Cherokey: 4WD Arduino Mobile Robot

Jargon buster

Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.

motor driver

An electronic circuit that lets a low-power controller switch and control a motor that needs more current than the controller pins can safely provide. Checking motor driver support matters because pumps and motors usually cannot be connected directly to a microcontroller output.

pH

A measure of how acidic or alkaline a liquid is, on a scale where 7 is neutral. For a water monitoring kit, pH tells you about water chemistry and whether the included probe matches the range and accuracy your project needs.

servo

A servo is a motor with built-in position control, usually told to move to a specific angle by a control signal. It matters when you need repeatable movement, such as steering, arms, flaps, or linkages, rather than continuous spinning.

Shield

An add-on board that plugs into a main controller board to give it extra features such as sensing, motor control or communication. Knowing a product supports shields helps you judge whether it can connect neatly into an existing maker-board setup.