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Bots /The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6 / Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Building the Robot 45

If you are building the barebones kit, you will also need a soldering iron,
solder, heat shrink tubing, epoxy, a standard screwdriver, and a Phillips
screwdriver.

Did you take the easy way, and buy the easy kit? If so, grab a standard
screwdriver and a Phillips screwdriver, and jump ahead in this chapter to the
section “Building the Frame.” If you have the barebones kit, you have a little
more work to do first.

The Batteries
The kit contains rechargeable batteries to power the robot. Since you can’t do
much with uncharged batteries, start by putting the batteries into the charger
and plugging the charger into an electrical socket. This will ensure that the
batteries are ready for you when the robot is complete.

The Safety Geek Says

This next step involves a process called soldering. If you’ve built
electronic circuits before, you’re probably already familiar with how
to do this and how to do it safely. If you’ve never soldered a connection
before—STOP! Find someone who knows what they are doing and ask
them to give you a quick lesson in how to solder connections. Here
are some further tips:
✖ Solder contains lead, and lead can be poisonous. Take care to wash
your hands after using lead solder.
✖ Don’t inhale the fumes from the soldering process.
✖ The soldering iron, hot enough to melt solder, is hot enough to
give you a nasty burn. Treat the iron with care. Unplug it when
you are finished.
✖ The connection you just soldered is as hot as the iron. Give it
a chance to cool before you touch it.

Wiring the Battery Pack
Your battery pack should have a black wire and a red wire extending from it.
Start by soldering the red wire to the middle post of the switch.

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Monday, May 12, 2003 4:40:24 PM