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!
Here’s part two of Jason’s HOW TO make a robot car – “This is the second part in a howto series about building a relatively cheap robot out of a radio controlled car and an embedded microcontroller such as the Basic Stamp.” Link.
Today is iRobot’s first day of trading on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbol “IRBT.” iRobot’s PackBot Tactical Mobile Robot will be the first robot in history to ring the NASDAQ stock market opening bell (iRobot makes the Roomba as well as the PackBot Tactical Mobile Robots). Link.
We’ve covered some of the LEGO software, but it’s always worth another looksie, it appears LEGO has added more resources for designing your own LEGO bot – JBB writes “Lego factory A boon to lego robot builders, the lego factory lets you build a virtual model of your unique lego structure and order those blocks as a custom set. Add your robot’s sensors and other such items, and you’ve got a beautiful custom robot.” Link.
David from Combots writes “The best flame-throwing, high-energy, steel-crunching robots in the world come to SF for the championship (Sat/Sun, Nov 12-13, 2005). Biohazard, Sewer Snake, Megabyte, and other famous bots weighing up to 340 pounds will spew fire, flip their opponents, and spin hundred-pound weapons faster than Bruce Lee on meth – all competing for the $10,000 grand prize.” Link.
Rick writes “It’s difficult to approach Dizzy without him becoming aware of it. And he’ll let you know he saw you by `talking’ to you, in a way that seems to convey emotion. If you move about, he will join the action by exploring his `terrarium’. When he gets hungry, he goes to his feeding point to have a lunch brake of an hour or so. While eating, he continues to react verbally to motion around him.” Link.
This kit is made of computer designed precision modern materials, but is as close to the original design as possible. The driving force of the original tea-carrying doll came from a spring made of whale whiskers (actually whale teeth). All the other components, such as its gears, body and escapement for speed adjustments, were made of wood. How does it work? When a tea cup is placed on the tray, the stopper is released by the whale spring attached to the doll’s arms; the spring forces the stopper to engage again when the cup is lifted from the tray. [via] Link.
Greg from 