Extra Resources

Buttons

Buttons can be used as temporary inputs for quickly testing your circuits - you will be using these throughout the course. There are two different ways to use a button as an input for your circuit - with a pull up resistor, or a pull down resistor.

For a pull-up resistor circuit, shown below, the switch is normally open, therefore Vout is pulled up via the resistor to 3.3V/5V. When the switch is closed, the switch provides a short circuit, pulling Vout to 0v.

Similarly, for a pull-down resistor circuit, the switch (still normally open) is swapped with the resistor. The Vout is pulled down to 0v via the resistor. When the switch is closed, it provides a short circuit, pulling Vout to 3.3V/5V.

Pull-up resistor circuit and pull-down resistor circuit

Simulation Files

Please see the link to both the software, Circuit wizard 2, and example files here.

PyCharm Edu

Previously, we were using PyCharm Edu for Python Tutorials. We are now taking a more hands on approach to teaching Python, and so the following is legacy text.

We will start by learning the basics of Python on your laptop, before transferring your skills to run Python using the Raspberry Pis on your robots. Initially your programs will be limited to taking input through keyboard, and outputting text to the screen - but very shortly you will be able to make use of these skills to get your robot to do things.

The software we’ll be using on your computers to code in Python is called pyCharm Edu - you can download a copy for Mac, Windows or Linux here. Install and open it, then in the introduction dialog click Introduction to Python. This provides an interactive tutorial to the basics of the Python programming language.

The most important categories to complete for this course are:

You can validate your solutions to each of these challenges by clicking the ‘checkmark’ button in the top right. If you have extra time, you may wish to consider looking at the rest of the categories as well. As always, we are around to help out with any queries.