Failure, step 1. Get a robot.
Failure, step 2. Look at it wrong.
Failure, step 3. Save the good parts and discard the rest.
Failure, step 4. Go to step 1.
The 3pi (three – pie) robot is a Pololu robot. It uses the Orangutan microcontroller rather than an Arduino, but it can use the Arduino development kit to program it. I managed to kill mine off on the first day by mistake. I had it attached to the computer via a USB cable, getting ready to experiment with programming it. I picked up the robot and in doing so, I accidentally pressed the power switch. The button is located right next to the battery box which makes a great handle to pick it up with. When its power went off, the robot reacted by destroying itself. It has a vulnerability that will destroy the robot’s electronics if it gets powered off while connected to the computer, or if it gets programmed while having weak batteries. A discussion with Pololu told me that either of these acts destroy the fuses in it. I’m not sure I understand that but I accept it. To me a fuse is a volatile connection to a power source that opens and removes power in order to save a device from
The 3pi robot and accessories
destruction, just like the circuit breakers of fuses in the home. Apparently these fuses work the opposite way, when they fail they get homicidal and kill the closest thing: itself, the robot.
Sometimes we learn things the hard way. Anyway, I never got the opportunity to see the robot do anything because I killed it so quickly. I now know that robots made for the experimenter should not be viewed as being as stable and sturdy as a WowWee, Tomy or Tiger robot. I also learned that when I make a robot, I will put the power switch somewhere that makes a hell of a lot more sense than where Pololu decided to put theirs.
In spite of the grotesque death of this robot, I was fired up by the loss to make my own robot and that is what got me started on the Arduino microprocessor. This thing was just plain made for robotics, although it can be used for a wide variety of automation and technical uses.