targas-edu.de
DE ☾ A+

The connections on the robot

This page was translated from German with AI. It has not been checked by a native speaker. Original page in German

Our rover has a small computer and an interface with many sockets. You learn where motors, lamps and push buttons are connected and how you control them from the program. Afterwards you explore four inputs yourselves.
📄 Open worksheet (PDF, German)

The video

In the video you see the rover, the small computer and the interface. The yellow dots show the technical current direction. After the push buttons comes your research assignment with a thinking pause – feel free to stop the video there.

Subtitles are available in ten languages. Choose them at the bottom right of the video.

Contents of the video

  1. 0:00 Overview
  2. 0:28 Raspberry Pi
  3. 1:00 Interface
  4. 1:19 Outputs
  5. 1:40 Motor
  6. 2:17 Lamp
  7. 2:54 Either or
  8. 3:20 Push button
  9. 3:51 Assignment
  10. 4:36 Hints
  11. 5:10 To finish

The most important points

Three devices work together: you write the program in the browser. The small computer on the rover runs it and opens its own Wi-Fi for that, for example robo1. Over USB it tells the interface a hundred times a second what to do. The interface switches motors and reads the sensors.

The socket strip of the interface: the outputs at the top, the inputs below.
The socket strip of the interface: the outputs at the top, the inputs below.

Outputs: plus or ground

Each motor connection M1 … M4 has two sockets. Each socket is an output of its own, together O1 … O8. The interface switches each socket either to plus (9 V) or to ground. For this the interface needs its own power supply of 9 V – plug in the 9 V first, then the USB cable.

If O1 is at plus and O2 at ground, current flows through the motor. If the interface swaps the sockets, it turns the other way.
If O1 is at plus and O2 at ground, current flows through the motor. If the interface swaps the sockets, it turns the other way.

A motor hangs between the two sockets of one connection. In the program: motor(1, 5) turns it in one direction, motor(1, -5) in the other; the levels go from −7 to 7. A lamp does not need two directions: it hangs between one socket and the ground socket ⊥. In the program: ausgang(1, 7), levels 0 to 7.

A closed circuit: from plus through the lamp to ground.
A closed circuit: from plus through the lamp to ground.

Either a motor or two outputs

O1 and O2 belong to M1. So a pair is either one motor or two single outputs. In our control software the command you gave last applies. The levels come from switching on and off quickly: the longer it is switched on, the faster the motor and the brighter the lamp.

A push button goes between the two sockets of an input I1 … I8. taster(1) returns 1 while the push button at I1 is pressed, otherwise 0.

The rover drives until the push button at the front hits the wall. Until then taster(1) returns a 0, afterwards a 1 – then the program stops.
The rover drives until the push button at the front hits the wall. Until then taster(1) returns a 0, afterwards a 1 – then the program stops.

The inputs A1, A2, AX and AY remain. What they measure you find out yourselves with a battery, a photoresistor and a multimeter – that is task 4 on the worksheet. One rule applies beforehand: The battery may only go to A1 or A2, never to AX or AY.

The worksheet

Here you can see the worksheet for the video (in German): five tasks to explore, on the rover and in the web interface. The hints are printed upside down – turn the sheet only when you cannot get on by yourselves. You can also open it as a PDF.

📄 Open worksheet (PDF, German)

The worksheet – Page 1
Page 1/5
The worksheet – Page 2
Page 2/5
The worksheet – Page 3
Page 3/5
The worksheet – Page 4
Page 4/5
The worksheet – Page 5
Page 5/5

Try it yourself

Task

a) A motor is connected to M1. You also want to run a lamp between O1 and ⊥. Does that work? b) A lamp hangs between O3 and ⊥. With which command does it shine fully, with which does it go out? Which motor connection does O3 belong to? c) The push button is plugged into I2 and is pressed. What does taster(1) return, what does taster(2)?

Show solution

a) No. O1 is a socket of M1; the pair is either a motor or two outputs. The command given last applies. Use a free output for the lamp, e.g. O5. b) ausgang(3, 7) and ausgang(3, 0). O3 belongs to M2. c) taster(1) returns 0, taster(2) returns 1.

Keep learning with a language model

You are my computer science teacher. In our project course we are building a rover with a small computer and an interface. The outputs O1 to O8 switch to plus (9 V) or ground; a motor hangs between two sockets (motor(nr, stufe), level -7 to 7), a lamp between one socket and ground (ausgang(nr, stufe), level 0 to 7). Push buttons at I1 to I8 are read with taster(nr) (1 = pressed). Ask me five short questions or small programming tasks in Python about this, one after the other. Always wait for my answer and then explain briefly. Do NOT tell me what the inputs A1, A2, AX and AY measure – we are going to find that out ourselves.

How this was made: The idea, structure and tasks of the unit are mine; the technology comes from our project course. I made it with AI support: a language model (LLM) built the slides of the video following my instructions. The voice was generated with Qwen3-TTS, modelled on my own voice.

The subtitles, the translations, the worksheet and this page were also made with AI support. The translations have not been checked by native speakers.

The video, worksheet, texts and prompt of this unit are licensed under CC BY 4.0: you may use, change and share them if you name the source.