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!
Apparently I’m not the only one charmed by the simple elegance of the Geneva wheel movement (Wikipedia). Thingiverse users PrintTo3D and raumfahrtagentur have created printable and laser-cut-able versions, respectively, of the classic mechanism. PrintTo3D has also posted a YouTube video showing the final printing, assembly, and action of his model.
Want to design robots that excavate on the moon? I thought so. NASA is running a competition called Lunabotics for undergrad and grad students. The deadline for team registration is February 28, 2010. There are cash prizes and VIP Kennedy launch tickets up for grabs! [Thanks, Rachel!] More: Handmade telescope First computer on the moon […]
Simple robot from your parts bin that avoids obstacles. Get the PDF for this project here: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/weekend_project_beetlebot.html. More great projects at http://www.makezine.com
I just had a major “the future has arrived” moment when I saw this video, taken aboard the ISS, of three spherical robots doing precision formation flying in zero-g. Note that the video embedded above is clearly time-lapsed–they’re not actually moving that fast. Here’s another video (with inevitable Strauss accompaniment) that shows two of the bots orbiting each other at actual speed. They maneuver using compressed carbon dioxide. It’s all part of MIT’s SPHERES project. [via BotJunkie]
Pololu has a nice tutorial on this 3-servo, 6-legged micro-bot. I love the servo arrangement and leg configuration. It uses their Micro Maestro 6-channel USB Servo Controller as its controller and 3.7g sub-micro servos. Micro Maestro Hexapod Robot
Roboticists at Israel’s Ben Gurion University, led by Dr. Amir Shapiro, have posted a cool video on YouTube showing four of their wall-climbing bot designs in action:
First, a magnetic climber that has compliant magnetic wheels and is capable to climb on ferromagnetic surfaces. This robot can be used for inspection of ship hull or bridges. Second, is a Snail inspired wall climbing robot capable of climbing on non metallic surfaces using hot melt glue. The robot secretes the adhesive at the front and peels off the track from the wall at the bottom leaving a trail behind just like the snail does. Third, is a robot that uses sticky wheels in order to attach itself to the wall. It simply has 3Ms sticky tape on the wheels. It can climb on smooth surfaces like glass. Fourth, is a four legged wall climbing robot for climbing on rough surfaces. It has 12 claws made of fishing hooks mounted on each footpad, and it climbs like cat or other rodents.
I think the second bot, the “snail” one, is my favorite. It starts around 0:30. [via Bot Junkie]
Kyungjae Baik designed this self-balancing robot, BoRam, to solve the classic inverted pendulum problem.
