Embedded on the Arduino Uno
One board, twenty pins and a C++ sketch. From a lamp you switch to a game you can play.
Open the courseAll courses
Robotics track
Robotics, from your first motor to a robot that balances
Motors, servos, sensors and PID control loops, then a rover, a claw machine and a balance bot, every lesson checked on a simulated board.
The track
Zero to expert, one course at a time
A robot is three things in a loop: sense, decide and act. This track builds each part on its own first, the sensors, the motors and the code in between, and then puts them together, so you know why your robot does what it does.
It starts on an Arduino Uno with no experience needed, then climbs through DC motors, servos and steppers, sensors and power, feedback control with PID, PLCs and real machines, and ends in a robot or machine you design yourself.
The ladder
Every course, by level
Take them in order, or start on the rung that matches what you already know. Each course page lists every lesson.
Level 1
Start from zero
A board, a few pins and parts that react.
Interactive devices on the Uno
Read people and sensors without blocking, control an output, then finish with two playable builds.
Open the courseLevel 2
Make it move
Motors, servos, sensors and the power to run them.
Motors and motion
DC motors on a driver, the H bridge inside it, servos, a stepper on an A4988, an encoder that measures what the motor did, and a 2WD robot car with ultrasonic eyes and line sensors.
Open the courseServos, solenoids and actuators
Everything that moves a thing to a place: servo pulses measured and calibrated, big servos and their supply, easing curves, solenoids with a flyback diode, linear actuators, vibration motors, and an animatronic face on a PCA9685.
Open the courseSensors and measurement
Intermediate: thermistors and RTDs, strain gauges in a Wheatstone bridge, light and IR, current on a shunt and an INA219, ADC resolution and noise, and calibration, finished with a power instrument you check against Ohm's law.
Open the coursePower and batteries
Where the volts come from and how to keep them: Ohm's law on a real meter, cells in series and parallel, a regulator, a LiPo on a TP4056, a boost converter, a battery gauge, and a power bank you build yourself.
Open the courseRelays, contactors and motor control
Intermediate, the electrician's course: relay coils and flyback diodes, latching start/stop circuits, interlocks, three-way switching, timers and ladder logic, all at low voltage, finished with a start/stop station and an emergency stop you wire yourself.
Open the courseLevel 3
Close the loop
Feedback control and machines that move on their own.
Control systems: PID
Feedback control on real physics: open and closed loops, P, I and D one at a time, tuning by the numbers, encoders, a balancing robot, and a motor that holds its speed whatever you throw at it.
Open the course3D printer and CNC basics
Learn what a printer鈥檚 firmware does underneath: homing, temperature control with safety, G-code motion and runout detection.
Open the coursePLCs and ladder logic
How factory machines think: the scan cycle, contacts and coils, seal-in circuits, timers, counters and sequencers, ending on a crossing controller you design rung by rung.
Open the courseBuild a desk buddy robot
Animated eyes on a round display that blink, feel, react to touch, tilt and light, ending with a robot that misses you.
Open the courseMars rover
Drive by counting wheel slots, see hazards, do the science, then send your rover on a full mission.
Open the courseBuild a claw machine
Build a real arcade claw machine piece by piece, from one stepper motor to coins, a clock, a win sensor, lights and sound.
Open the courseLevel 4
Expert
A robot that balances, and a machine of your own.
Build a balance bot
Three lessons on a two-wheel self-balancing robot: read its tilt, see what the wheels do to it, and write the PID that stands it up.
Open the courseRobotics capstone: your own machine
Pick a mobile robot or an arm and build it through seven milestones: a brief, sensors, closed-loop motion, control, safety, testing, and a demo and write-up for your portfolio.
Open the courseOutcomes
What you will be able to do
- Drive DC motors, servos and steppers from a driver, and measure motion with an encoder.
- Read distance, line and tilt sensors, and filter what they say.
- Tune a PID loop until a motor, an arm or a two-wheel robot holds where you want it.
- Plan, build and test a machine of your own, with the wiring, code and limits written down.
Careers
Where this track leads
The jobs these skills are used in every day, with what each one does and how to get there.
Robotics and automation technician
Build, wire, program and fix the robots and machines in real factories.
See the careerEmbedded firmware engineer
Write the code that runs inside cars, drones, watches and every smart gadget.
See the careerElectronics technician
Test, repair and build circuit boards and the gear they live in.
See the careerTopics
Looking for something specific?
Each of these starts you on the right course and lesson for one subject.
A robotics course: motors and sensors to robots that decide
Drive motors, read distance and line sensors, build a car that avoids walls, then a balance bot and a Mars rover, all on simulated boards.
Start hereA motor control course: DC, servo, stepper and encoder
Speed and direction on a driver, the H bridge inside it, angles on a servo, STEP and DIR on an A4988, and an encoder that measures what really happened.
Start hereLearn PID control by standing up a balance bot
Read tilt from an IMU, see what the wheels do to it, then write and tune the PID loop that keeps a two-wheel robot upright.
Start hereAn Arduino sensors course: read the real world
Buttons and pull-ups, analog voltages and a light sensor, then I2C sensors sharing a bus and a weather station on three buses.
Start hereLearn Arduino online, free, on a simulated Uno
Real C++ on a modeled ATmega328P, checked step by step. No board to buy, nothing to install, and the same code runs on a real Uno later.
Start hereQuestions
About the robotics track
Can I learn robotics without a robot kit?
Yes. The motors, sensors and robots run in the simulator with their physics, and the same wiring and code work on real parts when you want to build one.
What should I know before the robotics track?
Nothing. It starts with Embedded on the Arduino Uno, which covers pins, timing and analog readings, everything the motor and sensor courses build on.
What is PID control, and do I need it?
PID is the loop that measures where something is, compares it with where it should be and corrects. It is how a robot holds a speed, an angle or its balance, and the track teaches it on a motor before a balance bot.
What jobs does robotics lead to?
Robotics and automation technicians build, wire, program and fix the machines in factories and warehouses. The same skills lead into embedded firmware and electronics work.
Tracks
The other tracks
Coding track
Python and C++ from your first print to classes, tests and state machines. Every program runs on a simulated board, so a bug is something you can see.
See the trackEmbedded track
Arduino, ESP32, Raspberry Pi Pico and STM32: pins, timing, buses, motors, WiFi, registers and debugging, every lesson checked on a simulated board.
See the trackElectrical track
Current and voltage you can see, then transistors, op-amps, filters, power and PCBs. Every circuit runs in a real circuit simulator in your browser.
See the trackMaker track
Follow the starter kit you already own, then build a claw machine, a balance bot, a handheld console or an LED cube, each a short course checked by the simulator.
See the track