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!
AeroVironment, a DARPA contractor in California (Monrovia and Simi Valley), showed off this “nano hummingbird” at the AAAS National Meeting earlier in this month in DC. Both exciting and terrifying. I like the mention of a full-size aircraft possibly using this technology. Nano Hummingbird
Cubelets look like they’re the perfect toy for kids that are old enough to be interested in robotics and electronics but not old enough to understand an H bridge: The cubelets standard kit comes with 20 magnetic blocks that can be snapped together to make an endless variety of robots with no programming and no […]
Let’s Make Robots user ralph built this intriguing Theo Jansen inspired K’nexabeast robot using K’nex parts and PICAXE microcontroller. Looks great! More: Make: Online » Wooden mini Jansen Walker robot parts Papercraft Theo Jansen Walker : Daily source of DIY craft projects and inspiration, patterns, how-tos | Craftzine.com Make: Online » Another Jansen walker (this […]
Wiimote hacker Johnny Chung Lee built this relatively low-cost telepresence robot using an iRobot Create, a netbook, a bit of laser cut acrylic, and some custom software. I’ve seen cheaper, but this video does a good job of illustrating that you can piece together this sort of thing out of off-the-shelf components rather than spending tens of thousands of dollars on purpose-built gear. But will it fetch scones for you?
The goal for this week is to prototype the driver circuit for the two stepper motors. Check out the Make It Last Build Series landing page for full info, prize details, and info about the first two builds in the series. A pin of a microcontroller can source enough current to power an LED, but […]
Via i.materialise: This robot is nothing we haven’t seen before, but it intrigues me. It was apparently built as a promotion by the folks who make Objet 3D printers. I’d love to see what each module looks like — room for a servo, PCB and battery pack, maybe. Someone needs to put a robot snake […]
In response to our latest Make It Last Build Series project, the Drawbot, Bill Ola Rasmussen posted a link to this piece he wrote on the math involved in V-plotter design. Thanks, Bill! What is the optimal configuration of control lines for an area to be plotted? Obviously, we can’t have a drawing area above […]
