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!
All knitters know how painstaking a task winding yarn is on your poor wrists. There’s also a lot dexterity you need to keep the yarn from tangling into a big mess. (This unfortunate mess has happened to me many times.) Craftster.org’s multitude of project forums saves the day with a DIY Lego Yarn Winder. Powered by two motors and an RCX unit, this automatic yarn winder is just the excuse we need to go out and buy a new box of Legos. Thanks Leah! Link
These pages are a little hard to get around, but this site has some interesting mods and hacks for the new WoW Wee robot, the RoboRaptor. This project tutorial shows you how to add a new color LED to the controller and how to add a stealth mode by turning off the green LED, you know, so you can have your robo dino buddy sneak up on people. Link.
I, for one, welcome our new waffle making robot overlords – Jesse Klein is in no rush to get to the patent office. His invention – a robot that toasts, butters, pours syrup and spreads whipped cream on waffles – is both ingenious and absurd. It’s a contraption in the mold of Rube Goldberg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist known for his drawings of inventions that make simple tasks agonizingly complex [via] Link.
Go Stanley! Three driverless robotic vehicles led by Stanford University on Saturday crossed the finish line of a $2 million Pentagon-sponsored robot race across the rugged Mojave Desert. The race announcer did not immediately declare a winner because 22 out of the 23 robots left the starting line at staggered times at dawn, racing against the clock rather than each other. Link.
Earlier there were some reports about the new FIRST-inspired robotics kits from Radioshack, VEX, not making it to store shelves. Well, in at least two Radioshacks in the Seattle area, I spotted them, and there are likely a lot more. Link.
A business called “Robot Village” has opened in Manhattan — basically a robot store where you can buy, rent and even learn to build robots. The store also throws robot theme parties for you, and sells all manner of robot-related gear. The Robot Village is even planning a BATTLEBOT CLASS. [via]. Link.
William writes “Radio Shack has made the Vex Robotics Programming kit “in stock” for online and phone orders. Word on the street is that most ‘shacks don’t have them in-store”. I think Radio Shacks aren’t going to carry these in store as they continue to move towards a consumer electronics only inventory. Link.
