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!
Gavilan of On Shoulders is building an excellent looking 3d-printable dogbot, using openSCAD. But the awesomeness doesn’t stop there: He’s also producing a TV show about his projects, such as how to mill PCBs and print your own 3d printers. Well done! [via MakerBot]
Check out this cool Bluetooth Hexapod mod from Academy Award-winning SFX guru Dan Piponi.
Don’t forget, entries for the prize drawing in our third Make It Last Build, the Drawbot, is ending tomorrow night at 11:59pm PST. To be eligible for some awesome prizes, all you have to do is load pictures to the MAKE Flickr pool, and tag them “makeitlast.” Unlike our previous judged contests in this series, […]
Back in November, we launched a contest to build a robotic plant. We are finally ready to announce our winners! The grand prize goes to Eric McKinley for his Robotic Fly Trap. This “plant” has a servo-actuated mechanical jaw that snaps shut when an unsuspecting bug lands on it. Eric’s contest page has lots of […]
The latest Make It Last Build Series Dispatch, #6, went out today. It includes the last build instructions for this project. It covers understanding the parameters that you’ll need to consider in your machine (e.g. diameter of the spools you used and the size of your draw area), how to set up and calibrate your […]
Dave wrote in with his intriguing agriculture robot. Are a swarm of robots like this the future of farming? Prospero is the working prototype of an Autonomous Micro Planter (AMP) that uses a combination of swarm and game theory and is the first of four steps. It is meant to be deployed as a group […]
Welcome to the fifth installment of the Make It Last Build #3, the Drawbot, sponsored by Microchip and Energizer. The goal this week is to build and rig all of the mechanical parts on your drawing machine. By next week you should also have a more permanent version of the controller and stepper drivers soldered […]
