Circuitmess Wheelson User manual

Introduction
The beginning
Welcome to CircuitMess Wheelson build
guide!
By following this build guide, you'll learn how to assemble your very own AI self-
driving car.Autonomous cars are the future and we’ll show you how they work. With
Wheelson you'll learn about microcomputers, autonomous driving, computer
vision, and much more.
Check out the anatomy guide before you start to learn
more about the components you're about to
assemble.
Wheelson's anatomy guide is a great addition to this guide that will explain all the
components on Wheelson's main board in more depth.
You can check it out here!
Wheelson build guide

Age group
Like it says on the box, Wheelson is designed for anyone who's at least 11 years old.
Some of the assembly steps should be approached carefully, so make sure to have
an adult jump in if you need some help with soldering or tightening the bolts later
in the process. It's okay to ask for help.
Don't worry though! We'll go through the assembly step by step and provide some
useful tips along the way. We'll give you a heads-up if there's something important
to keep in mind while assembling.
Assembly time
It should take you approximately4 hours to fully assemble your Wheelson.
Of course, the assembly time depends on your previous knowledge and
experience. If you don't have any experience yet, don't worry! It just might take you
a little longer to get into the groove and overcome the challenges in the beginning.
Skills
You don't need to have any specific skills before getting your hands dirty with this
DIY project.

The main objective here is to have fun and learn something new.
So hold on tight, read all the instructions, and get ready to have fun! This is a great
opportunity and your first step in your big engineering career.
Learning with Wheelson
As previously mentioned, Wheelson will teach you a few useful things along the
way.
Here's what you will learn:
How to assemble a small 4-wheeled robot (that's Wheelson!)
How to control an electromotor using a microcomputer
How computer vision works
How to calibrate your robot’s camera
How autonomous cars work and how they navigate a road autonomously
How to recognize and scan a QR code using your robot’s camera
How to recognize different simple objects using a camera and image
processing algorithms
That Tesla’s engineers are not some crazy magicians
What's in the box?
Let's get to know all the components that
come in the box!

Open your Wheelson box and check if you have all the components. Make sure to
lay it all on a clean surface where you can inspect if everything is there according
to the photo and the list below.
In case something is missing, please contact us at [email protected].
Send us a photo of everything that came in the box, and we'll get back to you as

soon as possible to resolve the issue!
Here's the list of components:
1. Main circuit board – connects everything together, has a dual-core
processor with Wi-Fi & Bluetooth, and a battery charging circuit
2. Camera and headlights board
3. Display board – 128*160 TFT color display
4. Li-Po battery
5. Four electromotors
6. Four Wheels
7. Robot’s plastic chassis
8. Two bags of other small components such as pushbuttons, nuts, and bolts
9. USB-C cable for charging and programming the device
Check all the small components

1. Male pin header
2. Black nylon spacers (x2)
3. Switch button
4. White LEDs (x2)
5. JST connector (x6)
6. Small black pushbuttons (x7)
7. Small black button caps (x7)
8. Brass spacers (x3)
9. Resistors (x2)

1. Metal nuts (x12)
2. Medium metal bolts (x3)
3. Small metal bolts (x3)
4. Big metal bolts (x8)
5. JST cables (x4)
6. JST cable male/male
Meet the tools
Mandatory tools
In this chapter, we'll explain what tools you'll need to assemble your Wheelson!
If you have your CircuitMess Tools pack in front of you, you should be all set.
In case you got the Wheelson kit without the Tools pack, this is a good time to
borrow some of the tools or purchase them.
The tools required are essential when assembling, fixing, or modifying electronic
devices! These are the tools of the trade for every maker/hardware
hacker/modder/electrician.

1. Soldering iron
2. Desoldering vacuum tool (solder sucker)
3. Soldering iron stand
4. A small reel of rosin-cored solder
5. Cleaning sponge
6. Phillips screwdriver
7. Diagonal cutter pliers
8. Needle-nose pliers
Soldering iron
A soldering iron is the most important tool in a maker’s arsenal.
For Wheelsons assembly, any entry-level soldering iron will suffice.
If you plan to dive into the world of DIY, you should maybe consider getting a more
expensive soldering station with temperature regulation.
There are also many soldering irons with interchangeable tips that can be
particularly useful when working with much smaller components.
You will find the instructions on how to properly solder and take care of your
soldering iron in the next chapter.

The soldering iron from the Tools pack
Diagonal cutter pliers
With pliers like these, you’ll be able to trim the legs of soldered components and
cut wires!
We prefer this type shown in the picture (Plato, model 170), but any other type will
do.

Soldering sponge
This small piece doesn't seem like much until you soak it in some water. It then
turns into a super solder-cleaning sponge!Use it after soldering a couple of
joints to remove the excess solder from the tip of your iron. Make sure that the
sponge isn't dripping wet or bone dry - it should be damp.

Diagonal cutter pliers
Needle-nose pliers
You’re going to need pliers like these when assembling the casing, or when
plugging in some tricky connectors!
They’re generally useful when doing some fine mechanical work.

Needle-nose pliers
Standard cross screwdriver
You’ll need this cross (Phillips) screwdriver to assemble the casing together.
A standard 2.0mm cross screwdriver should do the trick.
Standard cross screwdriver
Desoldering vacuum tool (solder sucker)
This tool is useful when cleaning up soldering mistakes, but it isn’t necessary for
assembly.
If you plan on doing some hacking, modding, or hardware repairs in the future,
having this is always a good idea.

Desoldering vacuum tool
Additional useful tools
Helping third hand with magnifier
This could make your soldering experience a little more enjoyable, especially
when doing some more complicated projects.

Helping hand with a lot of additional tools
Multimeter
A multimeter can be used for many things: testing tricky connections, measuring
battery voltage, testing resistors & capacitors, measuring the current
consumption, and more.
It’s a useful tool when you’re trying to figure out what went wrong with any
electronics kit.

Multimeter
Solder wick
You can use solder wick along with the desoldering vacuum tool to clean up any
soldering mistakes. Just put it on the wrongly soldered joint and press on it with a
hot soldering iron, then it will soak up the excess solder like a sponge!
Useful for fixing solder joints when they cannot be easily reached with a solder
sucker.
Solder wick
Assembly
Soldering introduction
The first thing that you'll do as a part of the Wheelson assembly process is
soldering!

Have you ever done that before? If your answer is no, we suggest you look at the
following few links where you'll find useful tutorials and blogs about soldering. It will
only take you 10 minutes to get into the zone and understand how it's done. Here
are the links:
Adafruit’s video tutorial featuring Collin Cunningham – A tutorial featuring
Collin Cunningham, a super charismatic electronics guru.
Adafruit’s standard soldering tutorial – A great and thorough video tutorial. An
absolute must-read, even if you know how to solder. Make sure to check the
“common soldering mistakes” section at the end.
Sparkfun’s video soldering tutorial – Another well-made how-to-solder video
tutorial.
Sparkfun’s standard soldering tutorial – A detailed tutorial made by Sparkfun.
A little bit of heat + some solder = a connection!
There are several rules of soldering that everybody,
regardless of their skill level, should follow at all times.
Never inhale the dust and the fumes that can be produced by the soldering
iron! These can be hazardous, so please don't inhale them.

Never touch the tip of the soldering iron! Even if the soldering iron is turned off
or completely disconnected from the power source, there is still a possibility
that it’s very hot and, therefore, can cause very uncomfortable pain if
touched.Always keep it facing away from your hands. If you’re finished with
the soldering iron, unplug it from the power source and leave it to cool off for
at least five minutes before putting it back in the box.
Clean the soldering iron! The sponge is your best friend while soldering. Make
sure to use it often and clean your soldering iron if you wish to have an easy
and simple soldering experience.Carefully hold one part of the sponge with
one hand and wipe the tip of the soldering iron on the other part of the
sponge to remove the extra solder. Repeat the process until the tip of the iron
is nice and clean from the old solder.
Check your solder joints twice (at least)! Most of the malfunctions in the
world of electronics are due to bad solder joints, so regardless if this is your
first or 100th soldering project, always make sure to inspect your joints multiple
times before proceeding to the next step.
Keep the soldering iron on the stand when you’re not using it.
Know how much solder is needed! Make sure to put just enough solder, not
too much, and not too little, since both can cause the device to malfunction.
Don’t leave any residual solder on the board! The solder should only be on
the parts where the pins connect to the board. Everything else should be
clean. Little pieces of solder all over the board are a big no-no!
Now go over these rules a couple of times so you don't forget them!
If you follow these rules, your soldering experience should be easy peasy.
Using the soldering iron
The soldering iron is very easy to use but only when used properly.
If you have purchased the CircuitMess tools pack with your Wheelson kit, you have
a white soldering iron with a temperature regulator.
Remember the rules mentioned previously? Good!Let's go over the instructions on
how to use the soldering iron now...
If you're using your soldering iron for the first time or need help with cleaning its tip,
check our video tutorial.

Soldering iron instructions
Step 1
Set up your soldering iron so it stands on the stand - as shown in the photo. After
that, plug it into a power outlet.

Step 2
Set the temperature to350° by turning the regulator. There is a small black arrow
next to the regulator wheel, so make sure that it points to the right temperature,
like in the photo.
Your soldering iron is now ready to use, but give it a minute or two, so it can heat
up. The safest way to let it heat up is to leave it on the stand while you wait!
Set the temperature to 350°
Step 3
Once you're done with soldering (don't worry, we'll let you know when that time
comes), you'll unplug the iron from the power outlet to turn it off.
Please use the soldering iron stand every time you are not using the soldering iron
to make sure you don't burn the surface or the circuit board!
Make sure to not touch the soldering iron tip for at least five minutes after you
have turned it off.

Chapter One - Soldering the
components
Now you know how to solder, let's put it to the test. Ready?
Part one -Soldering the components
Let's begin!Here are the parts necessary for this step - the main board with the
connected Li-Po battery.

The first thing you have to do is unplug the Li-Po battery from the board. You do
that by pulling on the white plastic connector at the end of the RED and BLACK
cable until the battery disconnects. Make sure you don't pull on the wire itself but
rather the white connector.
This is a crucial step that has to be done before you do any soldering at all!