How to Build a Simple 2WD Robot
Summary
There are many ways to do build a 2WD chassis. We will provide some guidance below to help you build what we consider a simple 2WD Robot that is not a POS. There are cheaper ways like directly coupling the wheels to the motors, but this method puts a lot of strain on the motors and, in our opinion, is not a good practice unless you are using heavy-duty motors like our wheelchair motors or if you are planning on making a lightweight and light-duty robot. The issue with supporting the axles with bearings is you end up with a pretty wide robot once you have the bearings and the motors all lined up together.
If you have never built a robot before, a simple 2WD platform is probably the best one to try. It still requires some basic mechanical and electrical skills though. If you don't want to design your 2WD robot, we offer a 2WD platform kit that has all of the necessary parts. In this kit, we use our tube frame motor mounts to mount the motors, a ball bearing, and the wheel axles. This provides a very strong platform while keeping the width of the robot reasonable. We also offer a heavier duty 2WD robot that uses IG42 motors and can support very heavy weights while still being able to turn with ease. This robot has a welded chassis and bearings in the wheels, which are chain driven.
Below is a discussion on how you can build a robot using parts from our site.
Making a Rolling Chassis
You can use two standard motor mounts. You can use 6-inch wheels with these motors (1 set of wheels and 2 motors needed)
- [##ITEM1989## ATR wheel shaft set pair - 8 mm bore - 6 inch]
- IG42 24VDC 240RPM gear motor