Introduction: LittleBits Mini Conveyor Belt
During our littleBits Instructable Build Night here at the Tampa Hackerspace in Florida, we let some of our younger members take over and show us what they could do. One such project, which was a mini conveyor belt, was from two young gentlemen, Andy Gatza (12) and Archishmaan Peyyety (11).
Step 1: Tools and Materials
Tools Needed:
From the littleBits Kit you will need the following modules:
- Power Module
- Button Module
- 2 x DC Motor Modules
- Wire Extender Module
- For our conveyor, we used a rubber tread from a Lego Mechanix set. You could quite easily use a large rubber band, just make sure it has a decent sized width to it so you can place items on it to see them move.
- 9 volt battery to power the littleBits
Step 2: Connect the Modules
First step is to connect the modules. Starting from left to right connect the Power Module, then the Button Module, then connect the 1st DC Motor Module, then the Wire Extender, and finally the last DC Motor Module.
Once these are connected, make sure the directional switches on the DC Motors are both set the same way. For the purposes of this Instructable, just choose Left.
Now, slide on the rubber tread onto the ends of the DC Motors. At this point, you will also want to pull the Motor Modules away from each other. The point of this step is to get tension on your conveyor belt. It will require this tension for it to move.
Step 3: Time to Test
Now it's time to test our mini conveyor belt! Plug in the 9 volt battery into the Power Module, and turn it on. When you are ready, just press the button. Your Conveyor should now be rolling!
Again a special thanks to two of our younger members at the Tampa Hackerspace, Andy Gatza and Archishmaan Peyyety, for their work on this littleBits Instructable.