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!
This enterprising fellow turned a lifeless Wall-E toy into an actual Wall-E robot. He’s written an Instructable documenting the process. I like the boneyard of Roomba parts in the second half of the video. Build an autonomous Wall-E Robot
TMCO manufactures metal products in Lincoln, Nebraska and had an open house where one of their robots poured beer for guests. Next time I need metal products I’m going to check these guys out first.
Kyle writes in about this simple arduino and bulldozer kit robot that follows a projected line: A regular line follower robot consists one to three photodiodes that reads brightness (usually with IR lights) on the floor. Based on the readings, we program it in a way that the center photodiode always stays on the black […]
Matt had a great idea for expanding the usefulness of a servo motor – use it as an input device allowing one to record the motors position. I thought this would be pretty fun; by reading the voltage from the center pin of the the servo’s potentiometer, it can be used as an input as […]
The Maker Shed has put together the first in a series of parts collections, called Maker Bundles. Maker Bundle #1 combines all of the electronic components to make four of the beginner-to-intermediate robot projects we’ve covered in MAKE magazine. For $20 off the cost of buying the parts separately, you get all of the components […]
Here’s another one of Korean artist U-Ram Choe’s incredible mechanical sculptures that we’ve covered on Make in the past. This particular piece is called “Opertus Lunula Umbra” (Hidden Shadow of Moon) and was shown as part of the 2008 Liverpool Biennial. The animatronic sculpture is made from oars, rudders, and ship motors and is controlled […]
Here’s another clever use of the iPhone to control objects in the real world. We’ve reported on this kind of thing before here at Make but now there’s a kit that will help you build your own version of the iPhone controlled R/C car. iPhone-Controlled R/C Car
