Initial Configuration of your Hovercraft

Before you get too far, you will need to collect the individual kits from your other group members.

Minimal Wiring for your Teensy (Hovercraft Edition)

NOTE: Do not use the Teensies from your personal kits. Put these aside and use the Teensy that is part of your Hovercraft kit. It is important not to miss this step.

To get your Teensy up and running for the first time:
  • Connect your Teensy to the breadboard. Place the Teensy so that the USB connector hangs off the end of the board.

  • Identify your +5V power source (twisted pair of red/black wires). Connect these to one of the breadboard power buses (remember to keep the colors the same). Keep in mind that the two power buses on the breadboards are not connected to one-another by default. Likewise, a single bus (running down one side) is split into two electrically independent buses. For either case, if you mean for these to be connected, then you must run jumper wires to do this.

  • For the other connectors coming from the lower deck: plug them into the breadboard so that the individual pins do not connect to one-another. This will keep them from moving around and shorting the powered parts of your circuit.

  • Run a jumper wire from the +5V bus to Vin of the Teensy.

  • Run jumper wires from the ground bus to the GND pins on the Teensy (there are two such connections).

  • Every hovercraft has a battery platform just behind the central fan (and it should be affixed to the hovercraft body). We have provided Velcro tape to use for affixing your battery to the platform. We recommend a large strip of "hooks" on the platform and small sections of "loops" on the batteries.

  • Check all your wiring. Twice.

  • Connect the USB wire between the Teensy and your computer.

  • You should be all set to program your Teensy. See our Teensy Start-Up Guide

  • Each Hovercraft is equipped with a fuse to protect you and your circuit. This fuse is located in a sealed black rubber compartment on the lower deck (it is part of the power board). When you power on your Hovercraft and see no red lights in the bottom compartment, then you have likely blown the fuse. Replace it with a 15-20A fuse (start with 15A and only go to 20A if you continue to blow fuses). Each of your kits are allocated a few spares.

  • DO NOT DO THIS STEP UNTIL AFTER YOUR POWER WIRES ARE CONNECTED TO YOUR H-BRIDGES (see project description for these instructions): Connect the battery. Turn on power. You should see the red LEDs on the bottom of the hovercraft turn on.


andrewhfagg at gmail.com

Last modified: Tue Mar 23 00:09:21 2021