Mentor Hours 9

Yesterday I constructed my Boe-Bot from scratch and began testing out all of the parts using the PBASIC Stamp Editor. Before putting together all of the parts, I had to test each of the components separately so I could troubleshoot any problems individually before it was all one big piece, making it harder to identify the problem. I installed the BASIC Stamp 2 Module onto my board and tested out the electricity flow with some basic red LEDs and resistors. Afterwards I had to test each servo motor separately and make sure they spun both ways. I then had to center each servo with a screwdriver, making sure it stopped turning when it was supposed to.

After all of the testing, I then began putting together my Boe-Bot. Constructing the robot was a lot harder than I expected. The tiny parts rolled away and made things difficult. It took me a few hours to finish putting the Boe-Bot together. Once I had installed the motors and attached the board, I then attached the wheels and now my Boe-Bot was literally ready to roll!

I tested out each wheel individually again and then installed a Start/Indicator Circuit in the form of a Piezospeaker. This tiny speaker makes a small beeping noise at the start of any signal it receives. So before executing any programs or instructions, it makes a beeping sound. This is useful for making sure the robot's batteries are not dying. It can now alert me when the batteries are starting to lose power.

The most challenging part of assembling my Boe-Bot was having to read every page of its book carefully. Skimming is not an option because you really have to understand all of the concepts of each section before moving on to the next because they all build upon each other. Each new programming command gets reused or combined with another one and it's easy to get mixed up. There are commands within commands and you to make sure you understand what each command is telling the robot to do individually before you can combine them and tell the robot to do both things at once, or at different times. I'm fairly new to programming so memorizing all of the commands was the most challenging part so far.

Today I am going to finish programming the robot and adding its sensors on it so it

Hours Earned: 5 hours

Total Hours: 21 hours