Hi there. I wanted to use
Hi there. I wanted to use 4 rechargeable NiMH batteries that are supposed to be .2volts each for a total of 4.8 volts for this robot but after they finished charging they were all 1.4volts each. Is this common for these batteries to have a full charge at this voltage or did I overcharge them? Also, is it safe to power this project with 4 of these batteries with a total of almost 5.6 volts?
I appreciate any help, thanks.
Yes, it is very common. In
Yes, it is very common. In every case, and on every level, you can only use the supposed-to-be voltages of batteries as guidelines.
And yes, it is safe to use thses on your project. Consider it as an array more than excact pointers. Using 4 rechargables gives you about 4.8, perhaps 5.5, perhaps 4.2, all fine 
Very few components are that sensitive. FYI, if you ever need precisely 5 Volts, look for voltage regulators in the components section. These can also be used if you have like 7.2, and only need 5 volts
i used
i used the white box things with wires in it that came with my picaxe.
I asked for a picture
I asked for a picture
Fry a picaxe?!?
Hi! New here and trying to build the start here robot but something seems to be wrong 
Ok, so I had hooked everything up, minus the servo, resistor array and sharp (darlington still in its socket). Then I connected the batteries and pluged it in to the computer with the USB cable. And now the problem begins. I did the search for the picaxe as described but the program could not find anything and I then start to smell something a bit like smoke, oh oh! So unplugged the usb and batteries as fast as I could and started to check the board. All the IC were hot, at least 80 C. Cant see anything wrong with the board though. So do you guys think it is fried? Or is it a normal temperature for the IC’s?
Extra info: Could not get the L293D motor driver so I got the H-bridge motor driver 1A from sparkfun instead, bad choise? Battery pack would give about 5.4V, too much?
Perhaps I did not hook up
Perhaps I did not hook up everything like in the tutorial! Im a bit embaresed now! After some throubleshooting I realised that the poalrity was wrong, oops! The picaxe program detects the board now so fingers crossed, everything is OK.
remote
can you make a remote for this
Can you make
can you make a wifi remote
Can you make
can you make a wifi remote
If you need it, you make it!
If you need it, you make it! There are tons of examples here on LMR, search, read, decide which wireless method you prefer, start building it. If you get in trouble, ask specific questions, we will help you gladly. If you can’t do that, wait until someone will have time to do it himself and post it, then replicate. Robotics is a hobby for us, we do it when we have time.
I will build this robot with Arduino and will have examples in about 1-2 months.
sir i need to know the
sir i need to know the function about your robot,what is its use,because am going to do a PAPER PRESENTATION in robotics ,so i want to know the function of your robot,
The use is to learn how to
The use is to learn how to make a robot, and get inspired to take the next steps.
You can
You can
Problem.
I have my robot fully assembled and everything. The wheels work, the servo works, and everything seems to be fine. But when I type in the script that is supposed to be for the Sharp, (with the readac b0 thing) Im not sure if it is really detecting anything. the number there does change, but randomly, and whether my hand is there or not. Even though, I still decided to try the full script that is supposed to make it move around and drive, but it just turns its head to both sides and turns a little bit. then turns its head again and turns. It never moves forward. Most likely Ithink it is a problem with the Sharp, But im not sure what is wrong with it.
As I wrote on the other
As I wrote on the other post, where you also asked this; A picture of how you kooked it up would help.
And please do not post the same question 2 places 
Sorry, I posted this one
Sorry, I posted this one first and then realized a live show was coming up.
Motor speed issues and soldering problems.
Hi,
Thank you for this awesome tutorial. I am almost finished with my first robot. It’s all built, just need to finish up the programming. Btw, having some experience in software programming really helps with understanding. It’s not necessary to have experience, but if you do, it makes things a little easier.
I have a few issues with my robot however. Specifically, the motors, for some reason, one of my motors turns slightly faster (like 25 to 50% faster). Is there any reason why this would happen? My assumption is my soldering and wiring job to the slower motor is a little sloppy and maybe it is not getting full power. I plan to test some more in the morning.
Any tips for soldering the wire motors? My wires have fallen off the left motor once and the right motor twice. Every time I strip the wires, they seem so flimsy, and I end up using a lot of solder and then the wire just breaks anyway because the wires included in the kit seem a little wimpy. I try putting the wire through the mounting loop and twisting it around then soldering and it still breaks.
Lol, i’m already blaming the materials and tools. I probably just need practice.
Thanks,
Renosis
Soldering is an art, you
Soldering is an art, you will get used to it, but it does help if you have a decent temperature controlled iron.
As for the motors, it could just be the low quality motors being poorly matched, or it could be that you have damaged one by overheating it whilst soldering. If you can’t fix it, just learn to think like an engineer and call it a feature. 
Ok, I have resoldered
Ok, I have resoldered the connection to the motors. It’s nice and solid now. I actually used a pair from cat 5e cable (non-stranded) to make the connection. I do structured cabling for a living, so I have tons. It worked great. Really sturdy, it’ll be nearly impossible to break by accident again.
My motors are still running at terribly different speeds. I assume I would need another component to be able to change the speeds of the motor that comes with the lmr kit, is this true?
I would like to slow down the faster motor, because I know I can’t speed up the slower motor. Right now my bot only runs in a one foot diameter circle. Very disappointing
Also, can someone recommend a soldering iron? Mine is not temperature controlled and I think it was intended for stained glass work.
Actually you can speed up
Actually you can speed up the motor that is slower:
See how here: https://www.robotshop.com/letsmakerobots/node/2254
You can also slow down the speed of the other, using the same method, or by using PWM.
There is a ton of ways to PWM. Quite simply it is a matter of switching the motor on/off fast. There are overall 2 ways of doing PWM; Either code pulses to go to the motor (can be done many ways, search for PWM on LMR, use the PWM instructions in the language, make loops with on/offs’s), the other is to let the program constantly ajust what it is doing - and let it do that fast, so what you get is a more “floating PWM” - i do that n my Robot Wall Racers
In general there are 2 scools of this whole thing as a principle; One (that I do not belong to) wants the robot to drive in a straight path, and calculate distance.
The other (which is mine) likes to make the robot focus on where to go, what to lock on to, what to achieve - and then let the programming correct the path on the fly.
In any case it is of course nicer if the robot tends to travel somewhat straight.
If your motors are really bad in the difference, perhaps there has been a mistake, and you have got two that are different geared?
An easy test is this: If you take al wires off, and by hand slowly spin the motors, are they different in resistance / do they spin with same ease? If the gears are different, you will not be in doubt, if in doubt, they are same ratio, and the problem is not there.
I wonder HOW bad it is, a video would do wonders.
Finally, can I ask you to post a picture of the package that you recieved? You see, we made this Start-here-kit, but none of us oldies never actually saw it. And we have a deal with the vendor, that he should write a number on every package that he sells, so we can follow how many are sold, as we are to get 10% to pay for hosting of this site. Now did your package have such a number on it? And what number was it?
A picure would be REALLY nice, thank you.
