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!
Sculptor Dustin Wallace, whose intricately machined Transformers for grown-ups and sheet metal origami robots I have been raving about for some months, now, is at it again. These are a selection of choice work-in-progress shots from his latest build, called Sentry. Besides the arm blades, when finished, it will have hoses and canisters containing liquid on its back and a glowing LED in the eye.
This is the second leg in making my own bipedal robot. If I’m satisfied with this leg, I will build another and some hips. I am using a combination of the Lynxmotion servo erector set, and MicroRax to build the frame. I chose to mix these two because I like the aesthetic achieved with MicroRax and the function that the Lynxmotion parts provided. The brain is an Arbotix Robot Controller, which is like an Arduino, with more beef.
OMG it’s like something out of Fallout 3, only real. And I want one. Or at least a Lego version of one, with an awesome hard-hat-wearing engineer minifig at the helm. This photo of GE’s “Hardiman” dates to the late 60s. cyberneticzoo.com has more photos, concept drawings, and good back story. [via adafruit]
Yaskawa-kun is a Japanese robot that serves ice cream, and even has a twitter account.
Researchers at the NanoRobotics Laboratory of the École Polytechnique de Montréal, under Professor Sylvain Martel, produced this remarkable video showing a swarm of about 5,000 flagellated bacteria–of a type which are subject to manipulation by magnetic fields–being directed to assemble six 100 μm epoxy bricks into the shape of a tiny step pyramid. IEEE Spectrum […]
Got an unruly swarm of robots that needs taming? Whip them into shape with this multitouch control interface by Mark Micire of UMass Lowell.
Over on Make: Japan, Takumi Funada found this neat electronic fish.
