Build a Robot — From Parts to Autonomous Robot

What You'll Build

• A differential-drive robot chassis with DC gear motors
• Motor driver wiring with the L298N H-bridge
• PWM speed control with ramp functions
• Bluetooth remote control from your phone
• Ultrasonic obstacle detection with the HC-SR04
• A state-machine-based autonomous navigator

Beginner Modules

1. Build a Robot — Module 01: How Robots Think and Move — The foundational mental model for every robot ever built: sense, decide, act. Learn the five systems of your course robot and identify every component before you build anything.
2. Build a Robot — Module 02: Chassis & Drivetrain Assembly — Mount the motors, align the drivetrain, and attach the ball caster. Understand differential drive geometry and run the straight-line test before adding any electronics.
3. Build a Robot — Module 03: Power & Wiring Basics — Learn voltage, current, and resistance through the water analogy. Wire the L298N motor driver, understand battery capacity, and complete the full robot wiring diagram.
4. Build a Robot — Module 04: Your First Arduino Sketch — Write setup() and loop(), control the motors with digitalWrite and analogWrite, and drive the robot in a square using timed movement. Introduce the Serial Monitor for debugging.
5. Build a Robot — Module 05: Differential Steering & Turning — Compensate for motor drift with a trim constant, implement arc turns and pivot turns, and calibrate the robot to drive a measurably straight line.
6. Build a Robot — Module 06: Speed Control with PWM — Understand H-bridge operating states, identify the motor deadband, and write ramp functions that eliminate jerk at start and stop.
7. Build a Robot — Module 07: Remote Control via Bluetooth — Wire the HC-05 Bluetooth module, write a single-character command parser, and drive the robot from a phone app. Phase 2 milestone: full wireless RC control.
8. Build a Robot — Module 08: Ultrasonic Distance Sensing — Add the HC-SR04 and give the robot its first sense. Understand time-of-flight ranging, wire four connections, write a clean readDistance() function, and build a robot that stops before hitting a wall.
9. Build a Robot — Module 09: Non-blocking Timing with millis() — Replace delay() with millis()-based timers so the robot can sense, respond to Bluetooth, and control motors simultaneously. The architectural upgrade that makes all Phase 3 behaviors possible.

Intermediate Modules

10. Build a Robot — Module 10: Obstacle Avoidance with State Machines — Replace the simple if/else with a four-state machine: FORWARD, BACKING, TURNING, STOPPED. The robot now backs away from obstacles and turns to find a clear path — fully autonomous.
11. Build a Robot — Module 11: Building a Complete Robot System — Combine every system into one unified sketch and see the whole architecture click into place — RC control, autonomous obstacle avoidance, mode switching, safety stops, and shared state all working together.
12. Build a Robot — Module 12: Calibration, Tuning & Debugging — Measure what your robot actually does, find the specific causes of failure, and fix them systematically. RTRIM calibration, sensor characterization, Serial Monitor analysis, and the five most common failure modes.
13. Build a Robot — Module 13: Final Project — Autonomous Navigator — Run the Navigator Challenge: navigate a defined obstacle course in autonomous mode without human intervention. Apply all calibration, produce documentation, and prove the robot works reliably.
14. Build a Robot — Module 14: Where to Go Next — Hardware upgrades, software extensions, the next platforms (ESP32, Raspberry Pi, ROS), and the skills that extend what you built — PID control, computer vision, SLAM, embedded C.