iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 11/09/2026

It's freebie Friday!! If you're thinking of building a robot with those cheap yellow gear motors, here's a simple 3D-printable motor mount you can use for them: makerworld.com/en/models/51...

A simple robot controlled by an Arduino UNO with an ARPS-2 shield attached (centre) mounted on a white piece of wood and propelled by two inexpensive yellow gear motors attached to yellow and black wheels. The yellow motors are fastened to the wooden chassis with blue, 3D-printed mounts.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 04/09/2026

It's freebie Friday!! Here's a simple, 3D-printable ToF (Time-of-Flight) distance sensor mount designed to fit three different circuits – my VL53L4CD sensor (coming soon), and two different form factors commonly available on AliExpress: Get it on Tinkercad: www.tinkercad.com/things/6DugU...

Three different ToF distance sensor circuit modules (foreground) in front of two white 3D-printed ToF mounts (background). The front left VL53L0X-V2 sensor uses a form factor commonly used for a variety of VL53Lxx circuits on AliExpress, the front middle circuit is VL53L0X design with a protective window over the sensor, and both of these are connected to Adapt-2-QWIIC circuits that provide these with QWIIC I2C connectors. The blue, front right circuit is a compact VL53L4CD sensor with rear-mounted QWIIC connectors. All three designs fit the 3D printed mounts – the rear right mount as a VL53L4CD circuit mounted in it.

Top-rear view of a white, 3D printed ToF sensor holder sitting on a wooden tabletop.

Top-front view of a white, 3D printed ToF sensor holder sitting on a wooden tabletop.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 03/09/2026

Okay, I may have gone a bit overboard in creating what was supposed to be a simple SONAR vs. VL53L4CD ToF distance sensor demo program! 🤣 The LCD is just too much fun to play with! 😁 Get the VL53L4CD example programs here: github.com/mirobotech/B...

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 02/09/2026

It's teacher Tuesday – on a Wednesday. I hope all of my Ontario teacher colleagues had a great first PD day back at school! If you're teaching introductory electronics or computer technology courses, check out the free resources and activities on my electronics page: mirobo.tech/electronics

Screen shot of a breadboard circuit connected to an Arduino UNO in Tinkercad. The code window is open showing a beginner learning activity.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 25/08/2026

It's teacher Tuesday!! Hey teachers, wanna make breadboarding with pushbuttons waaaay simpler and much more reliable? Get some Omron B3F-6000 or TE FSM4JRT pushbuttons instead of the common 4-pin pushbuttons. You'll wonder how you put up with those others for so long! 😁

A collection of five small pushbuttons sitting on a white desktop. The three left-most pushbuttons have two long leads that fit breadboards securely. The two pushbuttons at the right have four, short leads designed for circuit board mounting and often don't reliably connect in breadboards.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 25/08/2026

In the workshop we used Arduino Nano ESP32 running MicroPython, along with parts mainly sourced from this Waveshare kit (plus a TMP36 analog temperature sensor): www.waveshare.com/esp32-xx-bas... Teacher tip: IKEA carries low-cost USB-C cables! 😀

An Arduino Nano ESP32 microcontroller mounted on a small breadboard along with a potentiometer (upper left), an 8-NeoPixel strip, a TMP36 analog temperature sensor (behind the NeoPixels), and two pushbuttons.

A Waveshare ESP32-XX-Basic prototyping kit includes breadboard, piezo buzzer, IR sensor, potentiometer, OLED display, NeoPixel strip, LEDs, pushbuttons, and a variety of wires. It's also available with an ESP32-C3, ESP32-S3, or Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 18/08/2026

It's Teacher Tuesday!! I'm presenting a Beginner Introduction to MicroPython session at U of Waterloo's CEMC teacher conference tomorrow. Saw lots of old (and new) computing equipment during a computer history tour this morning. I'm old enough to remember looking down into the 'red room'. 😂

The number line at the 3rd floor landing of the MCS building.

A poster in a MCS stairwell showing the IBM system 360 mainframe in 1970.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 09/07/2026

Ooh, a big box arrived for me!

A cardboard box labelled with the text www.pcbway.com sitting on a wooden tabletop.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 04/07/2026

So tempted to get these pillow covers from AliExpress... 😂

A screenshot from an Aliexpress ad showing four pillows decorated to look like swollen LiPo batteries (sold as just the pillow covers).

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 23/06/2026

It's teacher Tuesday!! Hey teachers, I'm working on some awesome new prototyping helpers that will let your students both power and connect to breadboard circuits using a single USB-C cable! More details soon... 😀 #electronics #STEMeducation

Two breadboard circuits are powered by two different types of blue circuit boards, each of which is connected to a USB-C cable.

A blue USB-C cable connected to a small circuit board with a lit green LED plugged into the power rails of a breadboard containing a microcontroller circuit.

A white USB-C cable is plugged into a blue circuit board connecting to both power rails of a breadboard containing a microcontroller circuit. Two other small blue PCBs and a small purpler PCB are also connected on the breadboard.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 15/06/2026

It's mirobo Monday!! I've slowly been working away on some QWIIC things (see what I did there? 😉)! I made my robots a tiny little VL53L4CD ToF distance sensor module. 🤖 And, I made a matching QWIIC adapter for other I2C devices. Find them on @PCBWay: www.pcbway.com/project/memb...

The front of a small, blue PCB with a VL53L4CD ToF (Time-of-Flight) distance sensor (black rectangle) above a row of SMD components and a row of six labelled solder pads.

A KiCad render of the front of a small blue circuit labelled 'Adapt-2-QWIIC' showing I2C bus SDA and SCL pull-up resistors and cuttable links (centre), a resistor and LED (top), and a row of solder pads (bottom).

A KiCad render of the back of a small blue QWIIC adapter circuit showing two white QWIIC (JST-SH) connectors (top) and a row of solder pads (bottom).

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 12/06/2026

It's freebie Friday!! I've just shared my new Adapt-2-QWIIC circuit on @pcbwayofficial.bsky.social – it'll pop up after review and join my other shared circuits, here: www.pcbway.com/project/memb... Adapt-2-QWIIC is designed to make it easy to connect cheap I2C peripherals using QWIIC cables!

A render of the front side of a blue Adapt-2-QWIIC circuit showing two optional pull-up resistors and cuttable jumper links (middle), and an LED and current-limiting resistor (top). A header (bottom) connects to commonly-available I2C peripherals.

A render of the back side of a blue Adapt-2-QWIIC circuit showing two JST-SH QWIIC connectors.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 09/06/2026

It's teacher Tuesday!! If you're new to electronics and/or robotics, and making battery-powered circuits, here's a helpful tip: Use 4-AA batteries and an LDO (low drop-out regulator) such as an LF50ABV, LM2940CT-5, or L4940V5 instead of a 9V battery and a 7805. This is why 👇

A 7805 voltage regulator datasheet indicating the input voltage must remain at least 2V above the output voltage. Below this voltage, regulation is degraded and current consumption increases.

A LF50ABV LDO regulator datasheet showing a 0.45V drop-out voltage, or the amount of voltage the input has to be above the output for full regulation. Below this voltage, regulation is degraded but the regulator is otherwise well-behaved.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 08/06/2026

It's mirobo Monday!! I've been working on some things... You know those Aliexpress ToF modules? I created an adapter board to make it easy to connect them to QWIIC I2C cables. But, I wanted an all-in-one solution so I also designed my own VL53L4CD ToF module with dual QWIIC connectors. 😊

Three different ToF (Time of flight distance sensor modules on a wooden table top. The front-most module is shown with soldered rear-mounted header pins. The two rear modules feature adapter circuit boards with a black socket to connect to the ToF module header, and an off-white socket to connect a QWIIC I2C cable.

Front and rear views of a blue ToF (time of flight) distance sensor module sitting on a wooden table top. The left board shows the front-mounted VL53L4CD sensor (black rectangle) and surface-mount passive components. The right board shows the dual rear-mounted QWIIC I2C connectors.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 05/06/2026

I'm really happy with how the voltage switching idea I had for my UBB-Pro (USB-C Breadboard Break-out – coming soon!) circuit prototype is working out. 😁 😁 😁

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 03/06/2026

I essentially 3D-printed a circuit using a Voltera V-One, and then programmed it to be a BCD clock. Can you tell what time it is?

A green PCB with an array of white NeoPixels at the top, two blue tactile buttons in the middle, and a blue, Waveshare C3 Zero module at the bottom. Some of the NeoPixels are lit up to display the time in BCD (binary coded decimal).

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 02/06/2026

It's teacher Tuesday!! LCD graphics can be bitmap images, or can be created using a combination of shape primitives. Shapes are faster to draw and easy to modify and animate! See the #MicroPython source code here: github.com/mirobotech/B... #STEMeducation

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 29/05/2026

Reflowing a prototype circuit on my hot plate. Sadly, I didn't notice the two LEDs that were mis-aligned. 😢 But at least one fixed itself! 😂

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 29/05/2026

It's freebie Friday!! Create a radar-like parameter display in #MicroPython using either a VL53L0X, VL53L4CD, or SONAR distance sensor! I've uploaded the demo program for both BEAPER Pico and BEAPER Nano (BEAPER Nano version here: github.com/mirobotech/B...) along with my VL53L4CD ToF driver.

A square LCD display (bottom) controlled by an Arduino Nano ESP32 (top) in a BEAPER Nano circuit displays a radar-like distance range and a number of parameters: Q1 and Q3 show floor sensor reflectivity values, T shows ambient temperature, V shows system battery voltage. The range is indicated by both a yellow dot, and large numerals showing 190mm. Two green dots on the virtual BEAPER Nano at the bottom of the display show that the floor underneath sensor Q1 (left dot) and Q3 (right dot) is present and turn red when the floor reflectivity drops below the program's threshold.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 27/05/2026

The first two are new prototype breadboard power supply circuits with break-away level shifter and I/O modules (the other three are my existing beginner robot circuits – BEAPER Nano, BEAPER Pico, and ARPS-2). Once a few more parts arrive, I can turn my dreams into solder smoke and reality... 😆

A KiCad render of a USB-C powered breadboard power supply and USB signal break-out circuit with switch-selectable 5V and 3.3V rails and break-away level shifter and combination switch/LED modules.

A KiCad render of a USB-C powered breadboard power supply circuit with jumper-selectable 5V and 3.3V rails and break-away level shifter and combination switch/LED modules.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 27/05/2026

Ooh, I got my new prototypes from @pcbwayofficial.bsky.social 😃 Yes, I do have a break-away fetish – why do you ask? 🤣

Two bare, blue circuit boards sitting on a wooden table top. Both circuits feature break-away circuit modules.

Three bare, blue circuit boards sitting on a wooden table top. All three circuits can be built into robot controllers and feature break-away optical sensor modules.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 26/05/2026

Do you ❤️ electrons? Of course you do! New tall mugs arrived! I'll be taking these to a local Hamfest in June, along with my robots and learn-to-solder kits. 😁 You don't have to come all the way to the Central Ontario Hamfest 🇨🇦 to get one – grab one from my site: mirobo.tech/store/mirobo...

Two versions of the same tall coffee mug sitting on a wooden countertop. The left mug shows a black capital 'I', a red heart, and a blue cloud of electrons with a white 'e-' inside it. The back of the left mug features the same text as the right mug (which has the left mug's image on its back side), which says 'Particle? Wave? It doesn't matter...'.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 26/05/2026

I use the Draw Arcs tool on the Edge.cuts layer to make really round rounded corners like these on my soon-to-be-released Piano-3 learn-to-solder circuit! 😃 It's easy to draw the arcs if all the edges and ends are aligned to a grid. 😉

A screenshot of a somewhat piano-shaped circuit board created in KiCad.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 26/05/2026

It's teacher Tuesday!! The ST7789 LCD display on this BEAPER Pico is driven by an easy to use #MicroPython module. Find both the distance sensor and LCD code as well as a full set of beginner programming activities on GitHub: github.com/mirobotech

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 26/05/2026

It's teacher Tuesday!! Hey teachers, did you know that not all HC-SR04 (5V) and HC-SR04P (3.3V) SONAR modules behave the same way? I've created a SONAR timing test program, and built SONAR measurement functions into ARPS-2, BEAPER Nano, and BEAPER Pico C header files and MicroPython board modules.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 26/05/2026

Despite it being a 2-qwiic time-of-flight module I'm apparently not very quick – it took me all day to design it! 😉

A render of the front side of a small blue PCB with surface mount capacitors, resistors, and a VL53L4CD time of flight module.

A render of the back of a small blue PCB with two QWIIC I2C connectors.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 19/05/2026

Oh, hey, it's meeee!!! 🤖 😁 Thanks for the feature, @pcbwayofficial.bsky.social – www.pcbway.com/project/

A screenshot of the BEAPER Nano robot on the PCBWay Projects webpage.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 19/05/2026

It's teacher Tuesday!! If you're teaching (or just want to learn about) electronics and microcontroller programming, I've got three different beginner circuits and a full beginner learning curriculum with lesson activities to help you! See the curriculum: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Three beginner education robots sitting on a grey tabletop. Clockwise from top: a white robot controlled by an ARPS-2 circuit mounted on an Arduino UNO R4 Minima; a yellow, 3D-printed BEAPER Bot robot controlled by an Arduino Nano ESP32 mounted in a BEAPER Nano circuit board; a red, 3D-printed BEAPER Bot robot controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 microcontroller mounted in a BEAPER Pico circuit board.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 09/05/2026

May the robots be with you!! 🤖 🤖 There are only two days left to save 20% on ARPS-2, BEAPER Nano and BEAPER Pico kits on @lectronz.com using code MAYDAY10: lectronz.com/stores/mirob... #STEMeducation #EduSky #robotics #programming

Two similar robots sitting on a wooden table top. Left is a red, 3D-printed BEAPER Pico robot controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller. To its right is a yellow, 3D-printed BEAPER Nano robot controlled by a Waveshare Nano ESP32 (an Arduino Nano ESP32 clone). Behind the microcontroller on each robot is an LCD screen displaying sensor data from the robot's on-board reflective floor sensors (connected by ribbon cables), ToF (time-of-flight) distance sensors, voltage sensors, and temperature sensors.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 08/05/2026

Yes, some days I, too, am out of bounce. 🤣

A paper sign hanging between a cabinet and stored cardboard boxes reads “ NO STUDENTS BEYOND THIS POINT 🤚 OUT OF BOUNCE”

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 06/05/2026

Build a NeoPixel lightsaber for revenge of the 6th! Yesterday I got strange Arduino Nano ESP32 NeoPixel output until I checked back to some earlier code – in which my comments told me that the Adafruit NeoPixel library uses ESP32 pin numbers, not Arduino pin numbers. 😂 So, yay! It's now shared. 😃

A strip of glowing yellow NeoPixels (foreground) controlled by a Waveshare Nano ESP32 (Arduino Nano ESP32 clone) in a BEAPER Nano circuit built into a 3D-printed yellow robot. To the right of the BEAPER Nano robot is an ARPS-2 shield mounted on top of an Arduino UNO R4 Minima, and at the top of the screen is a red 3D-printed BEAPER Pico robot.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 05/05/2026

It's teacher Tuesday!! Why yes, this is a robot controlling NeoPixels! I just shared a NeoPixel capstone starter project in #MicroPython for BEAPER Nano and BEAPER Pico (Arduino versions coming soon). It's part of my beginner learning activities – find them all here: github.com/mirobotech

A red robot controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 microcontroller (green) is showing sensor values on its LCD display. A strip of NeoPixels is connected by a short 3-wire extension to a header on the robot, and is currently illuminated in red to match the robot.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 04/05/2026

"Develop your Jedi coding skills you must!" – Yoda (maybe) Wanna learn to program microcontrollers? I have the droids you're looking for! Save 20% on ARPS-2 and BEAPER kits until May 10 using code MAYDAY10 on @lectronz.com – and May the 4th be with you! 🤖 Beep, boop! lectronz.com/stores/mirob...

Three beginner robots sitting on a wooden table top. Clockwise from top left: a simple classroom robot assembled on a white-painted piece of wood controlled by an Arduino UNO R4 Minima with an attached ARPS-2 shield; a red 3D-printed robot with an LCD display controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 in a BEAPER Pico circuit; a yellow 3D-printed robot with an LCD display controlled by a Waveshare Arduino Nano ESP32 clone in a BEAPER Nano circuit.

Three blue beginner microcontroller education circuit sitting on a wooden table top. Clockwise from top left: a BEAPER Nano circuit featuring a variety of analog and digital input and output devices plus a graphical LCD controlled by an Arduino Nano ESP32 programmed using either C or MicroPython; a BEAPER Pico circuit, similar to the BEAPER Nano but controlled by microcontrollers from the Raspberry Pi Pico family; an ARPS-2 circuit shield designed to add a variety of input and output devices to an Arduino UNO.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 02/05/2026

What's better than learning to program a microcontroller and building robots? 🤖 Saving 💰 on an awesome kit that helps you learn to program a microcontroller and build a robot! 😀 Save 20% on BEAPER Nano, BEAPER Pico and APRS-2 kits until May 10 using code MAYDAY10: lectronz.com/stores/mirob...

Three blue circuit boards sitting on a wooden table top. All three circuit boards are designed for beginner microcontroller education and contain pre-wired components such as LEDs, pushbuttons, a speaker, a motor driver, and optical sensor modules. Clockwise from top left: a BEAPER Nano circuit controlled by an Arduino Nano ESP32 with an optional LCD display installed, a BEAPER Pico circuit controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico2 with an optional LCD display installed, and an ARPS-2 circuit shield that plug onto an Arduino UNO R4 or Rev. 3.

Three robots designed for beginner microcontroller education. Clockwise from top left: a simple robot controlled by an Arduino UNO R4 Minima with an APRS-2 shield built on a piece of scrap wood, a red, 3D-printed BEAPER Bot robot controlled by a BEAPER Pico circuit, and a yellow, 3D-printed BEAPER Bot robot controlled by a BEAPER Nano circuit.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 01/05/2026

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! If you're an #electronics teacher in need of a quick #microcontroller project, I can save you! I have a limited number of pre-built BEAPER Pico prototype circuits. Learn programming! Make an IoT device! Build a robot! Contact me for details: mirobo.tech/contact

A fully-assembled BEAPER Pico circuit board ready for Raspberry Pi Pico installation.

A red, 3D-printed BEAPER Bot robot (top) controlled by a BEAPER Pico circuit – with an optional LCD display and SONAR distance sensor module – beside an assembled blue BEAPER Pico PCB (bottom) without its Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller installed.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 14/04/2026

This curriculum has been designed to take your students from basic microcontroller hardware interfacing to sophisticated microcontroller programs using ARPS-2 (Arduino UNO), BEAPER Nano (Arduino Nano ESP32), and BEAPER Pico (Raspberry Pi Pico). Get the activities here: github.com/mirobotech

An Arduino Nano ESP32 microcontroller running a block breaker game on a small LCD display on a BEAPER Nano circuit. A SONAR module is connected to the BEAPER Nano circuit along with two optical floor sensor modules and the circuit is mounted in a yellow, 3D-printed BEAPER Bot robot chassis.

A BEAPER Pico circuit controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller mounted in a red, 3D-printed BEAPER Bot robot chassis. An LCD display shows analog sensor data and distance to an off-screen target sensed by an optical ToF (Time of Flight) module (black oval) mounted in between the floor sensors of the robot.

An ARPS-2 shield with an attached ultrasonic SONAR distance sensor is mounted on top of an Arduino UNO R4 Minima snapped into a blue 3D-printed mount attached to a white wood robot base. Two yellow gear motors, a battery holder, and two optical floor sensor modules are also attached to the base and connected to the ARPS-2 shield.

A Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller installed in a BEAPER Pico circuit mounted on a MDF wood base to make a simple classroom robot. Two yellow gear motors and a battery holder are attached to the base and wired to the BEAPER Pico. The robot uses optical floor sensors and a SONAR module for navigation.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 10/04/2026

Oscilloscope? Nah, I just programmed my own. 🤣 I'm measuring the TRIG -> ECHO time delay of different SONAR modules and comparing total distance measurement time with a VL53L0X ToF (Time of Flight) sensor module.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 08/04/2026

Now that civilization won't end tonight, I thought I'd let you know that my APRILFOOLZ sale will, for real, end tomorrow night. So, pick up a kit at 20% off and start learning microcontroller programming – and build a robot – before the next world-ending event! lectronz.com/stores/mirob...

Four simple robots sitting on a wooden table top. Clockwise from upper left: a large, white robot built on a wooden base controlled by an Arduino UNO R4 Minima with an attached ARPS-2 shield; a red, 3D-printed robot controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 mounted in a BEAPER Pico circuit; a blue, 3D-printed robot controlled by an Arduino Nano ESP32 programmed in C mounted on a BEAPER Nano circuit; a yellow, 3D-printed robot controlled by an Arduino Nano ESP32 programmed in MicroPython mounted on a BEAPER Nano circuit.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 07/04/2026

Find all of the programs in the Beginner Activities repositories for ARPS-2 (Arduino UNO), BEAPER Nano (Arduino Nano ESP32), and BEAPER Pico (Raspberry Pi Pico): github.com/mirobotech Hurry, save 20% on kits @lectronz.com using code APRILFOOLZ until tomorrow! lectronz.com/stores/mirob...

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 03/04/2026

Remember when computers had hard disk activity lights? Arduino Nano ESP32 has an LCD activity light! 🤣 😎 (Arduino's yellow LED is wired to the SPI SCK line for the LCD display.)

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 03/04/2026

I've also created a simple #MicroPython bar graph module using my LCD driver that lets you create solid or segmented bars, with or without borders! Find all of the files in my BEAPER Nano and BEAPER Pico LCD repositories: github.com/mirobotech

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 03/04/2026

It's freebie Friday!! I've just updated my #MicroPython LCD driver for the ST7789 LCD display used in BEAPER Nano and BEAPER Pico with my new built-in font! Here it is drawing and timing graphics primitives:

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 03/04/2026

I've been working on a simple font that I can build into a #MicroPython LCD driver to make it super easy for beginners to use! 🤩 Here's a view of all of the glyphs, and a second pic of the font doing work in a bar graph module I'm working on for BEAPER Pico and BEAPER Nano. 😎

A small 240x240 pixel LCD display mounted below a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 microcontroller in a BEAPER Pico circuit displaying all of the characters of a simple sans-serif font.

A small 240x240 pixel LCD display mounted below a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 microcontroller in a BEAPER Pico circuit displaying four bar graphs representing potentiometer position, light level, and temperature. Bar graphs are shown with solid bars, larger segments, and smaller segments, with different sized borders, and some with background colours.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 02/04/2026

MicroPython's 8x8 pixel frame buffer font is too small for the 240x240 pixel display on BEAPER Nano and BEAPER Pico, so I'm working on designing a custom 16 pixel high font that I can build into the MicroPython LCD display driver (top of both photos – bottom is Reddit Sans 16). What do you think?

A small 1.54" 240x240 pixel LCD displaying a blue background with white text. The top half shows a custom font rendered as 16 pixel tall by 12 pixel wide characters, while the bottom half shows the same characters rendered in the Reddit Sans 16 font.

A small 1.54" 240x240 pixel LCD displaying a blue background with white text. The top half shows a custom font rendered as 16 pixel tall by 8 pixel wide characters, while the bottom half shows the same characters rendered in the Reddit Sans 16 font.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 01/04/2026

No foolin' – if you don't wanna be a fool, and do wanna learn to build and program little robots, I've been creating 🤖🤖🤖🤖 circuits and a set of beginner learning activities just for you! Arduino C? Yup. MicroPython? Yup. I'm not fooling around here! 🧐

A set of four beginner robots sitting on a wooden table top. Clockwise from back, left: a large, white robot build controlled by an Arduino UNO R4 Minima programmed in C with an ARPS-2 shield to add robot I/O; a red, 3D-printed BEAPER Pico robot controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 programmed in MicroPython; a blue, 3D-printed BEAPER Nano robot controlled by an Arduino Nano ESP32 programmed in C; a yellow, 3D-printed BEAPER Nano robot controlled by an Arduino Nano ESP32 programmed in MicroPython.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 31/03/2026

It's teacher Tuesday!! I've been creating a beginner microcontroller programming curriculum, sharing one new activity every week. It's week 10 – analog output! Get the beginner activities for Arduino (ARPS-2 and BEAPER Nano) or MicroPython (BEAPER Nano and BEAPER Pico) here: github.com/mirobotech

Two beginner robot circuits sitting on a wooden table top. The left robot is controlled by an Arduino UNO R4 Minima with an ARPS-2 circuit shield and built on top of a piece of white-painted scrap wood. The right robot is controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller in a BEAPER Pico circuit and assembled into a 3D-printed BEAPER Bot robot chassis.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 11/03/2026

Only one? 🤣 If you see this, post a robot.

A line-up of small educational robots on a wooden tabletop. The first one is controlled by Raspberry Pi Pico in a BEAPER Pico circuit and mounted in a red 3D-printed chassis. The next two are controlled by Arduino Nano ESP32 microcontrollers in BEAPER Nano circuits, with the closer one mounted in a yellow 3D-printed chassis, and the farther one in a blue 3D-printed chassis. The last robot is controlled by Arduino UNO R4 with an ARPS-2 shield and build on a piece of white painted scrap wood.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 10/03/2026

BEAPER Pico meets XRPBeta! 🤖👋 🤖 I've assembled the XRPBeta I picked up at the ACSE Conference this past weekend. My impression: XRPBeta is a very capable robot, but more limited as a learning system for learning or teaching more general microcontroller programming skills.

A large, silver-grey 3D-printed XRPBeta robot (left) facing a small, red 3D-printed BEAPER Pico robot (right). Both are controlled by small, green Raspberry Pi Pico microcontrollers mounted on circuit boards containing components that enable interfacing to motors, servos, floor, and distance sensors.

A large, silver-grey 3D-printed XRPBeta robot (left) sitting beside a small, red 3D-printed BEAPER Pico robot (right). Both are controlled by small, green Raspberry Pi Pico microcontrollers mounted on circuit boards containing components that enable interfacing to motors, servos, floor, and distance sensors.

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mirobo technology @mirobo.tech · 07/03/2026

I presented two sessions for teachers at the ACSE conference today: first session on designing circuits for use in their computer technology classes, and a second session on using Tinkercad to teach electronic circuit concepts and programming. And, I got an XRP to play with! 😊

A wooden table top displaying a variety of educational PCBs and robots.

A red cardboard box containing an XPR robot kit.

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