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!
Rob Klinkey (Charles, IL) built this scrappy (scrapey?) little R/C snow plow with a 50″ blade, 6-wheel drive, 660 amps of power, 10 watts of LED lights for night plowing, and an on-board webcam. I like how it looks like a cross between a gas grill and a coffin. RoboPlow From the pages of MAKE: […]
We’re gearing up (gawd, we have got to stop using that!) for the launch of the Make: Robot Build. We sent Dispatch #2 of the project newsletter out today. We have nearly 400 people signed up and we’re already starting to hear people’s ideas for the build. We’re psyched! Starting next week, we’ll get into […]
Dino, of Dinofab, has been getting cheap Roombas off of eBay (as low as $20) and using their parts to make other bots, like this “RoverBot” above. I found the motors in the Roomba to be very user friendly. The have a belt driven planetary gear reduction transmission that provides very high torque and they […]
I recently placed an order for some vibration motors from BGMicro — a a neat little hobbyist-focused ‘tronics seller out of Garland, Texas. They had vibration motors for 69¢ so I threw 10 in my shopping cart. When I told my cohorts at Twin Cities Maker about the deal, a bunch of the guys pitched […]
Our Coding4Fun neighbors had a lot of great projects on display, including their Coding4Fun Cannon, which was a robotic t-shirt launching platform with two barrels. What’s more, it was controlled by a Windows Phone 7 app, and they completed it in two weeks
NIKO is a collaborative effort to build a Twitter-controlled robot as part of the Noika PUSH N900 Mod in the USA campaign. Recently team member Eric posted this short video showing hie progress.
Here’s a fun thing to do with an older robot that you aren’t sure what to do with: turn it into a musical instrument!
