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Abstract

This study proposes the usage of I2C, (Inter-Integrated Circuit) communication protocol for a modular general purpose controller board of mobile robots. For the past few years, a trend of purchasing an off the shelf controller board by designers that would later be altered to fit a robot specification and design are has been increasing. This modular controller board allows users to use this modular controller board for their designs with minimal modification or without. Rather than purchasing an all-in-one controller board that might be costly, modularity means that only the needed modular board will be purchased. A total of four modular controller boards has been developed, which are main controller module, motor controller module, sensor module, pneumatic controller module, and one extension power supply module. All this modular controller boards incorporates the latest I2C communication protocol between the modular boards, which is faster and reduces the connecting wire between the modular boards. The potential of using I2C communication protocol in the proposed board is verified through a comprehensive series of experiments and the results suggest that the I2C is suitable and robust enough to be used in the development of this modular boards.