Introduction

Learn how to download, print, assemble, and program the original SMARS robot

Watch the video

New to SMARS? This video shows what makes it such a great first robot. Each lesson in this course also has its own video from the build series.

Overview

Welcome to the Build a SMARS Robot course. SMARS (Screwless Modular Assemblable Robotic System) is a small 3D-printed tracked robot that snaps together without screws. This course takes you from printing the parts to driving it around. Unlike most of the other robots on this site, SMARS uses an Arduino Uno, and the code is written in C++.

Course Content

In this course you will learn:

• Where to download the files and what to print
• How to solder the motors and assemble the robot
• How to wire up the motor shield and power the robot
• How to load code onto the Arduino and control your SMARS

Key Results

After you have completed this course you will have built your own SMARS robot, wired it up and powered it, and loaded code that lets you drive it by remote control.

What you’ll need

To take this course you will need:

• Access to a 3D printer (or a friend or library with one)
• An Arduino Uno (or a clone) and a Fundumoto motor shield
• Two N20 geared motors and a 9V battery with a battery clip
• A soldering iron, solder and some red and black wire
• A computer with the Arduino IDE and a USB cable for the Arduino

The full parts list is in the next lesson.

How the course works

New keywords are highlighted inline like this, and code examples look like this:

digitalWrite(12, HIGH);

Important notes are highlighted like this:

This is a note

Important notes are highlighted like this

There’s a short quiz at the end of each section so you can check your understanding.

Prerequisites

None! This is a great first robot. If you’re new to robots, Robotics 101 explains the parts of a robot in more detail.

Next >

You can use the arrows  ← → on your keyboard to navigate between lessons.