The Sense-Think-Act Board is a great way to demonstrate the Hummingbird Robotics Kit and what makes a robot. These instructions will help you to create your own Sense-Think-Act Board. You can laser cut the board yourself or order one online. Once you have the board and the required materials, assembling the Sense-Think-Act Board takes 60-90 minutes.

Cutting or Ordering the Board

If you have access to a laser cutter, you can use it to cut your own Sense-Think-Act board using this file. In this file, black denotes areas that should be engraved, while the red lines should be cut. You can use any material that is compatible with your laser cutter, but the material should be ⅛” thick. 

If you do not have access to a laser cutter, you can use a service such as Ponoko to cut one for you. This will take at least two weeks. 

First, create a Ponoko account, and then go to https://www.ponoko.com/designs. Select Upload your design  and upload the Sense-Think-Act board file.

Once the file has uploaded, select that red is for cutting and black is for area engraving. Make sure your screen exactly matches this picture! Then choose Confirm design size & laser process. When a pop-up appears, confirm that the dimensions are correct.

Select a material. We suggest Birch Plywood with a thickness of 0.13 in. You may choose another material, but make sure the thickness is 0.12 or 0.13 in.

Finally, select the number of boards that you want and check out.

Materials Required for Assembly

  • 11 4-40×1/4 screws 
  • 5 zip ties (approximately 0.10” wide and 3” – 6” long)
  • 1 rubber band
  • Sense-Think-Act board and feet 
  • Phillips head screwdriver
  • Hummingbird Bit Parts
    • Hummingbird Bit with micro:bit
    • Battery pack or power supply. We recommend using a power supply if your Sense-Think-Act Board will be on display for an extended period. You can use the Hummingbird power supply or a cell phone charger with the barrel jack to USB adapter.
    • 1 rotation servo with servo horn and screw
    • 1 position servo with servo horn and screw
    • 1 tri-color LED
    • 2 single color LEDs
    • 1 light sensor
    • 1 dial sensor
    • 1 distance sensor
    • 1 Hummingbird wheel
    • 1 Hummingbird plastic block adapter

Assembly

Remove the Hummingbird Bit from its plastic case.

Use the four screws you removed from the case to attach the Hummingbird to the Sense-Think-Act board. They will screw directly into the board material.

Use 4-40 screws to attach the position and rotation servos to the Sense-Think-Act board.

Connect the servo wheel to the position servo and the plastic block adapter to the rotation servo using these videos. You will need the servo horns and screws that come with the servos.

Pass the servo plugs through the hole just below the Hummingbird board. Connect the rotation servo to servo port 1 and the position servo to servo port 2.

Use 4-40 screws to attach the light and dial sensors to the Sense-Think-Act board. Connect the light sensor to sensor port 1 and the dial sensor to sensor port 2.

Use zip ties to attach the distance sensor to the Sense-Think-Act board. Connect the distance sensor to sensor port 3.

Place the LEDs in the corresponding holes in the Sense-Think-Act board. Connect the tri-color LED to tri-color port 1 and the single color LEDs to LED ports 1 and 2.

You may want to use zip ties on the back of the board to hold the LEDs in place.

Place the feet on the Sense-Think-Act board. Use the rubber band to contain the wires on the back of the board.

Attach the battery pack or power supply and turn it on. Download the Sense-Think-Act program to the micro:bit. Check that the sensors control the outputs as follows:

  • Cover the light sensor to make the LEDs blink.
  • Turn the dial to control the speed of the rotation servo.
  • Place an object in front of the distance sensor to move the position servo back and forth.

If your program does not work as expected, open the .hex file in MakeCode and adjust the thresholds as necessary.

Congratulations, your Sense-Think-Act board is complete!

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