What you'll need for this chapter

For the project in this chapter, you'll need your board, a USB cable, and a few inputs and sensors.

First, you'll want a button. You can find these aplenty in most starter kits, but you can also buy them separately. We're going to consider a button with a four-prong design, as shown in the following screenshot:

A common push button for robotics projects

However, a design with two prongs is fine too—four-prong buttons still represent two sides of the button, so you can replicate these with two-prong designs.

You'll also need a rotating potentiometer—these are knobs that you twist to set a value, similar to the volume knob on a speaker. You'll want one that's breadboard-friendly with a three-prong design, as shown in the following screenshot:

A basic rotating potentiometer

Tip

Please note that you may have access to a sliding potentiometer (one that looks like a sliding switch or similar to a dimmer switch) or some other potentiometer. These will work fine, but check...