Robot Building for Beginners, Third Edition

CHAPTER 22

■ Chapter 22: Soldering and Connecting

This chapter covers soldering, with emphasis on soldering smaller pieces, like the motors and the line-

following switch. This chapter also describes instances when it’s better to not solder certain wires together,

but instead to use a connector.

Putting Together the Motors and Switches

Before attempting to solder the line-following circuit (next chapter), it’s prudent to practice on less

complicated parts. For example, each motor only needs two wires soldered to it.

The switches, motors, and a few other items (see Figure 22-1) are all independent from each other and

from the main circuit board. That makes them short and easy projects to work on.

Figure 22-1. (left to right) Motors, line-following switch, battery snap, power switch, and tube LEDs. They’re

all soldered to Molex KK connectors and insulated with heat-shrink tubing

You’ll begin by soldering wires to each component and then protecting the component terminals with

heat-shrink tubing. After that you’ll attach connectors to the ends of the wires and twist the wires around

themselves. If you don’t quite understand the instructions that follow, refer to Figure 22-1 to remind yourself

of the final result.