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!
The “Rug-Bug BEAM Photovore” by Ken Hill is an environmentally aware photovore robotic bug that rolls, creates chirping sounds in response to light levels, and can be charged with solar cells. The bot runs from a pair of 74ACT139 ICs to control two Hankscraft gear motors from pulsed signals and a dual 556 timer IC. […]
This robot was built using the PICAXE controller and has a homebrew line sensor that uses light dependent resistors (LDRs) to find its way. The custom PICAXE board included an L293 driver chip and ran from battery power. Check out the link for details on the board and integration into the LEGO Mindstorms setup. PICAXE […]
Crabfu. Is there no stopping this guy? He seems to be cranking out a bot or other cool creation on a near-weekly basis. Here’s his latest, a remote-controlled golfing “bot.” Putter Bot
I featured Jerome Demer’s ingenious little one-motor walker in my book Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Building Robots. I’ve been hoping he’d put up an Instructable and he finally has. This is a bit of a finicky mechanical build, but worth the effort. It uses a standard BEAM bicore circuit as its brain (via the 74HCT240 […]
The “Rechnender Raum / Calculating Space” is a light-weight kinetic sculpture by Ralf Baecker that is constructed from sticks, strings, and fishing weights. The sculpture also functions a fully functional neural network. Really impressive piece and the video at the link below is pretty amazing to see it in action. Also, the piece will be […]
Latest fishy project from Crab Fu. Flapper
Zach DeBord, who did the bots and photos in my Pummer, Dude! piece in MAKE Volume 08, and collab’d with me on the Vibrobots and Solar Roller pieces for Street Tech, has posted a bunch of new pics of his Pummers on his Flickr sets. 2006 BEAM Pummers More: MAKE Volume 08: Pummer, Dude! [Free […]
