50$ robot - breadboard - questions

[ibot]

Hi,

for 50$ robot, I am using the breadboard instead of the other pc board [to avoid soldering ]. I have some questions, greatly appreciate if somebody can help !!

1. in the 50$ tutorial, a column was left empty [seems G, besides the 28 dip socket]. seems, no components were placed in that column. is it ok? not sure, if they were connected through soldering or somehow.. wondering, if I use a breadboard, can I leave that column empty? or do I have to keep my components right beside the socket to be accessible for microcontroller?

2. for micro controller, the ports pd0 through pd4 are seems to be for servos. so, we placed 5 pin headers [3 5's]. But, in this 50$ robot, we only got 2 servos. So, wondering if we still need the other pins?

Greatly appreciate your help! Thanks!

[Conscripted]

Welcome to SoR.

1. I think if you have a strong understanding of how a breadboard works you will know the answer to your first question. http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/breadb.htm this tutorial may help you a little. The simple answer is as long as you make all of the connections that are required for the circuit it doesn't matter to much where you place things.

2. To answer you second question. This is your robot. you do what you want. You don't need any more headers plugged into the breadboard that what you need to connect things to. One of the great things about using a bread board is you can play with different configurations until you find the one you want before turning them into a permanent circuit.

Good luck with your project. Remember to post pictures of it here when you are finished.
Conscripted.

[ibot]

Hi,

Thanks  for the reply. Finally, I understood the concept of breadboard   I really feel much better now.

I am able to built the circuit thingy now. Thanks a lot for your help !! [have few more questions, but will post them in a separate post]