Robot Electronics

Robot Electronics

Before going into details you should know certain important things in electronics these are  LEDs, LDRs, Resistors, Capacitors, Transistors, Relays, IR LEDs, Crystalls,Diodes,Microcontrollers, Microphones, Speakers, etc…

       So, let’s start from the top.

LED: Light emitting diodes, all of you are familiar with these but may not know the most amazing fact about these devices. These are the current eaters they can eat a huge amount of current & finally blow themselves so always use a resistance in series with them to prevent high amount of current flow.

LDR: These are Light Dependant Resistors that means there resistance varies with variation in Light intensity. you can use these as a potentiometer which is controlled by light.

Resistors: These are used to prevent higher current flow in a circuit & drop the voltage.

Capacitors: Capacitors are mainly used for decreasing noise and filtration of sound. The current provided by the power supply is not constant that produces a noise in the ckt .In order to overcome this problem capacitors are used. Since they can store charge when the current drops they can provide the demanded current for few seconds.

Transistors: In robotics transistors are mainly used as switch. Suppose you want to control a 6v relay but you have a circuit that provides maximum of 3v.Then you need to use transistors in such cases. See the image below.

                  

Relays: these are very popular because you can control any electrical device using relays.

A small voltage of near about 6v across its coil can turn an appliance on or off (fans, lights, TV etc).

IR LED: These are same as LED but they transmit Infrared rays rather than Visible Rays. Most of the TV remotes have these LEDs.You can detect their glow using a camera. In robotics these are used for sensor purposes. There are two types of IR leds available TRANSMITTER & RECEIVER.

Crystals: These are used for Micro controllers to act as a clock. In the programming section you will find  more details of this.                           

Microcontrollers: We can call Microcontrollers as the brain of automated robot. Microcontrollers can run a program written in its memory. There are different kinds of microcontrollers available in market with different memory and RAM. Some of the most common microcontrollers are PIC, AVR, Basic stamps.