GUIDELINE FOR THE FIRST LESSON

WITH SMARS
Kevin Thomas
Basics of robotics

ROBOTICS LESSON
WITH SMARS
Student course concept
Summary
Overview:.................................................................................................................................................... 3
History of robotics ................................................................................................................................... 3
Origins of "robot" and "robotics" ................................................................................................... 3
Definitions of "robot" .......................................................................................................................... 4
Early Conceptions of Robots ............................................................................................................ 4
The first modern robots ..................................................................................................................... 4
Basics of electronics .............................................................................................................................. 6
Voltage, Current and Resistance .................................................................................................... 6
Resistor................................................................................................................................................... 7
Diode ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
Transistor ............................................................................................................................................. 10
Robot components ................................................................................................................................ 12
Microcontroller ................................................................................................................................... 12
Motor Driver ........................................................................................................................................ 13
Battery .................................................................................................................................................. 13
Sensors ................................................................................................................................................. 15
Motors ................................................................................................................................................... 17
Connectivity ........................................................................................................................................ 18
Meet SMARS ............................................................................................................................................ 19
Safety Rules ............................................................................................................................................. 19
Notes .......................................................................................................................................................... 21
Overview:

History of robotics

Origins of "robot" and "robotics"

The word "robot" conjures up a variety of images, from R2D2 and
C3PO of Star Wars fame; to human-like machines that exist to serve
their creators (perhaps in the form of the cooking and cleaning Rosie
in the popular cartoon series the Jetsons); to
the Rover Sojourner, which explored the
Martian landscape as part of the Mars Pathfinder mission. Some people
may alternatively perceive robots as dangerous technological ventures that
will someday lead to the demise of the human race, either by outsmarting or
outmuscling us and taking over the world, or by turning us into completely technology-dependent
beings who passively sit by and program robots to do all of our work. In fact, the first use of the
word "robot" occurred in a play about mechanical men that are built to work on factory assembly
lines and that rebel against their human masters. These machines in R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal
Robots), written by Czech playwright Karl Capek in 1921, got their name from the Czech word for
slave.
The word "robotics" was also coined by a writer. Russian-born American science-fiction writer
Isaac Asimov first used the word in 1942 in his short story "Runabout." Asimov had a much
brighter and more optimistic opinion of the robot's role in human society than did Capek. He
generally characterized the robots in his short stories as helpful servants of man and viewed robots
as "a better, cleaner race." Asimov also proposed three "Laws of Robotics" that his robots, as well
as sci-fi robotic characters of many other stories, followed:
Law One
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to
harm.
Law Two
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would
conflict with the First Law.
Law Three
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the
First or Second Law.
Definitions of "robot"
So what exactly is a robot? This actually turns out to be a rather difficult question. Several
definitions exist, including the following:
"A reprogrammable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, or
specialized devices through various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of task."
Robot Institute of America, 1979
"An automatic device that performs functions normally ascribed to humans or a machine in the
form of a human."
Webster's Dictionary

"a reprogrammable manipulator device"

British Department of Industry

"Robotics is that field concerned with the intelligent connection of perception to action."
Mike Brady

Early Conceptions of Robots

One of the first instances of a mechanical device built to regularly carry out a particular
physical task occurred around 3000 B.C.: Egyptian water clocks used human figurines to strike
the hour bells. In 400 B.C., Archytus of Taremtum, inventor of the pulley and the screw, also
invented a wooden pigeon that could fly. Hydraulically-operated statues that could speak, gesture,
and prophecy were commonly constructed in Hellenic Egypt during the second century B.C.
In the first century A.D., Petronius Arbiter made a doll that could move like a human
being. Giovanni Torriani created a wooden robot that could fetch the Emperor's daily bread from
the store in 1557. Robotic inventions reached a relative peak (before the 20th century) in the
1700s; countless ingenius, yet impractical, automata (i.e. robots) were created during this time
period. The 19th century was also filled with new robotic creations, such as a talking doll by
Edison and a steam-powered robot by Canadians. Although these inventions throughout history
may have planted the first seeds of inspiration for the modern robot, the scientific progress made in
the 20th century in the field of robotics surpass previous advancements a thousandfold.

The first modern robots

The earliest robots as we know them were created in the early 1950s by George C. Devol, an
inventor from Louisville, Kentucky. He invented and patented a reprogrammable manipulator
called "Unimate," from "Universal Automation." For the next decade, he attempted to sell his
product in the industry, but did not succeed. In the late 1960s, businessman/engineer Joseph
Engleberger acquired Devol's robot patent and was able to modify it into an industrial robot and
form a company called Unimation to produce and market the robots. For his efforts and
successes, Engleberger is known in the industry as "the Father of Robotics."
Academia also made much progress in the creation new robots. In 1958 at the Stanford
Research Institute, Charles Rosen led a research team in developing a robot called
"Shakey." Shakey was far more advanced than the original Unimate, which was designed for
specialized, industrial applications. Shakey could wheel around the room, observe the scene with
his television "eyes," move across unfamiliar surroundings, and to a certain degree, respond to his
environment. He was given his name because of his wobbly and clattering movements.

Source: https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/soco/projects/1998-99/robotics/history.html
Basics of electronics
Voltage, Current and Resistance
In a circuit, current is the flow of electrons. Voltage is the
electrical potential difference between two points.
Resistance is something that resists the flow of electrons.If
this sounds Greek to you, don’t worry. Think about it this
way: If you have water running in a pipe, the amount of
water running is the equivalent of the current in an
electrical circuit.Then imagine that the pipe is clogged at
some point. And only a little bit of water gets through. The
water pressure on one side of the clog will be higher than
on the other side. This difference in pressure between the two points is the equivalent to voltage.
You always measure voltage as a voltage difference between two points.

• Current is measured in Amp or A

• Voltage is measured in Volt or V
• Resistance is measured in Ohm or

Source https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/electronics-for-beginners/
Resistor
A resistor is nothing magic. Take a long wire and measure the resistance, and you will realize that
resistance is just a normal property of wires (except for superconductors).
Some resistors are made up of just that. A long wire.

But you can also find resistors made of other types of materials. Like this carbon film resistor:

What Does The Resistor Do To My Circuit?

The resistor is a passive device and doesn’t do anything actively to your circuit.
It’s actually a pretty boring device. If you add some voltage to it, nothing really happens. Well,
maybe it gets warm, but that’s it.
BUT, by using resistors, you can design your circuit to have the currents and voltages that you
want to have in your circuit.
Source: https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/what-is-a-resistor/

Diode
a diode is an electronic component that conducts current in one direction and blocks current from
flowing in the other direction.
The diode symbol looks like this:
How To Connect A Diode

Let’s look at an example.

In the circuit above the diode is connected in the right direction. This means current can flow
through it so that the LED will light up.
But what happens if we connect it the other way around?

In this second circuit the diode is connected the wrong way. This means that no current will flow in
the circuit and the LED will be turned OFF.
What Is a Diode Used For?
Diodes are very often used in power supplies. From the power outlet in your wall you get
alternating current (AC). A lot of the devices we use need direct current (DC). To get DC from AC
we need a rectifier circuit. It’s a circuit that converts from alternating current (AC) to direct current
(DC). Diodes are the main components in rectifier circuits.
How a Diode Works
The diode is created from a PN junction. You get a PN junction by taking negative doped and
positive doped semiconductor material and putting it together.
At the intersection of these two materials a “depletion region” appears. This depletion region acts
as an insulator and refuses to let any current pass.

When you apply a positive voltage from the positive side to the negative side, the “depletion layer”
between the two materials disappears and the current can flow from the positive to the negative
side.
When you apply a voltage in the other direction, from the negative to the positive side, the
depletion region expands and resists any current flowing.
Things To Note About Diodes
You have to apply enough voltage in the “right” direction – from positive to negative – for the diode
to start conducting. Usually this voltage is around 0.7V.
The diode have limits and cannot conduct unlimited amounts of current.
Diodes are not perfect components. If you apply voltage in the wrong direction, there will be a little
bit of current flowing. This current is called “leakage current”.
If you apply a high enough voltage in the “wrong” direction, the diode will break down and let
current pass in this direction too.
Types of Diodes
There are many different types of diodes. The most common ones are signal diodes, rectifier
diodes, zener diodes and Light-Emitting Diodes (LED). Signal and rectifier diodes are pretty much
the same thing except that rectifier diodes are built to handle more power.
Zener diodes are diodes that make use of the breakdown voltage when applying voltage the
“wrong” way. They act as very stable voltage references.
Source: https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/what-is-a-diode/
Transistor
The transistor is like an electronic switch. It can turn a current on and off. A simple way you can
think of it is to look at the transistor as a relay without any moving parts. A transistor is similar to a

relay in the sense that you can use it to turn something ON and OFF.
Check out the video explanation I made on the transistor:

There are different types of transistors. A very common one is the “bipolar junction transistor” or
“BJT”. And it usually looks like this:

It has three pins: Base (b), collector (c) and emitter (e). And it comes in two versions: NPN and
PNP. The schematic symbol for the NPN looks like this:

How transistors work

The transistor works because of something called a semiconducting material. A current flowing
from the base to the emitter “opens” the flow of current from the collector to the emitter.
In a standard NPN transistor, you need to apply a voltage of about 0.7V between the base and the
emitter to get the current flowing from base to emitter. When you apply 0.7V from base to emitter

you will turn the transistor ON and allow a current to flow from collector to emitter.

Source: https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/how-transistors-work/
Robot components

Microcontroller

A microcontroller (abbreviated MCU or µC) is a computer system on a chip that does a job. It
contains an integrated processor, memory (a small amount of RAM, program memory, or both),
and programmable input/output peripherals, which are used to interact with things connected to the
chip. A microcontroller is different than
a microprocessor which only contains
a CPU (the kind used in a Personal
Computer ).

First released in 1971 by the Intel company,

microcontrollers began to become popular in
their first few years. The extremely useful Intel
8008 microprocessor was then released, but it was still impractical because of high cost for each
chip. These first microcontrollers combined different types of computer memory on one
unit.[3] After people began to see how useful they were, micro controllers were constantly being
upgraded, with people trying to find new ways to make them better. Cost was reduced over time
and by the early 2000s, micro controllers were widely used across the world.

Other terms for a microcontroller are embedded system and embedded controller, because the
microcontroller and its support circuits are often built into, or embedded in, a single chip.

In addition to the usual arithmetic and logic elements of a general microprocessor, the
microcontroller also has additional elements such as RAM for data storage, read-only memory for
program storage, flash memory for permanent data storage, and other devices (peripherals).[5]

Microcontrollers often operate at very low speed compared to microprocessors (at clock speeds of
as little as 32 kHz), but this is useful for typical applications. They also consume very little power
(milliwatts or even micro watts).

Microcontrollers are used in automatic products and devices, such as car engine systems, remote
controls, machines, appliances, power tools, and toys. These are called embedded systems.
Microcontrollers can also be found at work in solar power and energy harvesting, anti-lock braking
systems in cars, and have many uses in the medical field as well.

Source: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcontroller
Motor Driver

A motor controller is a device or group of

devices that serves to govern in some
predetermined manner the performance of
an electric motor. A motor controller might include
a manual or automatic means for starting and
stopping the motor, selecting forward or reverse
rotation, selecting and regulating the speed,
regulating or limiting the torque, and protecting
against overloads and faults.
Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_controller

Battery

A battery is a self-contained, chemical power pack that can produce a limited amount of
electrical energy wherever it's needed. Unlike normal electricity, which flows to your home through

wires that start off in a power plant, a battery slowly converts chemicals packed inside it into
electrical energy, typically released over a period of days, weeks, months, or even years.
The basic idea of portable power is nothing new; people have always had ways of making energy
on the move. Even prehistoric humans knew how to burn wood to make fire, which is another way
of producing energy (heat) from chemicals (burning releases energy using a chemical reaction
called combustion).
By the time of the Industrial Revolution (in the 18th and 19th centuries), we'd mastered the art of
burning lumps of coal to make power, so fueling things like steam locomotives. But it can take an
hour to gather enough wood to cook a meal, and a locomotive's boiler typically takes several hours
to get hot enough to make steam. Batteries, by contrast, give us instant, portable energy; turn the
key in your electric car and it leaps to life in seconds!
The basic power unit inside a battery is called a cell, and it consists of three main bits. There are
two electrodes (electrical terminals) and a chemical called an electrolyte in between them. For
our convenience and safety, these things are usually packed inside a metal or plastic outer case.
There are two more handy electrical terminals, marked with a plus (positive) and minus
(negative), on the outside connected to the electrodes that are inside. The difference between a
battery and a cell is simply that a battery consists of two or more cells hooked up so their power
adds together.
When you connect a battery's two electrodes into a circuit (for example, when you put one in a
flashlight), the electrolyte starts buzzing with activity. Slowly, the chemicals inside it are converted
into other substances. Ions (atoms with too few or too many electrons) are formed from the
materials in the electrodes and take part in chemical reactions with the electrolyte. At the same
time, electrons march from one terminal to the other through the outer circuit, powering whatever
the battery is connected to. This process continues until the electrolyte is completely transformed.
At that point, the ions stop moving through the electrolyte, the electrons stop flowing through the
circuit, and the battery is flat.
Source: http://www.explainthatstuff.com/batteries.html
Sensors
a sensor is an electronic component, module, or subsystem whose purpose is to detect events or
changes in its environment and send the information to other electronics, frequently a computer
processor. A sensor is always used with other electronics, whether as simple as a light or as
complex as a computer.

Sensors are used in everyday objects such as touch-sensitive elevator buttons (tactile sensor) and
lamps which dim or brighten by touching the base, besides innumerable applications of which most
people are never aware. With advances in micromachinery and easy-to-
use microcontroller platforms, the uses of sensors have expanded beyond the traditional fields of
temperature, pressure or flow measurement,[1] for example into MARG sensors. Moreover, analog
sensors such as potentiometers and force-sensing resistors are still widely used. Applications
include manufacturing and machinery, airplanes and aerospace, cars, medicine, robotics and
many other aspects of our day-to-day life.
A sensor's sensitivity indicates how much the sensor's output changes when the input quantity
being measured changes. For instance, if the mercury in a thermometer moves 1 cm when the
temperature changes by 1 °C, the sensitivity is 1 cm/°C (it is basically the slope Dy/Dx assuming a
linear characteristic). Some sensors can also affect what they measure; for instance, a room
temperature thermometer inserted into a hot cup of liquid cools the liquid while the liquid heats the
thermometer. Sensors are usually designed to have a small effect on what is measured; making
the sensor smaller often improves this and may introduce other advantages. Technological
progress allows more and more sensors to be manufactured on a microscopic scale as
microsensors using MEMS technology. In most cases, a microsensor reaches a significantly higher
speed and sensitivity compared with macroscopic approaches.
A good sensor obeys the following rules:
• it is sensitive to the measured property
• it is insensitive to any other property likely to be encountered in its application, and
• it does not influence the measured property.
Most sensors have a linear transfer function. The sensitivity is then defined as the ratio between the
output signal and measured property. For example, if a sensor measures temperature and has a
voltage output, the sensitivity is a constant with the units [V/K]. The sensitivity is the slope of the
transfer function. Converting the sensor's electrical output (for example V) to the measured units
(for example K) requires dividing the electrical output by the slope (or multiplying by its
reciprocal). In addition, an offset is frequently added or subtracted. For example, -40 must be added
to the output if 0 V output corresponds to -40 C input.
For an analog sensor signal to be processed, or used in digital equipment, it needs to be converted to
a digital signal, using an analog-to-digital converter.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensor
Motors

An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical

energy into mechanical energy. The reverse of this is the
conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy and is done
by an electric generator, which has much in common with a motor.
Most electric motors operate through the interaction between an
electric motor's magnetic field and winding currents to generate
force. In certain applications, such as in regenerative
braking with traction motors in the transportation industry, electric
motors can also be used in reverse as generators to convert
mechanical energy into electric power.
Found in applications as diverse as industrial fans, blowers and pumps, machine tools, household
appliances, power tools, and disk drives, electric motors can be powered by direct current (DC)
sources, such as from batteries, motor vehicles or rectifiers, or by alternating current (AC) sources,
such as from the power grid, inverters or generators. Small motors
may be found in electric watches. General-purpose motors with
highly standardized dimensions and characteristics provide
convenient mechanical power for industrial use. The largest of
electric motors are used for ship propulsion, pipeline compression
and pumped-storageapplications with ratings reaching 100
megawatts. Electric motors may be classified by electric power
source type, internal construction, application, type of motion output,
and so on.
Electric motors are used to produce linear or rotary force (torque), and should be distinguished
from devices such as magnetic solenoids and loudspeakers that convert electricity into motion but
do not generate usable mechanical powers, which are respectively referred to as actuators and
transducers.
Connectivity

A robot can communicate in a variety of ways. basically we can divide these communications into
wired and wireless. Among cabling, there are buses (I2C, SMBUS, etc.), all managed by
communication protocols such as Ethernet.

In our family of wireless connections, we find WiFi, cellular networks, Bluetooth, RFID and various
other types of radio connection (each with different frequencies and modulation).
Meet SMARS

SMARS, a diminutive of the Screwless Modular

Assemblable Robotic System, is a small open source
robot designed primarily for educational or research
purposes.
The basic configuration of SMARS, mounts two
mechanically reduced brushed motors, a 9V battery, an
Arduino one, and a 4-stroke motor shield.
The robot can mount external peripherals, downloaded from the internet or designed by you.
SMARS is compatible with all Arduino sensors available on the market and a case has been
designed for the two main sensors: ultrasonic and infrared. The features of SMARS are the ease of
assembly, low cost of realization and the fast hook-up of new peripherals

Safety Rules
1. Do not connect together the negative and positive pole of the battery
2. Do not reverse the polarity (flip - & +)
3. Connect the battery only where indicated by the instructions.
4. Don’t play with tools
 Questionnaire
1) The Current is:
a) The flow of electrons in a conductor and its unit is Volt
b) The difference of potential between two points of a conductor
c) The flow of electrons in a conductor and its unit is Ampère
d) The flow of electrons in a conductor and its unit is Ohm.

2) If the resistance augments:

a) The current will be stronger
b) The tension will be higher
c) The resistance doesn’t matter
d) The current will be lower

3) A resistor is a component that:

a) reduce the current in the circuit
b) let current flow in only one direction
c) makes current stronger
d) augment the tension on other components

4) A diode is:
a) A component that stores current
b) A component that lets current flow in a single direction and could glow
c) Simply a light bulb
d) It’s like a resistor

5) 9V is
a) a current
b) a tension
c) a capacity
d) a resistance

6) A microcontroller is
a) The same as a CPU
b) The brain of the robot
c) A part of the RAM
d) A part of the CPU

7) A simple motor driver can’t:

a) control the speed of the motor
b) control the direction of the motor
c) stop the motor
d) count the RPM of the motor

8) The cell is:

a) Composed by many batteries
b) An element of a battery
c) The core of the motor driver
d) A passive component
9) A sensor converts:
a) Different types of energy into electrical signals
b) Electrical signals into mechanical energy
c) Digital signals into analog signals
d) Current into tension

10) A motor works with:

a) Electric field
b) Magnetic field
c) Mechanical field
d) Electronic field

Notes