A Great Arduino Robotics Board

Every Littlebot Arduino Robotics Kit uses the same arduino robot control board. This is that board.

When LittleBots was first started with the LittleArm Original we used a standard Arduino Uno Board combined with a breadboard to do all of the wiring. While this was a good resource for teaching kids how to us breadboards and work with electronics it didn't make the arm easy to use. And for teachers that was a big factor. These kits had to be assembled and disassembled pretty easily in order to be useful in the classroom. So we worked on designing our new robots with an entirely new board.

We went looking for an arduino shield that could control servos and have a sensor input. There are a couple of them out there. But none are really plug-and-play. But then we ran across the Meped and SpierceTech. 

They had created the Meped arduino robotics board and it was an ideal solution for arduino robotics kits. And we have used it as the brain for Littlebots ever since for its functionality and expandability.

Meped Arduino Robotics Board

The Meped arduino board uses an Arduino Nano as its main computing core. This allows you to control up to 8 servos with PWM signals. This means we can control complex robots like the LittleArm Big with just this board.

Power into the board is 6-9 V. And it has the amperage capabilities to power larger servos.

But you only have a robot if you have sensors. The Meped has a dedicated ultrasonic sensor port and digital IR input bus. These allow bots like the LittleBot budget to quickly be assembled with the ability to navigate via sensors.

The Meped arduino robot board also has a direct bluetooth port so the HC-05 or 06 arduino bluetooth modules can be directly plugged in with no hassle at all. This makes it possible for all of the Littlebots to be controlled by the LittleBots app or other android arduino apps.

Lastly the Meped board has several analog input pins that can be used with a breadboard to add even more sensors.

Overall the Meped arduino robotics board is a great foundation to build a robot on. Its range of servo control and sensor inputs ensures that you get going quickly. That is why we use it in all of our robots.

Purchase the Meped Robot Board