BasicBoard
Robotics
by William Smith
Several years ago, I started a new hobby of
programming embedded controllers using a
development board known as the BasicBoard. I
found it easy to use since you could program it
in the Basic language and have all the features
you could want already built in like LEDs,
switches, speakers, LCDs, and expansion ports to
connect servos and sensors. The robot shown here
is a simple robot I built around the BasicBoard.
nine pin straight through serial cable into the appropriate
connector. Then plug the other end into the serial port of
your computer. Next plug the 12 volt power adapter into
the 2.1 mm single pin power connector. Plug the power
adapter into the wall socket and watch your BasicBoard
come to life.
The pre-programmed demo program will begin to run,
describing all the features of the BasicBoard. Figure 1 shows
the physical layout, which includes:
Getting started with the BasicBoard is really simple.
The unit comes with a pre-programmed demo
that will run right out of the box. To set up the
BasicBoard, first unpack it (and cable and power adapter if
you purchased the full starter package) and plug the
• 2x16 LCD
• Four momentary switches
• Eight LEDs
• Eight-ohm speaker
• External communication port
• Potentiometer
• 8K memory for programming
• Four A/D ports for external sensor connections
• Three Digital I/O pins for various expansion
features
• Three Servo motor connections for driving
servo motors directly
• Serial communication back to the PC for
debugging code or serial communication on
the PC screen
• Five volt regulator
• External unregulated power port for running
the I/O from a separate power supply
• Basic language compiler for creating powerful
programs
• Atom micro with Atom firmware installed. The
Chip can be removed and built into a
permanent setup, if desired.
FIGURE 1.
BasicBoard
Features.
74 SERVO 04.2008
