TQFP PIC18F45550 Robot Platform (Bot Board)
After a series of successful test with PIC18F4550 TQFP microcontroller board, it was time to build some projects. The plan is to make sort of robot development board of my own which can allow me to test various codes and observe response of sensors in real time.
The Bot Development Board
Why to build a Development board of my own? The other robot kits which I have are bigger in size and I always end up reusing components or building on bread board, to test out certain code ideas to save time. With microcontroller development boards, I still have to build the robot from scratch after coding the microcontroller, I always end up disassembling the complete robot and breadboard over a course of time.
I wanted something which, uses pic18f4550, is smaller in size and the components are very easy to assemble without wiring up cables every time. So I decided to make robot board of my own, which fits my specific requirements, on which I can run my test anytime I want rather than investing time recreating complete robot again.
So my wishes and idea manifested into something which looks like below – version 1.0. I call it the BOT Board. It has a battery unit, Power Regulator, own set of wheels, DC motor controller, provision to add two Infrared sensors and an Ultrasonic Sensor. The onboard ICSP shall allow me to burn the codes directly. The battery unit is basically just a portable power bank, which I also use for changing my phone.
