Sumovore Manual

The Solarbotics Sumovore
Building the Discrete Brain Electronics - 13
Step 47 - Optional Line Follower / Mini-Sumo Selector: (Welcome to you, if you have just jumped over here from step 34!)
If you don’t know, don’t care, or know but don’t care what line-follower is, or simply want to get the soldering over with, you
can totally skip this step. Line-follower is a neat event, as power is a secondary to sensors and your skill in tuning the sensors.
All we’re going to do is add some pins and jumpers so you can activate line-follower mode. If you don’t have any lines in your
house, then it’s obvious you should skip this step.
Start by using a sharp knife or razor to cut a small chunk of the chocolate bar you’ve got hidden in your desk, and eat it. Feel
more energized? Good. Now take that same knife (after cleaning off the chocolate...) and use it to scrape through the red
masking and the underlying copper tracks at the two points marked by ‘Opt 1’. By default, the discrete brainboard is hard-wired
for mini-sumo mode, so by doing this, you’re preparing the circuit connections to be re-routed for line-follower mode.
Solder the four jumper pairs to the positions at ‘JP2/3’. It’s a bit tricky, as the pins will fall out when you turn the circuit board
upside-down. The solution? Have a friend hold them in place from the bottom with some needle-nose pliers while you solder
them in, or use a small ball of clay to keep it stuck in until it’s soldered. If you’re good with a soldering iron, use a left-over
chunk of IC-holding foam stuck on the long-pin side to keep them from falling out. 2-second soldering won’t melt it.
After the pins are soldered in, install the two jumpers across the two jumper pin pairs on the RIGHT side, in the set labled
“MS” (MS - for “Mini Sumo”). If you want line-follower mode, reposition the two jumpers to the LEFT, where it says “LF”
(Line follower mode is covered in the “Troubleshooting” section).
Step A:
Identify
the traces
to cut
Step B:
Sever those
two traces!
Step C: Install the jumper pairs (x 4)
in positions ‘JP2/3’
Step D: Install the jumpers on the
pin pair on the ‘MS’ side (right side)
Finished! Ready for mini-sumo
or line-follower competitions!