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!

DIY Robot Building, Circa 1956

DIY Robot Building, Circa 1956

Stuart “Mr. Retro” Sandler built a super retro robot from plans found in a 57-year-old copy of Boys Life he’d purchased from eBay. Stuart had heard about the robot as a teenager and wrote to the magazine for the copy of the plans. They sent him a photocopy but left out a couple of key […]

Pitches with Prototypes: Falkor Systems’ Pet AR.Drone

Pitches with Prototypes: Falkor Systems’ Pet AR.Drone

In the run-up to the Hardware Innovation Workshop (May 14-15), we’ll be introducing aspiring companies and makers competing in the “pitches with prototypes” contest. First up is Falkor System’s Pet AR. Drone. The product is still in development, but CEO Sameer Parekh imagines it as a personal drone for extreme sports photography. Doing a little BASE jumping? Let your drone follow you down while the camera rolls. He calls it “out of body” recording.

Cloning the DARwin-OP

Cloning the DARwin-OP

Kansas City programmer Michael Overstreet wanted his own high-performance humanoid robot to experiment with, but was deterred by the $12,000 pricetag of an off-the-shelf DARwin-OP. Though a significant fraction of the cost is tied up in the top-of-the-line servo actuators the design requires to perform at spec, Michael believed he could build his own “clone” of the fully open-source design, at substantial savings, by 3D printing as many pieces as he could in fused filament, on home equipment.

Robots Rejoice: MAKE Volume 34 is Here!

Robots Rejoice: MAKE Volume 34 is Here!

We are excited to announce that MAKE’s Volume 34 is here and on sale now. The new issue is filled with 21 projects and includes a special “Robot Uprising” section filled with half a dozen robot projects and profiles of robot makers. The cover features Eric Stackpole, one-half of the inspiring OpenROV project, a maker-made underwater robot with a great story behind it. There’s also a project to build your very own CoffeeBot, a simple, programmable robot with a perky personality. There’s even a project to turn a tube of Blistex into a small linear actuator, a robot-ready mechanism for creating straight line motion.