Have you ever driven a block of Swiss cheese or a mouse? If not, then this is your chance. I made this Remote Controlled Swiss Cheese and remote controlled mouse for a game at my kids birthday party. You won’t win any combat robotics competitions with these cheesy bots. They are just for fun! They are both straightforward to build. You’ll need to 3d print the chassis, install the motors, a remote control, and a battery.
The bill of materials and STL files are below. I recommend a 300mAH 3S lithium battery, 12V 200RPM N20 motors and a remote control with a built in motor speed controller. The Lithium battery and N20 motors are easy to find from any retailer that sells RC hobby type stuff. It’s a good idea to also get a matching JST battery connector to connect your battery to the motor controller. You can use any wheel with a 3mm bore. The diameter should be about 43MM. You can find wheels in the Bolt Industries store HERE. A small Velcro dot to hold the Lithium battery in place is also a must.
I find that N20 motors make a lot of back EMF. There’s a capacitor on the remote controller’s H bridge output to absorb this “noise” but it’s also a good idea to add a ferrite bead around the motor wires. This presents a high impedance to this high frequency noise, thus preventing it from ever reaching the motor speed controller.
The last thing you’ll need is a remote control. I could have bought one off the shelf, but that’s not my style. I designed my own remote control receiver with an Arduino and the NRF24L01 radio transceiver. It’s based on THIS design from How To Mechatronics. It is compact, hack-able, and has a built in H-bridge motor speed controller for brushed DC motors. You can find a tutorial for my remote control HERE.
Bill of materials:
| Description | qty | where to get |
| 300mAH 3S lithium battery | 1 | RC Hobby store |
| JST Connector for battery | 1 | RC Hobby store |
| Wheels with 3mm bore and 43mm diameter. | 2 | boltind.com |
| 12V 200RPM N20 motor | 2 | RC Hobby store |
| M4 x 12mm wood screw to attach the top cover | 4 | eBay |
| m3 x 15mm machine screws (and m3 nuts) for motor mounts | 4 | eBay |
| Ferrite beads | 2 | any dead household appliance |
| Remote Control | 1 | Make your own or purchase from an RC hobby store |
| Velcro dot to hold battery | 1 | Just about anywhere |
Cheese Wedge 3D Printable STL Files:
Mouse 3D Printable STL Files:
The mouse is a remix of this THING from Thingiverse. I full credit goes to DDstarkey for the outside of the mouse. My contribution was to add the electronics to the inside.
Note that the mouse prints in 3 pieces. It’s too big to print in one piece, and it would require supports. You can print all three parts at the same time, or print them by themselves. They need to be super glued together at the end.
I painted the insides of the ears and the eyeballs with pink and black paint pens. it’s a whole lot simpler than 3d printing in 3 colors and it adds A LOT of character.
