Introducing mobile robots
A mobile robot is a robot with the capacity to move. It has motors to get moving from one point to another point. In general, we can build a mobile robot using the five components that are described in the following figure:
MCU (Microprocessor Central Unit) is the command central of our robot. It can be an Arduino, Intel Edison, BeagleBone Black/Green, or Raspberry Pi board. Each MCU board has unique capabilities, as well as being programmable. You might need to select an MCU board model by referring to its size and weight, depending on your needs.
Depending on how your robot will move, you can use any motor model. To control motors, we need a motor driver because some MCUs may not have PWM/Analog outputs. In addition, motors usually need higher voltage. If we connect the MCU and motors directly, they may get a broken connection on your MCU. A motor driver module usually has a voltage regulator to control power usage in motors.
To gather information from robot's environment...