How To Make a Robot Shuffler Mechanism

2024-05-21 | By Jorvon Moss

A shuffler mechanism is a fun, unique, and lightweight way to add motion to your robot or other projects. It uses a drive cam system to move feet in a heel-toe motion for propulsion. There isn’t a lot of documentation about this, so I want to thank my friend Debra (GeekMomProjects) for recently building a combat robot using the shuffler mechanism. She shared her knowledge with me, and with her permission, I am now sharing it with everyone.

This will be focused mainly on Debra's shuffler design; at the end, I'll explain how you can edit a shuffler and make your own, but the science is pretty simple

Download the STL files for this project here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6624981

First, print the parts. I would start with the cams. Depending on how many feet you will use to make your bot, decide how many cams you need and how they should be oriented. Cams are typically arranged in a circular fashion with a drive hole located a few millimeters below the center of the circle. You can orient your cams by finding the drive point, making three cams, and rotating them depending on how many feet you have. For example, if you have three driving feet, as in this project, you would divide 360 degrees by 3 to get 120. That's how many degrees apart each of the cams should be.

How To Make a Robot Shuffler Mechanism I recommend using a rod system to hold the cams together.

Print the feet next, two for each cam.

How To Make a Robot Shuffler Mechanism When you put the feet together with the cams, it should look like this.

Once you print out all the feet, you can move on to printing the casing. The casing is pretty simple; you're just sandwiching in the cams and the toes and screwing them into this holder. There should be a screw for the top and the bottom. I used 3mm screws. Also, to keep everything balanced in the end holes, I added a 3 mm ball bearing.

How To Make a Robot Shuffler Mechanism

This process may seem simple, but there are some important aspects to consider. First, ensure the movements can be as smooth as possible by filing down any rough areas. Second, consider adding washers between the cams for improved performance, although they may not always be necessary. Last, focus on motor power. Debra used a mini brushless motor for her combat robots, but I was able to achieve success using a normal mini gear system.

How To Make a Robot Shuffler Mechanism