One of my goals for the summer was to build an Arduino-based robot with the kids.

We found a plan online, ordered the parts from various companies, and built it.

The robot consists of 4 independent motorized wheels, Arduino board with a motor “shield” and a sound-based distance sensor. The Arduino is programmed using C. Here is a photo of the circuit boards:

I walked through the robot’s logic with the kids, and they were able to understand it and make changes to its behavior.

Our next step is to decide how to build on this. What behavioral changes can we make? What other sensor inputs would be useful?

I’ve got the kids interested in thinking about what’s next, so my objectives were met.

Of course, everyone in the house wants it it to locate and chase our cat . . .