DIY Self Balancing Robot

139 thoughts on “DIY Self Balancing Robot”

1. Sandeep, I am unable to upload the code.

   You say, “Don’t forget to turn off BT module before uploading the code.” Please tell me how I do that.

   1. Remove Bluetooth module while uploading code

2. Hi , I am Jacky. My robot can not balanced by itself. Which parameter of PID I shoulid adjust? Otherwise, When the robot start, the motors can not running to feedback the robot real time, need some time to move.
   Which mean about the (only ms1 and ms2 connected in 5V and ms3 floating)? Is It means the ms3 not need to connect the 5V?

3. Thanks much Sandeep for this fantastic video. I am stuck on the wheels. The link here to purchase wheels takes me to Flipkart, which doesn’t sell outside of India (I am in USA). Do you know of another vendor that sells the specific (100 mm diameter, fitting these stepper motors) wheels? I have not been able to find this online. James

   1. You can try this one..
      https://www.amazon.in/Invento-Plastic-Robotic-Durable-Rubber/dp/B07PCH8CNZ/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=100mm+wheel&qid=1596465690&sr=8-10

4. Thanks for posting this project. Is this LiPO Battery good 11.1V 5200Mah? thanks.

   1. Its good

5. Can i use 17 hs4401 with 1.7A on a4988d drivers or i need a motor with lower current
   Can i use lithium ion batteries 18650 in replacement of a lipo battery

   1. Yes you can use that stepper with a4988 without any doubt, but I recommend you only use lipo battery because it have high current discharge capacity, this will give best performance to robot, I suggest you not to use lithium ion..

6. Hi, got the robot built and working just fine thank you. Is it possible to
   use model plane radio control Tx and Rx2 for control and where would I connect it.
   Cheers
   Robert

   1. HI sorry to say you that I don’t know about this because I haven’t used it

7. Thank you for sharing your Sandeep knowledge. I’m going to carry out the project, I already have all the components, I’m just waiting for the PCB to arrive. I only have one fear: download the Gerber file without modifying anything, I hope this is correct, and I would appreciate if you can help me in the assembly and calibration process. I made a 3D printed bases https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4393944 for the sth-39h112-06 stepper motor.

   First of all, Thanks!

   1. your frame is very nice..

8. Hi sandeep! Thank you very much for your hard work. Thanks to you, I can study new things. But while studying, I ran into difficulties.
   I downloaded the Aduino programming folder you uploaded, but there was only a ‘c++’ file There was only one Aduino file. When I opened the Aduino file, the coding did not exist and only said what was updated.
   I wonder if I have to open and copy the ‘c++’ file to a visual studio and then copy it to Aduino programming. I leave a comment because I’m confused. Thank you very much for reading all the long sentences. Have a great day today.

   1. watch 10:00 time stamp in video here you get your answer

9. Hello Sandeep, fine job i like very well thank you
   can i use an arduino uno instead of an arduino Nano and apart from compiling in uno, is there a change to the program?
   Thank you and good day

   1. yes you can use

10. Finally I managed to successfully implement this robot, congratulations to the author! I had difficulty understanding the PID adjustment, but in the end, after many tests, I realized that it would not be necessary to change any of the data reported (based on the video values) the critical point, in my case, was to leave the resolution of the step in eighth step (only ms1 and ms2 connected in 5V and ms3 floating), with the sixteenth step the robot was able to balance itself but it was not in a fixed position, it made an oscillation amplitude of about 40 cm. It was necessary to change the transmission rate of the HC-05 to 115200 by AT commands, but it was fine. To make the cursor go back to the center in the app: settings => check the “back to MID” fields. Do not forget to use an electrolytic capacitor (100 uF or more) between the Vmot and GND pins of the A4988 driver, unfortunately, during the tests, some were burned because I did not use this capacitor. Any questions I will be happy to help you by email leonardo.silva@ifal.edu.br.

    1. Nice to hear that ?

11. Hello, your work is incredible and very nice. So I decided to make one.
    I replaced the MDF with parts in 3D printing. I made the circuit following your electrical drawing. I did different test programs for my two engines, the MPU 6050 and the HC05 at 115200. Everything works separately correctly.
    I followed your very good video on the use of EZ-GUI. Communication is carried out correctly. However, in the end, nothing happens and no command by the application is made. Could you help me and give me an idea to finalize my robot.
    Thank you beforehand. Bruno

    1. Have you done the calibration process ?

       1. Thanks for a very quick response.
          Yes, I did the calibration.
          Then I have an audible message “Console deactivated”. Is this normal
          What is the setting of the microsteps of the motors?

          1. Buad rateAT command must be like this
             AT+UART=115200,0,0
             Please cross check it once

12. Hello sandeep,
    How many volts does the Stepper Motor have?

    1. 12v

13. Thank you very much, I have assembled one and it works very well.

14. Hi
    Can i use hc-06 instead of hc-05??
    What is the meaning of 115200??

    1. I dont know about HC-06, and 115200 is baud rate of comunication

15. Hello sir ! Thanks
    My self balancing robot is ready .
    But when i connect it to phone with ez gui , it connects successfully but when I’m going to AUX settings application show me something like this ….. ” No inough information”
    And application says that no data receive.

    Please help me
    Please…

16. Hi. First of all, thank you for you share your idea with us.
    I have question about if I use l298n moter driver instead of A4988.
    Could you tell me which part of code do I need to change.(and more thankful if you tell me how to change it)
    Thank you 🙂

    1. L298N can’t work with this firmware.

17. I meant if i should solder for GND pins of the drivers, bt, mp on one end, wich is gonna be on the nano gnd

18. sir can i use 11.1V lipo battery?

19. Helllo sir! i would like to thank you for that amazing project then I wonder if I can reproduce this project using a STM32 Nucleo-32GO31k8 board also using the same components including the android application to control the robot.

    1. yes you can use

20. sir can i use 2200 mah lipo battery??or should i use what is given in the schematics?

    1. yes you can use

21. does it require any more coding,rather than the one you mentioned in the video

    1. no any other coding required

22. Boa noite amigo, a dias venho tentando construir um robo baseado no seu projeto, porem o sketch da erro ao compilar no Arduíno Nano e não sei o motivo. O que tenho notado é que aparece dessa forma BalancingWii.ino mais não com o simbolo do Arduíno, é um projeto muito bacana e eu não queria desistir mais nãos sei o que fazer. Se tiver uma solução para meu problema eu agradeço.

23. Hello Sandeep,
    thank you for all your help. I am having trouble with an error reading on the GUI app. “12c errors”. all wiring is correct (SDA=A4, SCL=A5). sometimes I can start the calibration before the error comes but usually right when connected it starts beeping and flashing the error. I have run a basic data output on the MPU and it seems to be working properly. Would you be able to suggest anything? Has anyone else run into this problem?
    Thaks for your time.

24. Hello. I’m curious what would change if you changed the position of the parts of the robot. Like if you put the Arduino or battery between the motors. This would make the robot much lower profile, but would it cause any issues with performance?

    1. Nothing to change anything in firmware rather than PID values, but if you change the orientation of MPU6050 sensor then need some change in firmware ..

       1. Before testing the circuit, I tested all the elements.
          Now I measured it again with a multimeter
          Current and voltages passing through are correct
          But motors still dont turn.
          How can I solve this

25. hello,
    I’m wondering if you can run this on a Mega2560?
    When I upload the sketch I get…
    Output.cpp:162:13: error: ‘DRIVER_PIN’ was not declared in this scope

    pinMode(DRIVER_PIN[{i}],OUTPUT);(5)

    ^~~~~~~~~~

    Output.cpp:164:3: error: expected ‘;’ before ‘}’ token

    }

    ^
    exit status 1
    ‘DRIVER_PIN’ was not declared in this scope

    Would you please be able to help?, I live in a very rural area and am waiting on a new nano, I just want to make sure all works before it gets all put together.
    Thank you.

    1. No you can not use mega, firmware design for nano only

26. did i damage my gyro sensor while soldering header pins at the gyro board??
    could this be the issue
    but the led indicator is lighting up after all this but giving no readings…

    1. please double check SCL & SDA connection.

       1. checked them
          A4 —> SCL
          A5—>SDA
          5V—>VCC
          GND—>GND

          these are the connections, i have checked it multiple times

          1. Your connection is wrong, A5—> SCL & A4—-> SDA

27. hello sandeep , btw i have to tell u that the project i awesome but i am facing a new kind of error, .
    i did all the connections , motors are also spinning but when i keep the bot vertical after caliberation the motors don,t stop spinning they stop to spin when i make the gyro sensor at differnt orientation but if i do that and tilt the bot in opposite directions the motors dont change directions rather they change directions when i rotate the sensor full 180 deg. in a large circle radius ,
    plz help me out here

    1. I hope you MPU6050 gyro placment orientation is exactly same as mine, if not go to the config.h file in balancingwii folder
       find the below line and twerk it and observe the result hope you will get your setting by doing this.

       #define CURRENT_AXIS PITCH // possible to choose ROLL or PITCH axis as current.
       //#define INVERT_CURRENT_AXIS // invert current axis sign, i.e. instead of turning sensor board

       1. sir i also have a doubt , i saw your self balance robot video that u made 1 year back and i that u gave a YABR_HARDWARE_TEST file , i made all the connections accordingly and ran that file on my gyro sensor and it showed me in serial monitor that “no i2c detected”
          does this mean my gyro is not working???

          ps : last night my gyro was giving readings on mpu6050_raw code and today it is printing every value as 0 , and my gyro led indicator is lighting up, but still this is happening , i bought a new sensor and attached the header at breakout board and tried that out aslo but still it is the same

          is my gyro defective ???

28. Good day and thank you for the totorial,
    I am just about to solder this project up (without PCB board) and I noticed that on your board there are provisions for two diodes. where are they placed on the project or are they only used on the PCB?
    Thank you for your time.

    1. diode is for protection from cross polarity connection you can proceed without using them, you can refer this drawing https://electricdiylab.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Self-balancing-robot-circuit-drawing-1024×759.jpg

29. can i use 28-byj stepper motot instead of neema 17 stepper motor

    1. no you can’t

30. Dear sir please send me final code

31. sir can you tell me what should be the the parity bit and stop bit when changing the baud rate from @9600 to @115200 .
    please help , its urgent.

    1. it must be like this 115200,0,0

32. Hello,
    Can you write down the steps of the calibration?
    Thank you.

33. Hello,
    Can you write down the steps of the calibration?

34. Hi sir!!!
    code is not uploading in the nano. i tried many times but here is the error that it is showing. please update the gerber file, i got wrong one printed!!

    HERE IS THE ERROR:
    An error occurred while uploading the sketch
    avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
    avrdude: stk500_getsync() attempt 1 of 10: not in sync: resp=0x66
    avrdude: stk500_recv(): programmer is not responding
    and so on till 10 times of attempting.

35. Dear

    Thanks for sharing this project to us.
    I have a little problem.
    I will connect my bot to the app but when I click on connect the app said wrong MAC address.
    What can I do to fix it ?

36. Hi, thanks for the step bye step.
    I need ask something about the circuit, and please , apologize me if it’s a fool question , but, in the circuit I can’t see the connection beetwen the resistor and the GND or the step pin of the motor driver, or the connector in the HC-05 .
    thanks.

37. Hi
    I found out that there is nog power to the bluetoothmodule, but i saw in the commants that this is already noted. I want to know if you can use the bot just for balancing without the app. I saw that there are default PID values. But my motors juist vibrate without rotate. I saw also in the comments that you have to calibrate it. But I will use this for a project in school. So can I use you’re bot without the app ?

38. hi, I found out that the bleutooth module doesn’t get power. I connected this pin with the power on the a4988. I have also a question. Can you use the bot without the app, just for balancing ? My moter makes noise but istn’t move. I have read in the commands that you have to calibrate before it wil work. I saw in your code that you set a default PID values. So I wanted to know if I can use this project without the app.

    Thanks

39. Hello, i want to ask you if the pcb is working properly that you provided in the description.

40. How to interface this program to arduino mega 2560????

41. Hi ,
    Thanks for the good project
    I am doing this project and enjoyed it really but I have a PCB used for the CNC using nano , any motor driver 4988 or 8825. But step and direction pins are different than the sketch

    I have 17HS08-100S4 motors with DRV8825 drivers and this PCB owns its I2c and blutooth place to use.
    I reviewed the software for making it compatible to the card pins for 3 days but output.CPP to config to output again to change all the pin statemnts
    I need help in that , would you ?
    Thanks

42. Hi man I have a problem the step motors not moving, They produce noise but no movement what so ever? can you help me figure this out, I have spent hours adjusting the PID settings in the EZ GUI, but no noticeable results.

    Thank you

    1. have you calibrate the bot ?

       1. Yes I have. I guess my question is, how did you set up the pid settings, did you set it up manually or did it show up for you after the calibration?

43. Hello, can you please send the old gerber file, or maybe if u fixed the new pcb, because there is short on +5v and grond.

44. hi sandeep ,
    i follow yours very well and got fun really
    i am trying to do that bot , i did the same design except i got a dummy nano CNC shield v4.0 from another project to be used instead of alot of soldering and also it has i2c and serial for blutooth , it already assign different pins for stepper motor step , direction and enable signal also
    i got the firmware of balancing wii , but iam trying to modify to got compatible with the mentioned pcb

    too much code i should review to get it comptent with the card , wouldyou help in that
    thanks

45. hola amigo ya tengo armado todo las conecciones y estructura, pero los motores no tienes estabilidad yo los calibro conecto a bluetooth y no tiene control de si— como puedo hacer q se estabilice ?

    delmirojose01@gmail.com

46. Hello sir. Before thank you for this project.
    But i need help. My ardiuno gives me error.It says that

    C:\Users\BAYARK~1\AppData\Local\Temp\ccXhnrcS.ltrans0.ltrans.o: In function `main’:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\arduino\avr\cores\arduino/main.cpp:43: undefined reference to `setup’

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\arduino\avr\cores\arduino/main.cpp:46: undefined reference to `loop’

    collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status

    exit status 1
    Error compiling for board Arduino Nano.
    🙂

    1. you folder name must be same as .ino file name, remove master if written in folder name

       1. I have the same problema…
          Can you help me pese?..

    2. have you solved the problem?

47. hey good project, i have followed your tutorial and tried to make my own but i am facing issues
    i have change the baud rate of bluetooth to 115200
    i havent calibrated anything else
    i put the pid value as shown and i understand that they are unique but in the beginning i put them just to get a feel of the response of the bot
    my problem is that the wheels just spins in 1 direction and rarely it looks like wheels might be stabilizing
    my id is ahmedkaunain@gmaill.com
    can you help me asap??

    1. You must have to first calibrate the bot by placing it on flat surface, without calibration bot doesn’t understand what is up/down/right/left position.
       after calibration the wheel movements make some sense, unless until it was random.

48. I was righht in my conclution, the BT needed power, and soldering another + wire, it now have power, the PCB is not correct made, u need update the files and correct them..

    1. Yes I have noticed it now you need to add a jumper for +5V from arduino 5V pin to BT module vcc pin, I’ll update it thanks for let this know..

       1. np. But i still cant make it work at all, the software aint showing correct on mobil, i dont have the same, even i use the QR code, allso the stepper just spin, and nothing more, even if i flip the board with gyro, nothing happens

          1. Can you give me your mail so we can share some images to solve problem

             1. Rikard38@gmail.com

49. well, if u look at board, i think one line is missing for either + or -, the BT dont get enoouh power or something, the led is very faint..
    i havent calibrated anything?

50. Damn this project pisses me off, i got the boards today, and i follow instructions, all the right components, guess what, it aint working, the led on BT, its faint red, i tryied with 3, and its the same..
    when turning power on, the stepper motor just spins, dosent matter if i tilt the board, nothing change..

    1. Have you changed the default baud rate of BT to 115200

    2. Stepper motor spins randomly until you do calibration of bot

51. What do I do with the ms1,ms2 and ms3 jumpers??
    What stepping resolution do I choose ??

    1. I have shorted all of them (MS1, MS2, MS3) if you found motor skipping steps or generating less torque you may only shirt ms1 & ms2

52. Hello sir Firstly
    I thank you for you share this Project with us .

    However I can’t compile this Project in arduino.
    It gives me error.It says that C:\Users\Useer\AppData\Local\Temp\cc6yuTgb.ltrans0.ltrans.o: In function `main’:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\arduino\avr\cores\arduino/main.cpp:43: undefined reference to `setup’

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware\arduino\avr\cores\arduino/main.cpp:46: undefined reference to `loop’

    collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status

    exit status 1
    Compile error for Arduino Nano card
    no headers files (.h) found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\libraries\jrowberg-i2cdevlib-f89153

    1. Can you came online on TeamViewer

       1. Yes, I am online teamviewer at now. I send my ID to your gmail

          1. Not received yet

53. Hello sir, I use Arduino Uno and A4988 Driver for motor. I upload code in UNO but Motor is not working but when i use different code for testing purpose, Motor is work so what is the problem??

    1. By just uploading code to arduino motor will not supposed to move, request you to read completed post to clear some basic doubts.

       1. I implement all the step like calibration, auto tune, pid implementation. Still motor is not working.

54. hey sir, can we use adruino uno and Ln298 driver for motor ?
    do we need to can the codes for the driver circuit
    plz reponse fast

    1. no you cant use it at all….

55. i have followed this instruction, and used the QR code..

56. cant make this work, the app is not like the one on pictures, allso stepper motor just vibrate like crazy..

    1. Hope you have downloaded correct app, you must have to do calibration before …..

57. my baund rate is 115200 only sir

58. HI sir , project is very gud i have done all hardware connections perfectly and program was also compiled and uploded and ezgui app installed and bluetooth is connected but
    AT SEETINGS AUX WAS EMPTY AS NO DATA RECIEVED can u plzz give me a solution sir.

59. Sir I need the Gerber file of the circuit ,in the given link i can’t download it
    My mail id:eswaraprasad172001@gmail.com

    1. https://drive.google.com/open?id=14-g_mk-J-riYdHKRvjtMzBiXAvIWAYuq

60. Hi Sandeep. Please could you tell me how you derive the 5 volt supply for the Arduino, Bluetooth and Gyro module? The circuit diagram shows these modules connected directly to the 3S LiPo batter which will surely cause them to fail? Am I missing something??

    1. Lipo battery supply power to arduino through Vin pin and GND pin ans all rest 5V modules gets power from arduino.. refer circuit drawing

       1. Thanks Sandeep. I have never used a Nano before and had no idea that it has a voltage regulator onboard!

61. I’ve sent the screenshot to your mail

    1. not received yet send it at electricdiylab@gmail.com

62. After connecting to mobile app..via Bluetooth…12c error is coming .we have checked the connections of mpu 5060 ..but the error is same.

    1. Can you show me some screenshot of the error

63. Sir those are SCL&SDA connections are good but same error was obtained plz help sir

64. Sir those connections are in correct position . plz tell me about the stepper motor connections to driver sir

65. hi sir after it connect via app and set pid values and i go to advanced untest it can show notifications like “WARNING ERROR 12C” what it means? What can i do

    1. Check your SCL& SDA connection this is the I2C communication error. Of mpu6050

66. Hi, congratulations for the project. I have a question, if I use smaller wheels do I have to change some parameters? is the functionality affected?

    1. Hello, you don’t need to change anything in CODE
       to achieve best performance only you need to set PID parameters

67. Hi,
    the outline drawing: DIY Self Balancing Robot Electrical drawing, (Arduino, Nema17 …) is in very good quality printout. With which program did you create this overview? Thank you for your response!

68. Thank you last question can I use DRV8825 stepper motor driver

    1. Yes you can use DRV8825

69. Can I use arduino Nano in this project

    1. All Done Connections Clear
       But Bot Not Responding

70. Good evening sir
    please i have a problem can you help me?
    after connection with the HC-05 an error message appears
    “Warning no data received”
    when I click on the “AUX” button, the AUX1 AUX2 AUX3 tables do not appear, but a message appears in the middle “Not enough information”
    please help me

    1. Please note that the baud rate of your HC-05 BT module must be 115200 other wise you cannot able to connect with android app, search on google how to change default baud rate of HC-05 bt module via AT commands

       1. Yes you can use arduino UNO

71. Can we make this one using matlab simulink

    1. No idea bro..

72. Do you have a link of the tire you used for this project? (Or the brand)?
    Looking forward to trying this out!

    1. This are the wheel I have used

       https://www.flipkart.com/techwiz-robot-wheel-100mm-dia-x-20mm-wide-automotive-electronic-hobby-kit/p/itmeza7vvtxehdeu

73. Thank you for your contributions.
    I will ride this bot.
    Can you tell me the engine characteristics.
    Voltage
    Pair
    Degrees
    Mold
    I imagine that with the HC-06 it will work well
    thanks again
    greetings from Barcelona – SPAIN

    1. this is the same motor I have used but of different make.
       https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/nema-17-stepper-motor/big-sale-nema-17-bipolar-1-8deg-26ncm-36-8oz-in-0-4a-12v-42x42x34mm-4-wires-300mm-length-cable.html

       1. okay
          Thank you

    2. Hi,

       Great project and thanks for sharing. I want to make my own and I was wondering if the PCB has been updated? I ask because I noticed the comment that someone made where you answer “Yes I have noticed it now you need to add a jumper for +5V from arduino 5V pin to BT module vcc pin, I’ll update it thanks for let this know..”
       So just wondering if it was updated? Thanks

       1. Yes it is updated..

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