Robotics — day1

1. Goals

By the end of today, our objectives are to:

Team comments:

The COEguest login has access to a network drive (S:) that we will use to store and share code and files.

This should take ~2 hours.

Build your Keyestudio Beetlebot
- Instructions at docs / Keyestudio Beetlebot / 1. Preparation / 3. Install the Beetlebot Car
- PDF version --- download this and open using Adobe Acrobat Reader

A few notes on build steps.

Step 1 and 2 — Al block attaching the gear-motors to the lower board:
Leave the two screws attaching the block to the board loose. This will help get the long screws and nuts for the gear-motor aligned.
Step 3 — attaching wheels to the gear-motors:
The kits do not have the M2.3 x 16mm self-tapping screws. The wheels are a tight friction fit onto the gearbox shafts, so this is not a problem.
Step 5 (pdf page 10) — motor connectors:
The plug on the motor has a narrower pin spacing than the jack on the board. Place the connector on one pin and gently flex the male pin on the board sideways until the plug meets up with the second pin. Then you should be able to push the plug onto both pins at once.
Step 8 — attaching the SG90 servo to the ultrasonic sensor bracket:
You are likely to take off the M2x4mm self-tapping screw holding the control horn to the servo output shaft. Only lightly install the acrylic plate to the robot board. You wish to give yourself the ability to easily remove the ultrasonic sensor for adjustments or for using the extra LEGO accessories.

Port or WebREPL. Ensure that “< Try to detect port automatically >” is selected

Click on the lower-right link “Install or update MicroPython”
Follow the instructions to start the bootloader on the Pico:
- Unplug the USB port
- Hold down the tiny white BOOTSEL button
- Plug the USB port back in
- Continue holding until the computer recognizes the new thing
Select the following options for family and variant, then click Install

In the File Explorer, open

S: / COE / COEguest Shared / Robotics / Keyestudio Beetlebot

and poke around the 2. Python Tutorials folders. Try each folder in order.

Tour the Hardware page,
then go to the Pico-4wd kit notes page and proceed to build.
Some groups may want to start learning about the Maker Pi RP2040 board for full-custom hardware.

What will be your robot’s mission?

Supplies

Shared folder content

MicroPython firmware. Not strictly needed - Thonny downloads automatically
pico-4wd libraries
- unzipped to subfolder
- original .zip to restore from accidents