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!
Mataerial is a 3D printer that breaks out of the box, literally. The prototype unit is additive, like other 3D printers, but that’s where the comparison ends. Instead of piling up layers on a circumscribed bed, Mataerial uses a robotic arm and fast-solidifying material to create graceful, flowing curves on a variety of surfaces — horizontal and vertical.
Preview of great projects showing at this weekend’s second annual Maker Faire Seoul.
Cliff Stoll is a prototypical mad scientist. His white hair juts out like it’s been hit with a jolt of static electricity, and his demeanor is just as energetic. I visited thinking I’d be covering his R/C forklift, but was drawn in for an afternoon of conversation and gadgetry.
Lego uberbuilders the Family Vuurzoon built this cool Lego Mindstorms game, the Chinese Dragon’s Pearl, which has players attempt to solve a code to get a “pearl” — even better, there’s an accompanying dragon robot that reacts when you get his pearl!
Pierre Villeneuve attached five hobby servos to a Lego model, controlled with a motor control board board and a RasPi. This is a nice way of controlling a Lego robot without needing to use Lego’s robotics components! I initially tried to control my servos directly from the Raspberry Pi through its GPIO ports using the […]
BeatBots has created the Gobug. Gobug is a mobile robotic toy planned for use in therapy sessions for autistic kids. Control requires communication and collaboration by multiple children. An additional controller used by a therapist allow him or her to step in if necessary.
Got a passion project and want to build a team around it? Start in your makerspace! Dr. David Crawley desperately wanted to hack robots and build a useful platform, not an inexpensive toy that couldn’t do anything or a useful robot that few could afford. He wanted his to be inexpensive and capable. To pull this off he knew he needed passionate contributors with the right technical backgrounds so he joined Hacker Dojo.
