Have Arduino, Will Travel
Hello, Stephen here to describe my process for creating My Own BB-8.
My workshop is in a separate building from my house, and sometimes I want to work on something (clean) near the other people I live with.
So I put all my electronics in a large plastic bin so I could move it easily around the house. I included my breadboards, Arduinos, small servos (using cheap model servos to learn and write the programming). I could then work next to my wife wherever in the house she was doing her hobbies.
But every time I started to work, I had to pull out the pieces and re-organize and reconnect what had fallen apart when I put the stuff into the bin the last time I worked on it.
I was spending more time remembering where I left off and redoing previous work. I needed a better way.
My solution was a piece of plywood that I could mount everything to - while I learned how to connect and how to program the three Arduinos.
I also wanted to be able to run each system (dome, body, and remote) using a power supply separate from the computer I was using to program each Arduino. So you will see 9V power supplies in each section.
I used a label maker to identify components with the words I needed for programming. For example, XBee uses terms such as ‘coordinator’, ‘router’, or ‘end device’ to identify components in the wireless network.
I also include the voltage needed, so I never had to stop to look up what power supply is needed for each component.
I used a Dollar-Store organizer to hold the breadboard wires, extra switches, and a few other odds-and-ends.
This allowed me to carry the supplies with the board anywhere in the house (or back in the workshop).
In the image above, you will see the Remote is taking the joystick's value and changing it to 0-180 degrees for the servos (but linked using wires as XBees are not set up yet).
For further information:
While I am building my version of BB8, I will be documenting what I have learned to share with you. If you would like to know anything about my process or progress, please contact me; form or email - info.wrightbuilt.ca@gmail.com
