I do like a lot of controllers (and I am sure there are more to come!)
On the subject of the Arduino:
What is your favorite Arduino (program / form factor) compatible board???
Mine is: The Uno32 because it is a fast Arduino and can be so much more (has a PIC 32 bit chip)! I still wish it was a 5V I/O board, but 3.3V is here to stay...
I second.
Dagu Wild Thumper controller --a full-on Arduino that just happens to have a huge motor driver attached
Dagu Micro Magician --Everything and more, and small
FetaDuino --Best gosh-darn Arduino-based LCD controller, named after cheese, you will see today
Ro Bot X’s Builder’s shield --Still just a great breadboard/motordriver shield --I still use my v1 almost everyday. Simple, straight forward, well designed, awesome.
All those are excellent choices.
I would not hesitate a moment to use any of the metioned controller boards. They are all feature-rich with decent prices.
Our friends at Digilent (I have never gotten anything bad from them) has an updated board for their Uno32 board called the uC32 that has a better processor and 4 times the amount of memory. At $34.99 it sounds good and I want to try one.
I have started to like the idea of using continuous rotation servos as good ways of driving the wheels (use 2 and you have excellent steering.) In the past you had to modify the servo and it probably wore out quick but now companies are putting out servos already configured for continous rotation with better internal construction. They can directly connect to a Arduino board and use PWM for speed control. They ARE strong but not very fast. (For my robots they are fast enough.) No H-Bridges to worry about.
Very strange! I have a little blue servo that needs that diode circuit to make it turn off of a 3,3 volt signal (still using 5 V to power the servo.) I also have a big black servo that drives perfectly without the need for the diodes (no jitter). It must have to do with what type circuit they use on the control signal line. More research would be interesting.
