Robotics

Making a robot can be an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s the perfect combination of creativity, engineering and problem solving. However, if you’re just getting started in robotics, it can also be overwhelming. To make things easier for those who are just starting out, we’ve put together some tips and tricks to help makers bring robots to life! From the basics of assembling your robot to software implementation, these pointers will give you everything you need to get started on your robotic adventure!

JPL Curiosity Mobility Platform

JPL Curiosity Mobility Platform

My family and I went to the wonderful NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Open House this weekend. Among the many fascinating sights they shared with the public, this was our favorite. The mobility test platform for the Curiosity rover. With its rocker-bogie passive balance suspension system, this bot does not consider large rocks to be much of an obstacle. At 20″, its wheels are twice the size of those of its predecessors, including the forever-stuck Spirit. Plus, there was a woman from JPL controlling it from an iPhone.

Continue Reading John Edgar Park8

Quadrotor Formation Flying

The University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab, famous for those crazy quadrotors that can fly through windows and hula hoops, has been working on getting groups of the robots to fly together in formation. Just like with a formation of fighter jets, there’s a leader robot in each squad along with several follower robots. The followers […]

Continue Reading John Baichtal2
Android Controlled 3D Printed Slalombot

Android Controlled 3D Printed Slalombot

Walking, rolling, floating, and swimming among the packed crowd at the Google I/O afterparty were numerous robots autonomous and otherwise under the influence. If you were to drop by the Maker Faire booth you would have gotten the chance to try your luck at navigating the slalom course with Brian Jepson’s 3D printed Slalombot using an Android smartphone’s accelerometer.

Continue Reading Adam Flaherty4