BlinkThorLabsWhy Does This Robot Need Two Brains?
A genuine question I had before I understood the answer: the Pi already runs Linux and ROS2. Why bolt on a whole separate microcontroller too?
Every engineering note
45 write-ups across 8 disciplines, newest first.
Giving MentorPi-A1 a Digital Twin: What Changed the Day the Robot Could See Itself
We didn't build the twin to look impressive in a demo. We built it because I was tired of guessing what the robot "felt" from the outside.
An Apology to the Small Components on the RRC Lite Board
Five parts I walked right past on my way to the big square chip in the middle. They deserved better.
Watching PID Actually Work: A Night With EncoderMotor_PID_Demo
"set" said 1.000. "actual" never quite agreed with it. That disagreement is the whole lesson.
An Afternoon Skipping ROS2 Entirely to Talk to the Board in Raw Hex
No launch files, no nodes, no topics. Just a Type-C cable, a serial terminal, and every byte typed by hand.
Holding the RRC Lite Controller: A Hands-On Teardown
Not a datasheet. Just me, the board, and every little cluster of components I almost overlooked the first time.
Upgrading MentorPi-A1's Steering: What 11 Extra Degrees Actually Bought Us
Not a victory lap. A 2024-to-2025 comparison, including the one thing the upgrade quietly broke.
Demo Day: MentorPi-A1 Parks Itself in Front of the Team
Live, present tense, as it happens. One park_action() function, one Ackermann steering formula, and a room full of colleagues watching.
A Weekend Teaching MentorPi to Read Traffic Signs
Saturday's first bounding box, Saturday afternoon's confidence-threshold headache, and the Sunday moment every piece finally clicked into place together.