CHAPTER 22 ■ SOLDERING AND CONNECTING
Putting Together the Motors
The following steps describe how to attach wires and connectors to the DC gearhead motors. When
complete, you can quickly attach and remove the individual motors from the line-following circuit.
Preparing and Attaching the Motor Wires
Solid wire was selected for the solderless breadboard because it doesn’t fray on the ends when being
inserted into the breadboard holes. However, stranded wire is a better choice for a soldered circuit because
stranded wire is more flexible and it readily twists around the joint to be soldered.
- Obtain some white and some black stranded #22 AWG wire to be soldered to the
positive and negative motor terminals, respectively. - Cut two pieces of white wire and two pieces of black wire to about 15 cm in
length each (four 15 cm pieces total). - Using wire strippers, remove about 1.5 cm of plastic insulation from one end of
each wire, and about 0.35 cm of insulation from the other end of each wire
(see Figure 22-2).
Figure 22-2. Two white and two black wires cut to the correct length with their ends stripped
Figure 22-3. Stranded wire looped through the eyelet in the positive motor terminal (left). Wire twisted
around itself to hold firmly and provide multiple points of electrical connection to motor terminal (right)
- Loop the 1.5 cm stripped end of a white wire through the eyelet (hole) in the
positive terminal of a motor (see the left side of Figure 22-3).