Hello,
i bought this to improve my skills.
(Turobot 4WD Smart Car Robot Kit Set for Arduino Learning Starter Smart Programmable Robot DIY Board Open Source Code Bluetooth Control)
Cause there are no instructions or anything else, I try to get the knowlege by myself.
I can't find any information about the "motor drive controller board".
It seems to me more then just the normal motor boards i found in the forum.
Can you tell me what it is for and how the pins work there?
best wishes,
Ender
What is printed on the different microchips?
...R
thanks for the reply:)
On the Top:
L293D / 991SF VW MYS 99 328
On the Bottom:
L7805CV CCOXC w MAR 1509
And what is the small surface mounted chip?
Also please post photos that allow the text on the board to be read easily. In your first image the pins hide some of the text.
A general description of how the board is intended to be used would also help. It looks as if the pins are arranged for connection to standard servo connectors.
...R
Hmm - it looks like there is virtually nothing (save maybe for one youtube video) on how to use this board with the robot. So...here's how I would tackle it:
First off - those two chips are very common; the first being the L293D, a common h-bridge motor driver IC. Not the best thing on the planet, but you should be able to make it work. So - google for a PDF of the datasheet; you'll need it. The other is a bog-standard 7805 voltage regulator - it will convert a higher voltage (7-12 volts DC usually) to a regulated 5 VDC (just like the regulator on the Arduino). With proper heatsinking, you can get about an amp of current from it, but this thing doesn't have proper heatsinking, so don't expect that. However, it is likely only there to power the L293D and nothing else.
J1 and J2 are obviously for power - one is probably to power the L293D, the other for the motors - or maybe one is an input and the other an output (feed-thru? or maybe one outputs 5 VDC? dunno).
So - gather up as many images as you can (including all the ones from the Amazon item listing - plus any posted by reviewers). What you really want to look at are the ones showing the assembled robot. Hopefully, they can offer some guidance.
Also - take some high-resolution photos of the board you have. If you have a flatbed scanner, that can help immensely - scan that sucker at a high resolution (mainly the bottom of the board).
Then - get a multimeter. Also load up a paint program (Windows paint should work ok - no need to go fancy with photoshop, though it can help too - so don't rule it or similar programs like the Gimp out!). Load up your images.
Take a close look at the images. Compare with your board (use a magnifying glass - ideally, one of those magnifying lamps with the light work great for this). Note on the images where a trace starts and where it goes. If you can flood-fill the trace with the paint program, or use filters (photoshop, gimp, etc) to bring out highlights of the traces, it can help you figure out where things are connected. Take copious notes along the way.
With no power to the board, use a multimeter set for a continuity check, or on the lowest resistance setting, and probe between the header pins and the pins of the L293D. Note what is what using the datasheet, and the header pin silk-screening - a pattern should become readily apparent. Do other verifications and checks using the Amazon images, to see what wires are connected where.
I suspect that some of the headers (likely the ones with the small trimmer pots?) are for the optical speed sensors on the motors. Other headers are for the motors themselves. Some of the headers may be for other sensors or modules.
I'm curious as to what the IC U4 is - you didn't mention that? But again, get the datasheet for it, and start probing. Do everything carefully and methodically, and take a ton of notes. Eventually, you should be able to figure it out.
Once you do, document everything clearly - then dump everything you have on to github or something, and post a link to the Amazon page (as many languages as you can), to any blogs (I found a couple where the people seemed lost too), plus here - maybe also post an instructable.
The goal being of course that your hard work is shared with everyone else with this robot. You won't get any money for this, of course, but people will be very grateful. You'd be surprised at how much this helps people, and how they appreciate it. I've put out things of this nature myself over a decade ago, and I still occasionally get people posting a comment to me on a website (or out of the blue in some other manner - always a surprise) thanking me for the help. So let that be your reward, and maybe your goal.
If you don't do it, nobody else will - so roll up them sleeves, and start reverse-engineering that board.
Hey cr0sh,
thank you for your reply.
I'm still searching to get any helpful information.
Sure I will share my experiences:)
But as you see it's very hard to find. All the similar car kits including other boards und the turobot kit is quiet unknown everywhere:(
But I will carry on and try to understand the thing.
wish me luck!
Robin2:
And what is the small surface mounted chip?Also please post photos that allow the text on the board to be read easily. In your first image the pins hide some of the text.
A general description of how the board is intended to be used would also help. It looks as if the pins are arranged for connection to standard servo connectors.
...R
Hey Robin,
the smal chip is LM339
I found out that this is a Quad Comparator to to operate from
single power supply over a wide voltage range.
sadly there is no general description etc...
Here are more Pictures for the community:
Sorry if this seems like I'm being a PITA but can you take separate photos for each side of the top so that the pins don't obscure the text.
You say there is no general description. Does that mean that when you bought the robot kit there was absolutely zero documentation with it?
And this may seem a silly question but are you just trying to build the robot kit, OR are you trying to use the parts for some other purpose?
...R
Robin2:
Sorry if this seems like I'm being a PITA but can you take separate photos for each side of the top so that the pins don't obscure the text.You say there is no general description. Does that mean that when you bought the robot kit there was absolutely zero documentation with it?
And this may seem a silly question but are you just trying to build the robot kit, OR are you trying to use the parts for some other purpose?
...R
Hope this is what you want:)
And exactly there where no description except for a little peace of paper that shows how to build the chassis like this (so no controllers wires etc)
I want to build the full robot car kit (like this) but I also want to understand how the parts work togehter:)
Looking at the board this is what I see:
Thank you for the better photographs. However I am afraid that I am no wiser.
The best I can suggest is to carefully study the wiring in the photos on the Robot web page. I suggest you try to draw a schematic from those images. Thankfully there seems to be a good variety of connecting wire colour so it should be possible to follow most of it.
...R
This is what I have so far:
J8 -> Right hand motors
J7 -> Left hand motors
J3 -> Bottom right IR sensor
J4 -> Bottom left IR sensor
J5 -> Top right IR sensor
J6 -> Top left IR sensor
GND on J14 -> GND on arduino and GND on Ultrasonic sensor
VCC on J14 -> 5v on arduino and VCC on Ultrasonic sensor
RXD on J10 -> RX(digital pin 0) on arduino
TXD on J10 -> TX(digital pin 1) on arduino
LI+ on J13 -> A0 on arduino
LI- on J13 -> A1 on arduino
RI+ on J13 -> A2 on arduino
RI- on J13 -> A3 on arduino
Trig on Ultrasonic sensor -> Digital pin 9 on arduino
Echo on Ultrasonic sensor -> Digital pin 8 on arduino
And that is as much as I am certain on, I am working on finding out more about this board. So far, What I have done has given power to the arduino but I am still unsure on how to actually interface with the board. Hopefully, somebody will use what I have found so far and give us regular updates on what they find
to connect ir (manage with distance control ir) how i can connect turobot with arduino uno r3? what pins with what pin? and the code? i'm crazy searching this information.
thanks
Hi,
I recently bought this board too and struggled to get it working. With some help from a poster on the Amazon website I have been able to figure quite a lot out and have now got a car that I can control with the IR remote control. The car can move forward, backwards, spin left on the spot, spin right on the spot, and "steer" both forwards and backwards. I haven't got round to connecting the sensors yet but I don't think that will be difficult.
I use the IRRemote library here to decode the IR signals.
I have labelled up the controller board and attached the code I have written. Please forgive any obvious mistakes and it probably isn't the most efficient code, I just wanted to get the thing working!!!!! 
Malcolm
turobot.ino (4.5 KB)
greenmj:
I have labeled up the controller board and attached the code I have written. Please forgive any obvious mistakes and it probably isn't the most efficient code, I just wanted to get the thing working!!!!!Malcolm
Thanks for the help! I am wondering why I would be getting an error: error: 'RAWBUF' was not declared in this scope
unsigned int rawbuf[RAWBUF]; // raw data
I think I am getting close to this thing working.
Cheers,
Patrick
The constant RAWBUF needs to have been defined somewhere before it can be used. Maybe it is in some library file that is not properly included. As you have not posted your program I can't think of anything else to suggest.
From where did you get the line of code that you have quoted?
...R
Thanks for the quick reply! It is the file that was attached to Malcolm's response. I tried to upload it my Arduino Uno and received that error. Otherwise, I have the same exact Turobot board that has been discussed in this thread.Seems like I received the same kit (or very close to) that others have for making a remote controlled car.
finwitz:
Thanks for the quick reply! It is the file that was attached to Malcolm's response.
I can't find that. Can you post it again?
...R
Whoops his handle is Greenmj, but signed off as Malcolm. Attached is the file he had.
Thanks
turobot.ino (4.5 KB)
