Blog
Build logs, project notes, and write-ups from the workshop.
- The Free Multi-Conductor Wiring Hack: Old IDE Ribbon Cables on an Arduino Robot A discarded IDE hard-drive cable from a junk computer has 17+ conductors, and standard Arduino jumper wire fits the connector perfectly. Here is how to use one as a clean multi-pin wiring harness between decks on a robot chassis.
- Wiring 4 HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensors + I2C LCD + Power LED to an Arduino Robot Getting four HC-SR04 sensors, an I2C 1602 LCD, and a status LED wired onto an Arduino Nano inside a cardboard robot chassis. Pin assignments for all four sensors, A4/A5 for I2C, the D0/D1 tradeoff, and why velcro beats hot glue for sensor mounting.
- Cleaning Up Arduino Robot Wiring and Redesigning the Power System Replacing spaghetti jumper wires with pre-cut fitted wires, switching from 4× alkaline AA to 3× rechargeable AA for the motors, and moving logic power to a 9V battery through the Arduino voltage regulator. Why you should clean up before you expand.
- First Test Run of the Arduino Cardboard Robot — TB6612FNG Motor Code Taking the cardboard chassis robot from wired up to actually moving: borrowing motor subroutines from an earlier bot, calibrating uneven motor outputs with different PWM values, and diagnosing a rear caster height problem live on the floor.
- Two-Story Robot Chassis — Mounting 4 HC-SR04 Sensors and a Serial LCD Running out of room inside the cardboard chassis means adding another box on top. Here is the two-deck build: stacking a Stellaris launchpad box on top of the robot, cutting slots for four HC-SR04 sensors, mounting a serial LCD in the front panel, and why serial beats parallel when pins are running low.
- Wiring an Arduino Nano and TB6612FNG Motor Driver for a Two-Motor Robot The Toshiba TB6612FNG dual H-bridge is a compact, capable motor driver for Arduino robots. Here is the full 16-pin breakdown, the direction truth table, the standby-pin gotcha that catches almost everyone, and the complete wiring for a two-motor drive system.
- Affordabot Build #2: Installing the Breadboard, Motor Driver, and Battery Pack Mounting an Arduino Nano and TB6612FNG motor driver onto a mini breadboard, then Gorilla-Gluing the whole assembly into the TI Launchpad box chassis — the innards of a cheap robot taking shape.
- Cheap DIY Arduino Robot Chassis — Cardboard Box, Tamiya Gearbox, and Zip Ties A robot chassis for under $10 in new parts: a cardboard box for the frame, a Tamiya twin motor gearbox for drive, and zip ties for everything else. Here is the build, the design logic, and why cheap and fast beats precise and slow when you are still figuring out what you want.
- Wiring a 1602 Character LCD the Parallel Way — Arduino, MSP430, and Standalone The HD44780-driven 1602 LCD is the universal $2 display that works with everything. Here is the complete parallel wiring across three platforms: Arduino Uno, TI MSP430 Launchpad, and a standalone MSP430G2553 chip with voltage regulators on a bare breadboard.
- HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor with the TI MSP430 Launchpad and Energia The HC-SR04 runs on 5V. The MSP430 Launchpad runs on 3.3V. Here is the two-jumper trick to pull 5V from the Launchpad itself, the Energia pin assignments, and a distance-to-tone sketch that turns the sensor into a theremin.