Created a brass-wire autonomous car as an entry into the 2020 Hackaday Circuit Sculpture Challenge.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/7340111604189439613.jpeg)
CircuitPython on the amazing Teensy 4.0 reads distance data from 3 lidar boards, outputs the data to the ssd1306 display and drives the car away from obstacles.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/2179211604205073347.jpeg)
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/6831461604205178347.jpeg)
It's not a traditional Cordwood circuit where everything is packed together as tightly as possible to save space. However it spans several boards and I was trying to make it look like a car. The lidar boards being optical can't be stacked much more without interfering with each other.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/9257661604186311373.jpeg)
Incidentally, the wheels are some of the ball bearings you need to complete this Hackaday Project : Simple Cycloidal Robot Leg for Quadruped by Paul Gould which I just made and works wonderfully.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/3010361603909373670.jpeg)
Originally, I started by having the lidar and display run by a Adafruit Trinket M0 at 8MHz. The speed was usable but it was just too small to run the 3 lidar boards and the display at the same time. I wasn't able to load all of the needed libraries and the Trinket M0 CircuitPython doesn't have terminalio so no built-in font. With 40k storage, there wasn't enough space for the program, all the dependencies and a font. Maybe with some tweeks it could work on the Trinket because it was really close.
Failed Trinket M0 attempt:
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/2902861603909084555.jpeg)
No issues of that kind with the 1MB, 600MHz Teensy 4.0. CircuitPython 6.0 was recently released and has been working great with the mu editor. . There is more functionality available by using the Arduino IDE as it's been around so much longer, but CircuitPython is way easier with many modules available.
Uses the CircuitPython 6.0.0-rc.0 Firmware and the CircuitPython 6 Libraries.
Teensy 4.0 is programmed using the Arduino IDE with the Teensyduino add-on:
Here's the bare Teensy with a grounded frame before installing it into the car:
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/751981603909289559.jpeg)
Bare Frame - original motors weren't 3s compatible so went like the dickens but only for a little while.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/2954521604189799092.jpeg)
The Steering Wheel is a FPV camera with it's mini base-station.
The seat is the battery holder.
![](https://cdn.hackaday.io/images/6848201604190496089.jpeg)