To Build a Robot part 3

Encouraged by my quick work with the H-Bridge I decided to add in the accelerometer. Below is the wiring diagram and sketch I am using. The sketch just spins the motor forward or backward based on the X tilt / accel.

Arduino DC Motor and Accelerometer with L293B and 2125




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To Build a Robot part 2

I was able to get the L298B working on the first run. The motor runs nicely on a couple double A batteries. I will be adding extra controllers and parts later but it was good to get it running without any issues.

L293B H-Bridge

MUD on an Arduino

While waiting for my parts for my robot I started a little project with my Arduino.  The original idea was to make a little irc bot based on the code at http://vimeo.com/1622823

The initial project started out as a simple led on / off just like what was shown.  The code was simple for the Python script and the Arduino code was very simple.  I wanted to make a more interactive experience so the idea of doing a mini-mud came to me.

USB UART Replacement

Shortly after getting my Arduino i was playing with some DC motors and was powering the device through the USB->serial cable. It turns out this wasn’t the best idea and after a couple hours i was doing something and attached a motor mistakenly without a resistor when I should have had one. The result was burning ozone and a super hot FTDI chip.

I was going to get a new Arduino when I came across this blog post:

http://www.neufeld.newton.ks.us/electronics/?p=328

I ordered a new chip from sparkfun for only $3.95 (shipping was just as much).

Rather than waiting for the new one to come I decided in a fit of activity that the old one should be removed. With a bit of prying and desoldering it was removed. During the extraction two of the wires in the board itself got pulled up.

After a week or so the new chip arrived in the mail. I started to prep the area and fix the pulled up wires and found my old radio shack soldering iron just not up to the task. After a trip to Frys I had in hand some 60/40 solder, Rosin Flux and a new Elenco SL-540 soldering iron.

After getting the new gear it was a much easier task. I dropped a gob of flux on the pulled up wires and pushed them in to place. I dripped some solder blobs on the contacts in the corner and attached the chip. After that i just wicked away the excess using a braided wire and used a tiny bit of solder and lots of flux to get the rest of the contacts down.

Here’s the finished result:

Arduino UART replacement up close.

Pointing to the UART.

I was terrified of plugging it in but it turns out it worked perfectly, it just looks horrible.