Bot Fits in, Well, a Bucket

One aspect of robot-building that isn’t talked about often is portability. When you’re at home or at your hackerspace, the bulkiness of your new robotic creation usually isn’t a major concern. But, the second you decide to transport it, to say a Maker Faire, it suddenly becomes a priority.

To address this, maker “CarlS” has come up with a rover robot design which fits completely within a five-gallon bucket. The design, called Bucket Bot, is by no means constrained by this size limitation. It features an Arduino Uno, battery pack, Windows 10 tablet, motors for movement, and even a webcam mounted on a servo pan/tilt kit.

This is the second iteration of the Bucket Bot, and the first one was built with a wood chassis and frame. The new version uses maker-favorite T-slot aluminum extrusion for a durable and attractive final product. Of course, like the first version, it can fit entirely within a 5-gallon bucket.

A major part of the design philosophy was making the components easily accessible. Many rover-type robots use a stacked component design to make the bot small and compact. The Bucket Bot takes a different approach by mounting the components on a vertical structure, which allows it to fit into the desired envelope while also being easy to work on.

CarlS’s project log is very detailed, and provides all of the information (and the parts list) that you’d need to build your own. If space and portability is a concern in your next robot build, this is definitely a design you should consider.