Robot Building for Beginners, Third Edition

CHAPTER 4 Digital Multimeter We’re still covering basic prerequisites to building a robot, such as safety and where to buy parts ...

CHAPTER 17 DC Motors Motion is one of the primary differentiators between a robot and a computer. More robots get their motion f ...

CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER Figure 4-1. Digital multimeter with test probes Figure 4-2. LCD of a digital multimeter Figure 4- ...

CHAPTER 17 ■ DC MOTORS Looking Inside an Iron-Core Permanent-Magnet DC Brush Motor An iron-core permanent-magnet DC brush motor ...

CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER Digits 3½ digits means that numbers up to 1999 can be displayed (with a floating decimal point). ...

CHAPTER 17 ■ DC MOTORS Rotor The rotor (the rotating part) is built around a shaft. The shaft sticks out the end of the motor bo ...

CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER Overload/Fuse Protection Almost every multimeter includes protection to prevent permanent damage ...

CHAPTER 17 ■ DC MOTORS Rotor Commutator At the end of the shaft is a commutator (see Figure 17-5). It contains two or more segme ...

CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER Duty Cycle Measured in percentages, duty cycle indicates how often a measurement is high as oppos ...

CHAPTER 17 ■ DC MOTORS Rotor Brushes The “brush” term in “DC brush motor” indicates that the motor has brushes. The brushes conn ...

CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER Auto Power Off It’s common to forget to turn off the multimeter as your mind considers the task a ...

CHAPTER 17 ■ DC MOTORS Living Longer Without Brushes Brushes are usually the first part to wear out on a brush motor. The lack o ...

CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER Transistor A transistor mode measures the hFE (or b), which indicates the amount of amplification ...

CHAPTER 17 ■ DC MOTORS Limitations of Brushless Motors Because of the voltage requirements of the chips and components on a brus ...

CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER Dual Display A dual display includes a small, second set of digits in a corner of the display so ...

CHAPTER 17 ■ DC MOTORS Simple DC Motor Circuit DC brush motors are very easy to experiment with. You only need a motor, battery, ...

CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER Data Interface A data interface (see Figure 4-11) communicates measurements to a personal compute ...

CHAPTER 17 ■ DC MOTORS Selecting a Battery for the Simple DC Motor Circuit You must exercise a little care when selecting the ba ...

CHAPTER 4 ■ DIGITAL MULTIMETER Temperature Measured in degrees Celsius or degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature mode indicates how h ...

CHAPTER 17 ■ DC MOTORS Connect one end of the red jumper lead to the positive battery terminal and the other end of the red jump ...