If anyone is looking for a cheap way to get into robotics with the Raspberry Pi, you cannot go far wrong with the CamJam EduKit 3 Robotics Kit. It comes with everything you need to create a Raspberry Pi robot, you just need to add your own Raspberry Pi, any model will do, and batteries. Oh, they don’t provide a chassis either, but that can be made from anything like an ice cream tub to a piece of thick cardboard or even the box the kit comes in.
Not only is the price of £17 brilliant, the CamJam team have also provided a series of worksheets which take you from Introduction, through building the robot and then onto using the sensors and creating a line following and other robot operations. This is a great educational tool and would make a great Christmas present for kids or adults alike.
The kit consits of the following:
- A custom-designed, pre-soldered motor controller board (with screw terminals)
- Two DC motors (with wires pre-soldered)
- Two custom red wheels (which go extra fast… because they’re red!)
- A ball castor (used as the ‘third wheel’ to your robot)
- A small breadboard (to create your circuits)
- Two pieces of strong 3M padded double-sided tape
- A battery box for 4 AA batteries (batteries not included)
- An ultrasonic distance sensor (for detecting objects in front of your robot)
- A line follower sensor (for detecting and following black lines)
- Resistors and jumper cables with which to complete your circuits
- A strong cardboard box to keep it all in… or to cut into to make your chassis!
This kit is highly recommended and as a bonus, soldering is not required, it’s all plug, code, play.
If robotics seems a bit complicated for now, the CamJam team also offer two other great EduKits with sensors and more work sheets.
Here is a video from Alex Eames demonstrating the kit.