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!

The Math of V-Plotter Design

The Math of V-Plotter Design

In response to our latest Make It Last Build Series project, the Drawbot, Bill Ola Rasmussen posted a link to this piece he wrote on the math involved in V-plotter design. Thanks, Bill! What is the optimal configuration of control lines for an area to be plotted? Obviously, we can’t have a drawing area above […]

3D-printed delta bot

So sweet. I’d love to see a video of it in action. After many little pieces, I am finally able to construct a delta robot that is mostly made of printed parts. This thing is a delta robot frame. There is the basic frame, mounted motors, arms, tool holder, and the like. The arms closest […]

RoboEarth

Joris Peels, of i.materialse, has a curious hobby he calls “Skynet search.” He goes around the internets looking for evidence of the real-world emergence of Skynet. He posted this item about RoboEarth to his blog. RoboEarth is an attempt at creating a sort of Google Earth/Internet for robots, a place where standardized navigation and object […]

Bot grabs stuff with a balloon

Bot grabs stuff with a balloon

Sean Ragan had previously blogged a video of this cool robot. Now, courtesy of the MAKE Flickr pool, we see some beauty shots. This clever robot, built by Steve Norris, picks up small objects within a gripper consisting of a balloon filled with coffee grounds. I constructed my own version of the Cornell University Universal […]

Bollywoodbot

OK, honestly, this has little to do with MAKE or making. It’s scenes from a ridiculously over the top Terminator-like Bollywood movie. But the inventiveness of the transformations of the killer android, and the perverse humor of it all, tickled me more than I expected. A giant bowling ball made of killer droid clones? Who’d […]