Foshan Gruwill Hardware Products Co., Ltd. , https://www.zsgruwill.com
Recently, on the popular Instructables platform, Jake Lee, a maker and industrial designer from Taiwan, shared a fascinating project called "Ultimate Panda." This project is an upgraded version of his earlier designed cleaning robot, featuring enhanced functionalities like suction, a cleaning brush, and a roller. According to Lee, his previous model was too small and required a power cable, which limited its mobility. To address this, he developed a larger robot with a chassis measuring 17 cm x 17 cm, capable of cleaning both desks and floors. The robot moves randomly, detects obstacles, and avoids falling off edges.
The robot’s top, bottom, middle housing, battery covers, gearboxes, and dust bin were all 3D-printed using a MakerBot 2x Replicator at 0.2 mm resolution. Lee mentioned that he printed three initial prototypes before finalizing the design. The robot uses multiple motors to drive its wheels, rollers, vacuum, and fan blades. All electrical components are controlled by an Arduino UNO board. While he used PRO_E for modeling, he emphasized that the choice of software isn't crucial—what matters is the creativity and functionality.
To improve suction, Lee added a brush-equipped roller and a cleaner. One of the biggest challenges was designing an efficient gear system to power the cleaner and roller with limited power. He eventually used three gears to connect the motor, roller, and cleaner, which not only saved battery life but also improved performance.
Lee submitted the project to the “3D Printing Contest†on Instructables. Although he hasn’t uploaded the full STL files yet because he plans to enter another competition, his Instructables page includes step-by-step instructions, useful videos, and a free eDrawing file that provides detailed internal information. The project took him about a month to complete, and the total cost was surprisingly low—just NT$164 for parts. If you're interested in DIY robotics, this project is definitely worth checking out.