- Kimchi Sammich
The Importance of Building Upon Your Previous Projects
Updated: Jan 17
You have likely come across a passion to learn robotics and electronics, through a YouTube video or some movie you have recently seen.
That's all find and good.
The problem I ran into personally and see with many other new learners, and even experienced ones, is their failure to build upon what they already know.
The problem I ran into personally and see with many other new learners, and even experienced ones, is their failure to build upon what they already know.
They lack the focus and discipline, which I detailed in a previous post, to combine the old with the new. There are several reasons why I recommend you do this instead of trying to make every new project you come across.
You provide yourself with ANOTHER chance to review what you learned and worked hard to make possible.
You learn what clashes exist in your program or set up.
For example, you try to use the same Timer in your program for two different things and your servos start to stutter and LEDs aren't turning on, etc.
This will force you to figure out WHY it doesn't work, adding even more to your knowledge base through active learning. Seeing, investigating and doing. This is the best form of learning.
It challenges you, especially when you start to feel you know what you are doing.
You will think of ways to modify your existing setup that you wouldn't have thought of before.
If you have made a simple robot is just a platform on top of wheels that moves why not try to include some LEDs that you learn in the beginning?
Maybe some green for when moving forward and some red when backing up (if you know how to reverse motors). Maybe you can just have 1 led blink as a warning light. Think of a forklift light on the top. Maybe combine your knowledge of PWM to make that light fade in and out?
Later maybe you learn how to use a servo. Ok. Take what you learn and try to combine it with that moving robot with the light on top.
Now you have a tank!
See how easy and fun this can be?
You were learning how to make complex projects without even knowing it!
The key takeaway is that complex programs are simply a combination of smaller programs or "code snippets".
When you learn to combine code from multiple projects, starting with trying to copy and paste the code because you already did all the hard work, you start to realize your POWER.
That is one of the best feelings and the reason I pushed myself for so long to grasp these concepts and to fumble with code.
You will find that when it starts to work and you take another look at why it works, it will all make sense and you will wonder why you couldn't understand it before!
It really is that mindblowingly simple.
The problem is we don't think as brutally logically as computers do. We think in gradients of mixed possibilities and assumptions.
Electronics and programming help to bring us back to reality in a sense.
Remember, computers are only working with "yes" and "no", "on" and"off", 1 and 0.
That's the beauty in the simplicity behind the complexity.
If you haven't already make sure to check out my free beginner's course on robotics and electronics which will teach you the basic components and materials required so you can build your foundation FAST and EASILY.
Remember, you are POWERFUL and will become MORE POWERFUL through my course and possibly more attractive...
Learn all the basics of electronics and robot programming here.
Also, make sure to check out my channel here for videos and tutorials.
Good luck!
