Society of Robots - Robot Forum

Electronics => Electronics => Topic started by: E.Man.Lava on January 21, 2008, 03:41:11 PM

Title: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: E.Man.Lava on January 21, 2008, 03:41:11 PM
Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?  Or do i have to mod/tweak it?  If i have to mod/tweak it, what would i need to mod/tweak?
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: rgcustodio on January 21, 2008, 03:50:24 PM
its too small to see properly, but i think its no good!

look at the 2nd part of this website "Connections on Breadboard"
http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/breadb.htm
the holes in the breadboard are not independent.
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: E.Man.Lava on January 21, 2008, 03:57:48 PM
if this isnt right than what would one that is correct and works look like?
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: rgcustodio on January 21, 2008, 04:12:02 PM
i can't answer that, since different people wire their breadboards differently.

did you read the website i linked? do you know why your setup wont work?

the layout of your components on the breadboard "looks" like the correct setup but electrically the correct connections are not being made! look at the backside of the $50 Robot board here: http://www.societyofrobots.com/step_by_step_robot_step3B.shtml now look at the connections of a breadboard from the website i posted earlier.
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: hazzer123 on January 21, 2008, 04:15:02 PM
I think it might also be useful for you to make some much simpler circuits up on these breadboards, before going onto the programmer.

Try wiring a 5V battery, LED and resistor up in series using the breadboard. Then try adding a switch, maybe a variable resistor. Experiment until you understand the concept behind electronic circuits and breadboards.
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: E.Man.Lava on January 21, 2008, 04:17:07 PM
I have until wednesday to build this thing!  :o  ???  :P  :-[  :(  :-X
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: Kagi on January 21, 2008, 04:19:12 PM
The unregulated pins for the servos are on the bottom left, while the regulated for the sensors are on the top left. You can probably follow that the south power rail is unregulated while the north is regulated. I"ll try to get back to any questions you have about my setup if you have them. Listen to rgcustodio, what he said is exactly what is wrong with your layout. Holes on a breadboard are not independent.

*I didn't realize there was built in attachments on these forums, i was trying to use picasa web albums and was having issues :/
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: bukowski on January 21, 2008, 04:26:29 PM
remember that breadboards work with busses.

AKA, the blue and red power busses that run vertically to the left and right of the board are the positive and negative busses;

aaak, never mind.

too hard to explain, ill post a pic of my $50 breadboard when I get home.
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: E.Man.Lava on January 21, 2008, 04:29:11 PM
When i tried turning on the power, my batteries got really hot.  Is that a problem?  lol  :D


P.S.  No im not that much of a newb.  i know that its generally not a good sign when your robot catches your computer desk on fire.  i do have a sense of humor and im being sarcastic for those who havent caught on yet.  For those who still havent caught on, lol means laugh(ing) out loud. Rotflol. For those who dont know what that means, rotflol means roll(ing) on the floor laugh(ing) out loud.  HaHaHaHa. ;D
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: airman00 on January 21, 2008, 05:10:48 PM
in your breadboard there are wires connected to nowhere


this is the way a breadboard works , it has pieces of metals under the holes
(http://www.iguanalabs.com/bboardwires.jpg)


look in the picture the strips of metal is the connecting holes

understand how a breadboard is electrically connected?
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: E.Man.Lava on January 21, 2008, 05:37:10 PM
those were the photoresistor things wires.
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: E.Man.Lava on January 22, 2008, 02:51:36 PM
The unregulated pins for the servos are on the bottom left, while the regulated for the sensors are on the top left. You can probably follow that the south power rail is unregulated while the north is regulated. I"ll try to get back to any questions you have about my setup if you have them. Listen to rgcustodio, what he said is exactly what is wrong with your layout. Holes on a breadboard are not independent.

*I didn't realize there was built in attachments on these forums, i was trying to use picasa web albums and was having issues :/

on your picture, i dont see the place to put the avr programmer, or where to put the battery pack wires, or where to put the photoresistors.  Can you show me where i should put those?  ??? 
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: bietz on January 22, 2008, 04:54:20 PM
Quote
When i tried turning on the power, my batteries got really hot.  Is that a problem?  lol  Cheesy

(even if it's a joke  :P,) Do not turn on the power until you're sure the circuit is right!!! As soon as you connect two nodes at different potential together, you'll get a short-circuit! And it's easy to make that mistake if you don't know how a breadboard works...

There's a Make Weekend projects podcast on breadboard electronics, which might be of use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HteDBfSJ9zo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HteDBfSJ9zo)

You can also have a look at the Stamps in Class books from Parallax (free pdf downloads!) on electronics here (http://www.parallax.com/Education/ProductInformation/StampsInClassTutorials/tabid/535/Default.aspx). The one called "What's a microcontroller" is a very good introduction to microcontrollers, and all the circuits are made on a breadboard, so you will get used to wiring up circuits on breadboards, and understanding how the microcontroller works. Beware that AVR microcontrollers are a lot harder to program than BASIC Stamps, so you won't be able to make led blinking programs as easily...
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: E.Man.Lava on January 22, 2008, 08:35:40 PM
(even if it's a joke  :P,) Do not turn on the power until you're sure the circuit is right!!! As soon as you connect two nodes at different potential together, you'll get a short-circuit! And it's easy to make that mistake if you don't know how a breadboard works...

Ok thanks for the tip, i will remember that next time.  :-[  :D  ;D  :)
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: Kagi on January 22, 2008, 08:52:35 PM
The programmer plugs into pins 1-6 on the top right of the board. The photo sensors plug into the headers on the top left of the board. As they are plugged into the regulated power. The battery can be plugged into any part of the bottom power rail, as it is the unregulated rail. Hope this helps.
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: E.Man.Lava on January 22, 2008, 09:00:20 PM
Thank you so much that makes perfect sense! thanks Again!!!  ;D
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: Kagi on January 22, 2008, 09:09:03 PM
No problem. If you have a multimeter make sure you check all your connections. My camera isn't very good so you can't see a lot of the details on my board. There is a small 1-1 jumper above the resistor on the north side of the mega chip for instance. You can barely see it, but if you look close it's there. I'll cross my fingers for ya :) But if you get it set up the way I have it, it works. Best of luck.
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: E.Man.Lava on January 23, 2008, 12:42:29 PM
thanks! i think i can get it now, but can somebody help me with the problem i am having.  I explain the problem in my post in electronics, 50$ robot breadboard problems.

http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=2999.0 (http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=2999.0)

that is a link to the post.  Could someone please read it and reply promptly.  ;)
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: Admin on January 25, 2008, 09:47:39 PM
A bit off topic . . . but I wanted to comment on the breadboard that airman posted:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=2964.msg21713#msg21713

Although this is the typical wiring of a board, it is not a rule.

I've found myself using several boards that do not have this wiring, and wasted tons of time until I figured out the wiring in the board was whack . . . for example, the power buses on it were not connected! >:(

On some boards I found AC voltage signals jumping between rows . . . and on some there were manufacturing errors where holes that should have been connected were not . . .
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: airman00 on January 26, 2008, 08:39:57 PM
A bit off topic . . . but I wanted to comment on the breadboard that airman posted:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=2964.msg21713#msg21713

Although this is the typical wiring of a board, it is not a rule.

I've found myself using several boards that do not have this wiring, and wasted tons of time until I figured out the wiring in the board was whack . . . for example, the power buses on it were not connected! >:(

On some boards I found AC voltage signals jumping between rows . . . and on some there were manufacturing errors where holes that should have been connected were not . . .

Do these breadboards have any specific names, so that we can know what type of breadboards we are dealing with?
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: Admin on January 26, 2008, 09:03:47 PM
Ehhh I'd have to dig through my old receipts to find where I got the one with the disconnected power bus.

I don't own any of the others with the problems I mentioned.
Title: Re: Does this 50$ robot breadboard look ok?
Post by: ed1380 on January 26, 2008, 09:13:54 PM
IMO look at admins point to point diagram. and use a multitester to check if the correct stuff is connected where its suppoesed to be. also check that it's not shorting anywhere else