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!
Peter writes – The devices shown here were created to explore aspects of regular, step-wise locomotion where the only energy input required is gravity. The first models were attempts to find a non-collision version of the “Wilson Walkie” type of ramp walker. These maintain constant surface contact and move with a rolling, non-scrubbing motion. Another […]
Matt Trossen’s talk from the 2007 RoboDevelopment conference is on YouTube (in ten parts). He does the typical techno-timeline leading up to robotics, posits where robotics can go, the impediments, next steps, need for standards, the usual drill, but well laid out. I like the way he starts out: When I look out into the […]
Just give it GPS waypoints, take it off manually, then flick a switch on the R/C transmitter, and this fully functional UAV flies to the coordinates you’ve entered.
Jason Striegel @ Hackzine tells us about the Cornell Microcontroller Design class and their final projects this semester: Pictured above is David Drew and Joanna Dai’s autonomous neural robot, which is able to learn to navigate an enclosed space at the fastest possible speed without bumping into things. Another project, Guitar Legend Maker by Thidanun […]
I have to admit, when I got email from our pal Robert Oschler, of RobotsRule, announcing that he’d penned a little ditty about Pleo the robot dino pet, I thought I might puke. But harsh truths be told, I’ve been humming the damn thing all morning! Catchy kids fare. Okay, maybe I did throw up […]
No Roomba left behind. Here’s a cool Instructable on how to control and add telepresence to a Roomba using a OLPC XO-1 laptop. OLPC Telepresence – [via] Link
We’ve talked about bicore nervous net BEAM circuits in the pages of MAKE. This two motor walker uses four “neurons” in its brain and is therefore called a quadcore. It’s basically two linked, oscillating signals that create a four-legged walking gate over the two motors. Two photodiodes make the walker light-seeking (or.. um .. shadow […]
