V. Electronics and Software - CZ
For the electrical system of the robot, I used a simple configuration consisting of an Arduino microcontroller, L298N DC Motor Driver, 2x 12V DC 200 RPM Gear Motors, and a 12V 2000 mAh NiMH battery pack. By having it's own battery pack, the robot can walk without the need for a tether. For wiring, I followed a simple wire diagram from lastminuteengineers.com. I soldered wires onto the two motors and split the battery power and ground so that it could power both the motor driver and the arduino.
Figure 12 - Wiring Diagram (lastminuteengineers.com)
I created a simple Arduino program in the Arduino IDE that allows the robot to move under its own power. First, I initialized the motor pins in the software and set the initial motor speed to zero. Then I created a loop that rotates both motors forward continuously. (Code in the appendix)
Next → VI. Final Prototype