Board for $50 robot

[midnite4blues]

Hi,

Another complete noob here just getting started on the $50 robot. I'm gathering up my materials and I just got home from Radio Shack with a few parts. One of them is the prototyping board. The one recommended in the tutorial is this http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102844# . The one they had in store that I bought is this http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102845 .  I looks like the main difference is that some of the holes are grouped together on the one I bought while on the specified one all of the holes are separated. Will this work for the $50 robot?

[beachboy612]

Being a noob myself and just having finished the $50 robot, I would not deviate from the set materials.  It could still work, but the arrangement may not be the same and if you do not understand electronics that well, it may be hard for you to rearrange the board so that the current is going to the appropriate places.  It seems as though the board already has preset current channels.  Yes it works, but dont use it if you have little or no knowledge of circuits.

[midnite4blues]

Thanks, I was thinking along those same lines. I just stopped in at another radio shack location and found the right board. At least now I can practice soldering on the other board I bought.

[beachboy612]

if you need any help, just respond to this post.  I had to overcome a lot of obstacles since the instructions for the robot are unclear in some instances and outdated in terms of the programming step.  i had to piece together many forums to get my robot done.

[Webbot]

Why not piece together your own tutorial, or blog, as you go - or just scribble it down in a document. It gives others a much better understanding of the hiccups you can encounter. Sometimes tutorials are written after the job is finished and want to say how easy everything was.

[midnite4blues]

I started working on the board yesterday and I realized that my soldering skills need some improvement. Its got to be over 10 years since I've done any soldering, and I don't think I was good at it back then.

So I got to the part where you install the pins for the programmer, and I saw the warning about the different pin connections (6 vs 10). I bought the pocket AVR programmer (http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9825) which appears to have both the 10-pin and 6-pin connectors. My interpretation is that I can use the schematic as layed out in the tutorial for the 10-pin connection. Can someone please verify this for me before I proceed?

Thanks in advance!

[Webbot]

If you got both connectors then why not just use the 6 pin (less pins to solder=less to go wrong!)

[midnite4blues]

I guess I want to use the 10-pin connector because thats the way the tutorial is written. To use the 6-pin connector I read all 3 pages of the recommended post, along with a few other posts and I am thoroughly confused. I'm sure its easier in the long-run, but to someone who doesn't really understand this stuff in detail, it sure seems easier to follow the instructions rather than improvise.

[beachboy612]

thats what I thought, but using the 6 pin header is way easier.  it cuts out a lot of programming steps.  the tutorial has a link to the schematic for the 6 pin header.

[beachboy612]

the 6 pin header only makes everything easier if you are using the avr isp mkII programmer.  The program loads very quickly.