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!
Interesting article over on New Scientist about Erin Rapacki’s design for a “low-cost” robot that can be used by the wheelchair-bound to grip, turn, and push or pull on most kinds of doorknobs. Maybe my sense of how much this sort of thing should cost is way off, but $2000 still seems pricey to me, although I guess at the prototype stage it’s pretty impressive. [via Popular Science]
SensorFly, a prototype from the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University shows just how robust the current crop really is. Knock down one of these sensor-packed hovering whirlygigs and it reorients itself to take flight again in a matter of seconds
It’s still way too early for holiday music and decorations, however this was too good to pass up. Robobuilder made this RoboBuilder Xmas Dance Routine to demonstrate the capabilities of their 5720t ‘Huno’ robotics kit.
Vadim Ryazanov of Let’s Make Robots is at it again with the LadyBugBot. If you were wondering what he was going to make with his papier-mâché shell, this is it!
The Maker Shed carries OLLO kits! What are OLLO kits? OLLO is a reconfigurable robot construction kit for beginners of any age. Using an easy to build plates and rivets system you’ll be on your way to making your own robot in no time!
Speaking of BEAM robotics, this “school” of robotic architecture celebrated its 20th anniversary on Nov 10th. Twenty years ago, on that date, BEAM creator Mark Tilden built his first BEAMbot, the Solarover 1.0, out of two dead calculators, two dead Phillips cassette mechanisms, and parts from Laser printer cartridges. Solarbotics has a little celebratory post, […]
It may look like some futuristic Christmas tree ornament, but the miniball is part of the BEAM robot family of “rollers.” A miniball is a motorized hamster ball that, sadly, you don’t see in the wild too often. Solarbotics used to sell a miniball kit. This Instructable, by MAKE contributor and Solarbotics intern, Jérôme Demers, […]
