How to select and use a multimeter (and why you really need two of them!). Are the expensive ones really worth the money? Article: https://dronebotworkshop.com/multimeters More articles and tutorials: https://dronebotworkshop.com Join the conversation on the forum: https://forum.dronebotworkshop.com Subscribe to the newsletter and stay in touch: https://dronebotworkshop.com/subscribe/ Today, we will be working with the most essential piece of electronic test equipment—the multimeter. We will learn how to use a multimeter and how to choose one. We’ll compare the accuracy between expensive and inexpensive meters. And I’ll try to convince you that you really need at least two multimeters on your workbench! Multimeters are test instruments for measuring AC and DC Voltage, Current, and Resistance. Modern multimeters can measure many more parameters, including Frequency, Capacitance, Continuity, and Diode Checking. Some meters also have non-contact AC current and voltage features. There are two objectives in this video: 1 - To learn how to use a multimeter to make various measurements. 2 - To learn how to shop for a meter and get the best value for your money. We’ll do this by comparing five multimeters, each with a unique set of features. We'll learn how to use them, and we'll test their readings against calibrated test sources. Here is the Table of Contents for today’s video: 00:00 - Introduction 01:55 - Multimeters Intro 04:14 - Look at Multimeters 08:13 - Look at Multimeter accessories 11:12 - Basic Multimeter Operation 13:00 - Measuring Resistance, Continuity & Diodes 15:53 - Measuring AC & DC Voltage & Current 24:02 - Non- Contact Measurement 27:55 - Measuring Capacitance 31:31 - Measuring Frequency 34:07 - Measuring Temperature 36:14 - Multimeter Specs 40:19 - Multimeter Features 45:48 - Multimeter Showdown - Resistance 47:50 - Multimeter Showdown - DC Voltage 53:03 - Multimeter Showdown - Capacitance 56:57 - Conclusion If you can only afford one piece of electronic test gear, make it a multimeter. It’s an inexpensive investment that will pay for itself quickly, both in your workshop and around your home. I hope you enjoy the video! Bill ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viitNbwrUMI

In this second installment of the Build a REAL Robot series I will show you how I constructed the chassis for the DB1 robot. I’ll also discuss some of the many materials that you can use to design and build your own robot chassis. Article with part numbers - https://dbot.ws/rbt002 More article and projects at https://dronebotworkshop.com Join the newsletter at https://dbot.ws/dbnews and get more robot updates! Today I will show you how the chassis for the DB1 robot is constructed, using Actobotics channeling. I chose Actobotics channeling as it is available from several sources, however, you can certainly use other brands of channeling to construct your robot chassis. I will show you how everything fits together to create the base and tower assembly. I’m not showing the wheels and motors however, you’ll need to wait for the next two videos to learn about those! I’ll also discuss some other materials that you could use instead of Actobotics channeling to build your robot base. If you do want to build the same robot that I’m creating you will find a complete parts list for the chassis in the article on the DroneBot Workshop website. You can check it out here - https://dbot.ws/rbt002 . I will also be bouncing some ideas off the subscribers of my newsletter regarding the robot, including some ways of getting more detailed information out to you. If you are not yet a member of this elite group you can sign up at https://dbot.ws/dbnews . And if you haven’t subscribed to the YouTube channel yet please hit the Subscribe button below the video right now. That way you’ll never miss an update. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p4fTYJhKKI

Learn everything you need to know to use the HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Distance Sensor with an Arduino. Get more info and all the sketches at https://dbot.ws/hcsr04ar More articles and tutorials: https://dronebotworkshop.com Join the conversation on the forum: https://forum.dronebotworkshop.com Subscribe to the newsletter and stay in touch: https://dbot.ws/dbnews The HC-SR04 Ultrasonic sensor is a versatile device that has become a staple in robotics projects. This inexpensive component measures the distance between itself and the nearest solid object using pulses of ultrasonic sound. It has reasonable accuracy “out of the box” and can be made even more accurate with one additional component. In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to use the HC-SR04 with an Arduino. As it turns out there is more than one way to do this, so we’ll examine them all. You can apply the same knowledge to use the sensor with other microcontrollers or with a microcomputer like the Raspberry Pi. We’ll start by learning how the HC-SR04 works and how its input and outputs function. Next, we’ll connect it to an Arduino and write a simple sketch to make it work. I'll show you the test arrangement I set up on my workbench and we’ll use that to measure the accuracy of the sensor. Then we’ll move on to some improved code using a “code library” called “NewPing”. If you are new to the Arduino and have not used a code library before then this is an excellent opportunity to learn how to increase your programming expertise. Actually, we will end up using three code libraries by the time the video has finished and I’ll show you two different methods of doing this. While the sensor is reasonably accurate there is room for improvement, as our bench testing will confirm. I’ll show you how you can add an inexpensive temperature and humidity sensor to increase the accuracy of the HC-SR04 by compensating for the change in the speed of sound due to the ambient temperature and humidity. We will also see how the HC-SR04 can be used in “3-Wire Mode”, eliminating one connection to the Arduino without sacrificing performance. This is great information if you need to save an Arduino I/O pin for another application. And finally, we will see how we can use multiple HC-SR04’s in the same circuit, a common requirement when building a robot. This video (and it’s accompanying article at http://dbot.ws/hc-sr04) has pretty well everything that you’d ever need to know to use the HC-SR04 at its full potential. Because of this, it’s pretty long, so here is a breakdown of the contents if you’d like to skip ahead: 00:00 - Introduction 01:46 - How the HC-SR04 Works 08:21 - Basic Arduino Hookup 08:53 - Sketch 1 - Basic Hookup Demo 14:03 - NewPing Code Library 14:21 - Sket ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F1B_N6LuKw

This is episode seven of an ongoing series about building a REAL robot. In today's installment, I'll be powering up the motors and testing them out. Accompanying article at https://dbot.ws/rbt007 Full series at https://dronebotworkshop.com/build-a-real-robot/ Today is a big day, my robot DB1 is finally going to get moving! I’ll show you a few wiring enhancements I made since we last got together. I’ve hooked up the power connector, corrected a potentially deadly wiring error (yikes!) and connected the Cytron motor drivers to the power distribution board. I also hooked up the motors themselves and then I ran the built-in test on the motor drivers to make sure everything was working. After that, I temporarily wired up the Arduino Mega 2560 to use as a source of PWM to test the motors out. I loaded up a simple sketch and DB1 went through the motions! It wasn’t a perfect test run, the robot seems to have a weight problem - it doesn’t have enough weight on the front! I repeated the test with some weight on the front of the robot and that pressed the wheels down enough to make the traction a lot better. The test than ran successfully. If you are also building a similar robot you can find the sketch that I used in the article on the DroneBot Workshop website at https://dbot.ws/rbt/007. I also describe how I hooked up the Arduino to the motor controllers in the article. If you’re just joining the project and would like to catch up you’ll find a playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWNDWPAClRVqZITmi-J-7E9XSZd2aqqBh. You can read all of the articles at https://dronebotworkshop.com/build-a-real-robot/. The best way to stay informed about the DB1 robot project is to subscribe to the YouTube channel. And speaking of subscribing, please subscribe to my newsletter as well, I'll be giving you extra robot information in it. The newsletter is also the ONLY way to suggest new article and video content that you would like to see me create. You can join at https://dbot.ws/dbnews. Thanks for watching! ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRpyb4pulFk