How-To Make a Custom Football Pitch for :MOVE Motor

2023-06-22 | By Kitronik Maker

License: See Original Project

Courtesy of Kitronik

Guide by Kitronik Maker

Some of you may have seen a version of this football pitch at the Rome Maker ‎Faire 2023, or this exact pitch at SETT 2023. Today, Emma shows you how it’s ‎made so that you can make your own! Perfect for a tiny game of robot football with ‎our :MOVE Motors!‎

We have used:‎

Files:

Materials:‎

0.8mm Green Polypropylene Sheet
‎0.8mm White Polypropylene Sheet
‎2 x 4mm Panguaneta Poplar Plywood 800 x 600 Sheets
‎5mm Green Perspex®
‎5mm Purple Perspex®.‎

The Tech:‎

‎2 x :MOVE Motor
‎2 x :GAME Controller
‎4 x micro:bit

Additional Items:

‎4 x 405mm IKEA KALLRÖR Handles
‎4 x 213mm IKEA KALLRÖR Handles
Adhesive foam pads (or another adhesive of your choice)
Double-sided Tape
A Laser Cutter

‎STEP 1 - TO THE LASER CUTTER!:‎

Open up the DXF and load it onto your laser cutter! The image on the left below is ‎how the DXF will look by itself, and the image on the right is a diagrammatical ‎breakdown of what the different parts of the DXF are.‎

fields_1

The green area should be cut from 0.8mm Green Polypropylene, the area outlined ‎in black should be cut from 0.8mm White Polypropylene, and the brown area should ‎be cut from 4mm Panguaneta Poplar Plywood. The small green and purple fins are ‎the bumpers for the front of the :MOVE Motors and should be cut from green and ‎purple 5mm acrylic respectively.‎‎ ‎

STEP 2 - CUT IT OUT:‎

cut_2

As it cut out, it is easiest to keep track of individual pieces by organising the ‎pieces into place.‎‎

‎STEP 3 - TAPE IT:‎

tape_3

Using double-sided tape, attach the polypropylene pieces to the wooden base. ‎Make sure the screw holes and the goal post slots are lined up.‎‎ ‎

STEP 4 - GET A HANDLE ON IT:‎

handle_4

This is the best hack for making small fences we have found: cabinet handles! We ‎used this to keep our buggies on the table at BETT and it’s such a clean look that ‎we keep using it! Using IKEA KALLRÖR handles in 405mm and 213mm we have ‎simply screwed in the handles through the pre-cut holes. If you want to use ‎different handles you will need to customise hole width and placement yourself to ‎suit your chosen handles.‎‎ ‎

STEP 5 - MODIFYING THE FIXINGS:‎

modifying_5

In the previous image it is possible to see that the included screws were a little too ‎long since they are made to go through thick cabinets, rather than 4mm Poplar ‎Plywood. To fix this, we sawed down the length to make the fit of the handles flush.‎‎

‎STEP 6 - YOUR GOALS:‎

goals_6

Now, your goal posts! The DXF does feature a flared tab at the bottom, however ‎when it came down to it we cut off the flares since they wouldn’t properly fit through ‎the plywood. Folding your goals into shape, insert the tabs at the top on each side ‎to secure it in place. Then push the bottom tabs through the slots in the pitch, fold ‎the tabs over on the back, and tape in place.‎‎ ‎

STEP 7 - PREPARING :MOVE MOTOR:‎

Finally, you need to prepare your :MOVE Motors. First of all, assemble them out of ‎their boxes and pop on the bumpers. You will do this by popping a sticky foam tab ‎or similar adhesive on the back of the bumper, then slotting it into place over the ‎ultrasonic connector.

prepare_7

Then, you will want to code the buggies and their controllers! We have used ‎the :GAME Controllers. Download the code below onto the relevant micro:bit by ‎checking first the colour of the bumper, then installing the “receiver” code to the ‎micro:bit on the correct coloured buggy and the “controller” code to the micro:bit in ‎the :GAME controller.‎