Arduino Port Access & Bitwise Op. using Simple Robot Controller

In this article, we look at how to access an Arduino port to read or manipulate a group of pins in C code. We use bitwise operators to read, set and invert bits in variables and device registers. To help with this feature, we will use a simple robot controller to demonstrate how we might use port manipulation. I include, for example, Arduino test code and illustrations of bitwise operations. Continue reading “Arduino Port Access & Bitwise Op. using Simple Robot Controller”

Build a Robot Battery Pack with Li-ion 18650 Cells

In this post, I will be creating a two-cell 18650 Li-ion battery pack to power my robot projects. I show a step by step build process following a brief description of the items I use. If you own a balance charger already, you may also want to use the battery pack box to balance charge pairs of cells for other use. Continue reading “Build a Robot Battery Pack with Li-ion 18650 Cells”

Multithreading Raspberry Pi Game Controller in Python

Multithreading on the Raspberry Pi is an excellent way to keep the main thread of your program running as efficiently as possible. To demonstrate, I show how you can move game controller polling routines to a separate thread. Find the Python example code for robot control at the end of this feature. Continue reading “Multithreading Raspberry Pi Game Controller in Python”