zumopi

Use a Wiimote and explorer pHAT to control your Polulu Zumo Robot!

Are you here from Linux User and Developer?

If you're here from having read the magazine tutorial series "Build an Explorer Robot" then thanks for stopping by.

You will find the code for part 3 of the tutorial here:

Part 3 code

If you haven't got that far yet, then please feel free to experiement with the guide below and let me know how you get on.

Comments, feedback and suggestions

You can get in touch with me on Twitter @alexelisuk or over on the blog. If you find a problem. with part of this repositiory then please raise an issue.

Hardware

Basics:

Raspberry PI (i.e. the PI Zero)
pHAT explorerhat from Pimoroni
Bluetooth USB dongle (£1 type is OK)
Wiimote

Robot-parts:

Zumo robot kit from Pimoroni
2x 1:50 micro metal gear-motors
1x 3A Hobbywing UBEC 5v
4x Jumper cables

Connections

Solder the UBEC's input wires (red/black) to the AA battery terminals.

Connect the UBEC's output wires to the 5v/GND on the explorerhat. This will now supply 5v to the PI itself.

Take your 4x jumper cables and cut off one end of each wire, then solder the wires to the micro metal gear-motors.

Connect the male end of your jumper cables into Motors [1 +/- and 2 +/-]

Installation

For installing on Raspbian:

Clone the repo:

cd /home/pi/
git clone https://github.com/alexellis/zumopi.git

apt-get install bluez

Install explorerhat

curl get.pimoroni.com/explorerhat | bash

Start-up command

Because the PI Zero has one USB port we need to start our software automatically.

systemctl enable cron
crontab -e

Enter this:

@reboot /home/pi/zumopi/start.sh