I wanted to share a video of the ‘bot in action that was slightly less terrible.  In this one I’ve elevated the robot on two stacks of index cards, taped it down to keep it from wandering off, and given it a pen to draw with on another 3″x5″ index card.

I elevated the robot for two reasons.  First, it allowed the ‘bot to have a better “grip” on the pen (rather than just holding it near the tip) and resulted in a much better drawing.  Secondly, I’m using an old version of one of the gears which extends slightly below the larger rail due to the set screw.  By elevating the ‘bot, the screw doesn’t hit the surface and cause a wobbly walking motion.

The other day I discovered that I could use the Adafruit FTDI Friend to provide power to the Mintduino as well as reprogram it.  All I had to do was run a little red wire from the VCC pin to the positive rail and a black wire from the GND pin to the ground.  Easy!  Since then I’ve abandoned powering the Mintduino by 9V battery.  🙂  The next time I find an old USB mouse or keyboard, I’m going to definitely clip it’s leads so I can turn it into a USB source of 5V power for projects.  It’s convenient to use the FTDI friend to reprogram and power the board, but it’s a little awkward and not a great permanent solution.