Playing with the Pololu 3pi Robot by Bradley Eckert Product Marketing Assistant Description: Pololu 3pi Robot (P/N 2136403) Build Time: Less than 30 minutes, infinite play time Difficulty Level: Intermediate

The Pololu 3pi Robot is a fun interface to program. It has two motors, a display screen, LED's, three buttons, light sensors, and a ton more places to connect anything you want. This could be the beginners learning toy, or the expert's launch pad, either way it is fun to use. The Pololu 3pi robot is at its heart an Arduino, making it open source and able to be programmed to do anything. It can be a maze solver, an autonomous moving robot, a moving sound player, etc. Use your imagination and come up with something cool.

I enjoyed making this robot and installing programs on it. It comes with enough accessories that you can make something really cool. Have fun!

What you will need:
Pololu 3pi Robot (P/N 2136403)
4 AAA Batteries (P/N 2112444)
USB AVR Programmer with 6-pin connector (P/N 2136788)

3-pi Robot

Parts you need

Step 1 – Remove the display screen by pulling it straight up

Screen removed

Batteries inserted

Step 2 – Insert batteries and reattach the screen

Screen replaced

Power button

Step 3 – Hit the power button next to the screen on the opposite side of the 6-pin port

Step 4 – Use the B button to select the demo program, then the left button or right to select an option within. Play with the demo program

Hitting B button to use demo program

Attached 6-pin AVR programmer to 3pi

Step 5 – Attach your USB AVR programmer to the 6-pin port and connect to the computer

A programming interface following the instructions on this site.

Step 6 – Program the Pololu 3pi to do whatever you would like using your chosen interface.

Example programs are shown here.

To see a great introductary video go to our 3-pi robot page.

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Brad Eckert grew up in the Bay Area and now attends MIT. He wants to become an engineer and loves to make things and play with robotics.