HackSpace_-_April_2020

REVIEW

Kitronik :MOVE mini MK2 robot kit

Kitronik :MOVE

mini MK2 robot kit

@concreted0g

Take your first steps – er, revolutions – in robotics

By Jo Hinchliffe

he Kitronik

:MOVE mini MK2

kit is a small two-

wheeled robot

that is controlled by

a micro:bit, available

separately. It arrives well packed in a neat

box, with a small instruction manual which

covers both the building of the kit and some initial

programming of the micro:bit. The kit contains a PCB

board called the ‘servo:lite’ to which you clamp a

micro:bit using a spacer bar and five small machine

screws. The

servo board

has a battery

holder on the

back which takes

three AAA batteries

(included), and has five

RGB addressable LEDs on

the front, and the connections for

servos on the back.

The first part of the instruction manual

guides you through connecting a micro:bit to the

servo board, and then programming the micro:bit

with some simple examples to control the LEDs.

We liked this aspect, as it not only confirms that the

boards are connected correctly, but acts as a nice

gentle introduction for people appreciating, that this

might be the first time they have programmed a

micro:bit, or programmed at all.

Following that, the next phase of the build is to

assemble the wheels onto the continuous rotation

servos and calibrate them. Continuous rotation

servos are, as the name suggests, different from

regular servos in that they are made to be able to

continually rotate in either direction rather than

through a fixed amount and therefore are great for

making controllable wheels. The instructions take

us through connecting the servos and flashing some

code to the micro:bit that sets the wheels to turn

in different directions and stop using the A and B

buttons. There is a trimmer which needs tweaking

while running the servos to ensure they are calibrated

correctly, and stop when they are required to stop.

This is pretty straightforward and clearly explained,

KITRONIK £27.54 kitronik.co.uk

T

Right

The completed :MOVE

mini MK2 is a cheerful

and cool-looking little

robot, in our opinion!

Below

Unpacking the kit

reveals that all

components are

packed well, with the

PCB in anti-static, and

other components

bagged or

bubble-wrapped