From what a robot is to the components in your hand

• Robotics & the sense–think–act loop
• Electricity & Ohm’s Law
• Multimeter & breadboard
• AC vs DC
• Switches
• Resistor · Capacitor · Inductor

The three tools you will reach for in every single session.

• Breadboard — build without soldering
• Jumper wires — make the connections
• Multimeter — measure & debug

Sensors gather data → a controller decides → actuators move the world. Every robot — from a line follower to a Mars rover — is this same loop running fast.

Anchor the whole bootcamp on this loop. Everything we build later plugs into one of these three boxes.

Three building blocks you will return to all week.

• Sense: Sensors turn the physical world (light, distance, temperature, motion) into electrical signals.
• Think: A microcontroller reads those signals, runs your logic, and decides what to do.
• Act: Actuators — motors, LEDs, buzzers — turn decisions back into physical action.

Sense → Think → Act, repeating thousands of times a second. Watch the signal travel the loop.

Point at the moving dot — every robot is just this loop running fast.

• Humanoids & legged robots: Boston Dynamics, Tesla Optimus, Unitree — general-purpose robots leaving the lab.
• Drones & autonomy: Delivery, mapping, agriculture, inspection — self-navigating aerial systems.
• Edge AI: ML models running on tiny microcontrollers (TinyML) — vision and speech on-device.
• Automation & IoT: Smart factories and connected devices — the field you can start contributing to today.

Tie this to careers: embedded engineer, robotics, hardware design, IoT. The skills in this bootcamp are the entry point.

A microcontroller is a whole computer on one chip. Same parts, smaller scale.

Think of a water pipe: pressure, flow, and a narrow section that resists flow.

• Voltage (V): Electrical "pressure" that pushes charge. Measured in volts. Like water pressure in a pipe.
• Current (I): The rate of charge flow. Measured in amperes (A). Like the amount of water flowing.
• Resistance (R): Opposition to flow. Measured in ohms (Ω). Like a narrow section of pipe.

V = I × R

• V — voltage in volts (V)
• I — current in amperes (A)
• R — resistance in ohms (Ω)

Example: A 9V battery across a 470Ω resistor → I = V/R = 9 / 470 ≈ 0.019 A = 19 mA.

This single equation reappears every single day. Make students rearrange it three ways: V=IR, I=V/R, R=V/I.

Cover the quantity you want and the triangle shows the formula: cover V → I×R, cover I → V÷R, cover R → V÷I.

• V on top, I and R on the bottom
• Cover what you’re solving for
• Try real numbers in the calculator →

1. Voltage — measure in parallel: Set dial to V. Touch probes ACROSS the component (red to +, black to −). The meter has high resistance so it does not disturb the circuit.
2. Current — measure in series: Set dial to A and move the red lead to the A jack. Break the circuit and put the meter IN the path so all current flows through it.
3. Resistance — power OFF: Set dial to Ω. Measure a component out of circuit, with no power applied.
4. Continuity: The beep mode confirms two points are electrically connected — your #1 debugging tool.

Safety: never put the meter in current mode across a battery — that is a short through the meter and blows its fuse.

The single most useful tool on your bench — it measures voltage, current, resistance, and continuity.

• Red probe → V/Ω jack, black → COM
• Turn the dial to the quantity you want
• Start on a high range, then narrow down

A solderless board for prototyping — push component legs into the holes, no soldering required.

• Long ± rails run along the edges
• Middle rows connect in groups of 5
• The center gap isolates left from right

A solderless board for prototyping — push components in, no soldering.

Most beginner bugs are "I thought these holes were connected but they were not." Draw the internal copper clips.

DC holds one direction (batteries, USB, MCUs). AC reverses periodically (wall outlets, the grid).

Phones charge on DC; the wall is AC; the charger is the converter in between.

Named by poles (circuits controlled) and throws (positions).

• SPST: Single Pole Single Throw — simple on/off. A light switch.
• SPDT: Single Pole Double Throw — routes one input to one of two outputs.
• DPDT: Double Pole Double Throw — two circuits switched together; can reverse a motor.
• Push button: Momentary — connected only while pressed.
• Toggle / Slide: Latching — stays in position until moved.
• Relay: An electrically-controlled switch — a small signal switches a big load.

• Resistor (Ω): Limits current and divides voltage. The workhorse — current-limiting, pull-ups, dividers.
• Capacitor (F): Stores charge in an electric field. Smooths voltage, filters noise, blocks DC / passes AC.
• Inductor (H): Stores energy in a magnetic field. Resists current change — used in filters and converters.

Rule of thumb: a capacitor resists a change in voltage; an inductor resists a change in current.

You will be holding these constantly — learn to recognise them on sight.

• Resistors — colour bands = value
• Capacitors — electrolytic, polarised
• Potentiometer — a variable resistor

Resistors do not print their value — they wear coloured bands. The first two are digits, the third multiplies, the fourth is tolerance.

• 1st & 2nd band = the two digits
• 3rd band = ×10ⁿ multiplier
• 4th (gold) = ±5% tolerance
• Decode any resistor in the tool →

Watch the bands change as the value cycles 220Ω → 1kΩ → 10kΩ.

τ = R × C

• τ — time constant in seconds
• R — resistance in ohms
• C — capacitance in farads

Example: 10 kΩ × 100 µF = 1 second to reach ~63% of the supply. After ~5τ it is essentially full.

A capacitor does not fill instantly — it follows an exponential curve, fast at first then easing toward full.

• Reaches ~63% after one time constant (τ)
• Essentially full after ~5τ
• This RC timing is the basis of delays & filters

A short circuit is the opposite danger: a path that bypasses the load, letting huge current flow. That is what fuses guard against.

In a closed loop, charge flows from + through the resistor and LED back to −. Break the loop anywhere and it all stops.

• The resistor limits the current
• The LED converts current into light
• No complete loop = no flow

1. Wire R then C: Signal → resistor → node → capacitor → GND. The output is taken at the node.
2. Pick the cutoff: f = 1 / (2πRC). With 10 kΩ and 100 nF, cutoff ≈ 160 Hz.
3. Observe: Low frequencies pass through; high-frequency noise is shunted to ground. This is how you clean a noisy signal.

• Robots run a Sense → Think → Act loop
• Voltage pushes, current flows, resistance opposes — V = I × R
• Voltage is measured in parallel; current in series
• Breadboard rails run long; rows connect in fives
• DC is steady; AC alternates direction
• Resistor limits current, capacitor stores charge, inductor stores magnetic energy
• Current flows only in a closed loop