Category Archives: Robotics

Arduino robot kit – Line Following

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<first published on Dec 26, 2012> The Robot kit I’m building comes with three IR line tracking sensor modules. As with the other components, documentation is only available on the web. I have not found a source of information about how to use the sensors but it doesn’t seem to… Read more »

Arduino robot kit – Bluetooth Remote Control

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The Amarino app mentioned used in the previous post translates the sensor inputs of an Android phone ( and other events such as SMS messages) into messages sent to the Arduino via Bluetooth. In this post, I will use the orientation sensor on my phone to drive the Arduino Robot. The orientation sensor on… Read more »

Arduino robot kit – Bluetooth Module

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Bluetooth Module

The Arduino robot kit includes a Bluetooth-Serial Converter Module JY-MCU (mine says BT_BOARD V1.04). After some Google search, I found information about how to setup this module. See this for example, which also has a good link about how to change the default configuration of the module. In this post,… Read more »

Arduino robot kit – Autonomous Motion

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At this point, we can put the motion and the range sensing capabilities of the robot to good use. For autonomous motion (no remote control), the robot needs to use its range sensor to detect obstacles and avoid them by turning to another direction. The next sketch does that by moving… Read more »

Arduino robot kit – Wiring Diagram

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Robot Wiring Diagram

I have created this wiring diagram for the connections between the motor controller, motors, and sensor shield. I’ll update it later to include other components. And here is an update that includes the servo motor and the range sensor. And here are the detailed pin assignments for all modules: Pin… Read more »

Arduino robot kit – Motor library

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Once the motors were connected to the motor controller (see previous post), I started working on writing the code for basic robot movement. The basic motor commands are: onFwd/onRev: move each motor independently in the forward or reverse direction off/stop: stop either motor gradually (float) or abruptly (break) fwdRight/fwdLeft: turn the robot by running the two… Read more »

Arduino robot kit – Motor Control

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L298N Controller

The motor controller module is based on L298N driver. The documentation for the module was hard to find but there are many boards that are based on the same driver. So, I was able to piece the information together and  figure out how to use the module. L298N Controller Module L298N is a high voltage,… Read more »

Arduino robot kit – Range sensor

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Ultrasonic Range Sensor and Servo Motor

The robot kit includes an ultrasonic range sensor (HC-SR04), a 2kg-torque servo motor (TowerPro SG90), and a plastic holder that is supposed to attach the motor to the robot top plate and provide a base to attach the sensor. Unfortunately, the items are not totally compatible with each other, so I had… Read more »

Arduino robot kit – Robot Assembly

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Arduino card and Sensor Shield V5

My first step in the assembly is to mount the Arduino card and the Sensor Shield V5 on the top plate and make sure they work. Information about the included Arduino UNO is everywhere but the starting point is always at http://www.arduino.cc/. The sensor board has no active components. It… Read more »

Arduino robot kit

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Assembled Robot

A couple of months a go I discovered this robot kit online. The price was so attractive (~$100), I had to buy it immediately. As advertised, the robot comes disassembled which I found interesting because it would give me a chance to experiment a little before putting it together. The… Read more »