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!
Rick writes “A British equivalent to the Basic Stamp PIC micro controllers but cheaper. Free programming software and a good range of products for anyone who wants to control their world. Product can be purchased in USA and Australia.” Anyone use these? I’ve been trying to find something like this for beginners for a few projects. Link.
Great HOW TO by powderly on Instructables “The following is Instructions for assembling the first generation robot arm that my wife and I are developing for the Eyebeam Atelier AiR program as part of an animatronic self-portrait. This arm includes 4 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) from the wrist to the shoulder, runs at less than 20 W and is about 12 ounces. I am currently working on V2 with limit and home switches for each DOF, a single DOF hand and adding another 2 DOF to the shoulder. Motor control units for the arm are also currently being developed…” Link.
Wow, here’s a really cool looking project – it’s a Mac mini robot. It seems to be using an iSight to see, external battery pack for the mini and USB to control the 3 wheels on the bot for getting around. [via] Link and project page. This could potentially be a great robotics kit, you could call it…er, iRobot, well only if you use a Roomba for the locomotion.
Looks like the Robosapien folks will be adding the Segway balancing technology to their product offerings. Press snippet – WowWee Ltd, parent company of WowWee Robotics, the #1 consumer entertainment robotics company, and Segway Inc., maker of the Segway Human Transporter (HT), today announced they will co-develop a range of WowWee products that will incorporate Segway Smart Motion technology. The best part of this will be picking up a fairly low-cost toy robot that uses Segway Smart Motion, and making something with else with it. Link.
John Wiseman rounds up all the details from the Darpa 2005 Grand Challenge and then some. If you’re curious on how the computer driven cars were able to finish the course, along with the comparisons from last year, videos and the course data file – check it out. [
Make Flickr photo pool member Lepow finished his LCD belt buckle and it turned out great. In the latest set of photos he notes “The belt buckle on display at the Jessica Murray Projects gallery up till November 12, 2005”. See our previous coverage of the project 
Filed under the “don’t try this a home” Maker project. Someone seems to have replaced some of the hand electronics in a Robosapien robot and added a flame thrower, since that’s exactly what it was missing. [