Hands-On Labs¶
Before you touch a $330 robot arm, you practice on a $4 servo. These labs use a Raspberry Pi Pico programmed with MicroPython to move servos and stepper motors, measure distances, show data on a small display, and talk to a laptop. Every lab is cheap, small, and safe to get wrong.
Start small, break things safely
Each lab teaches one new idea on a part you can replace for a few dollars. By the time you meet the full arm, you will already know what a brownout looks like and how to stop a joint before it hurts anything.
Lab Tracks¶
| Track | Theme | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| A | Getting started with the Pico | Blink, buttons, knobs, the OLED display |
| B | Hobby servos | Sweep, calibrate, smooth motion, power, leader and follower |
| C | Sensors and displays | Ultrasonic, time-of-flight, encoders, IMU, current monitor |
| D | DC motors and steppers | H-bridge, microstepping, ramps, PID |
| E | Build a mini arm | Kinematics, pen plotter, waypoint recorder, pick and place |
| F | Communication and bus servos | UART, serial protocols, STS3215, CAN |
| G | Power and safety | Power budget, E-stop, soft limits, watchdog |
| H | Integration and capstones | Guarded move, teach pendant, agent-safe tool server |
Status¶
The labs are in the planning stage. The full candidate list, with parts, timing, and the order to write them, is on the List of Hands-On Lab Ideas.