Datasheet

6 • Robotics with the BOE Shield-Bot
About This Tutorial
New to robotics? No problem! The activities and projects in this text start with an
introduction to the BOE Shield-Bot’s brain, the Arduino
®
Uno. Next, you will build, test, and
calibrate the BOE Shield-Bot. Then, you will learn to program the BOE Shield-Bot for basic
maneuvers. After that, you’ll be ready to add different kinds of sensors, and write sketches
to make the BOE Shield-Bot sense its environment and respond on its own.
New to microcontroller programming? This is a good place to start! The code examples
introduce Arduino programming concepts little by little, with each example explained fully.
New to electronics? Each electronic component is described with a circuit symbol and part
drawing. Traditional schematics next to wiring diagrams make it easy to build the circuits.
About This Edition
Version 1.1 was updated for use with codebender : edu, as was the web tutorial posted
at http://learn.parallax.com/shieldrobot
as of 11/02/2016. Editorial changes to
accommodate the print format were made, but the educational content remains closely
parallel to the web tutorial. Also, this edition was narrowed by ½ inch to reduce paper
waste in the manufacturing process.
Why Study Robotics?
Robots have been in use for all kinds of manufacturing and in all manner of exploration
vehicles—and in many science fiction films—for a long time. The word ‘robot’ first appeared
in a Czechoslovakian satirical play, Rossum’s Universal Robots, by Karel Capek back in 1920!
Robots in this play tended to be human-like, and much science fiction that followed involved
these robots trying to fit into society and make sense out of human emotions.
Then, General Motors installed the first robots in its manufacturing plant in 1961. Those
automated single-purpose machines presented an entirely different image from the human-
like robots of science fiction. As technology continues to advance, increasingly human-like
robots designed for socially oriented tasks are emerging, and many types of robots co-exist
today.
Regardless of a robot's outer form, building and programming most robots requires a
combination of mechanics, electronics, and problem-solving. What you can learn from this
tutorial will be relevant to real-world robot applications. Of course there will be differences
in size and sophistication, but the underlying mechanical principles, basic circuits, and
programming concepts are used by engineers every day. New uses for robots are emerging
constantly. Roboticists are in demand!