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!

Maker Birthdays: Rodney Brooks

Maker Birthdays: Rodney Brooks

Rodney Brooks (born December 30, 1954, in Adelaide, Australia) has had an impact on robotics and AI matched by few. And there is probably no one who’s had a bigger impact on viable commercial robotics. In the 1970s, when everybody else was obsessed with complex AI-driven, map-building robots, Brooks shocked the AI community by creating […]

Hacked iRobot Create uses Xbox Kinect

Hacked iRobot Create uses Xbox Kinect

The Kinect hackapalooza continues. Here, PhD student Philipp Robbel, of MIT’s Personal Robotics Group, combined an Xbox Kinect with an iRobot Create to come up with KinectBot. It can can generate “detailed 3D maps of its surroundings and wirelessly send them to a host computer. KinectBot can also detect nearby humans and track their movements […]

Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Robots

Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Robots

Another holiday season, another excuse to get other people to buy you robots (or to treat yourself). From bot brains to pets and toys to robots that can help you around the house, there’s something here for everyone. Pleo (PleoWorld, ~$300) Pleo is a robotic dinosaur toy designed to emulate the appearance and behavior of […]