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!
Humanoid robot competition is one part of RoboGames that seems to be dominated by Japanese roboticists. Lem Fugitt, who runs Robots Dreams, has been involved with the humanoid robot scene in Japan for nine years, and tends to bring a few “professional” Robo-One players with him on his annual trip to RoboGames. We spoke with him about how he got involved in the Robo-One scene and how 3D Printing has started to benefit the builders.
Despite the large number of categories of robots here at RoboGames, the resounding sounds of metal on metal and cheers from the crowd keep drawing us back to the combat arena. We were immediately surprised by the variety of locations and backgrounds these teams come from, whether it’s a High School from across the country, a local engineer working in his garage, or a robotics team from Brazil.
Imagine the carnage that ensues when you pit two 200+ lb. robots against each other, often with weapons that spin at around 3500 rpm. The noise level and adrenaline both run high as they bang away at each other. Intern Coordinator Sam Freeman and I are at RoboGames to witness not only the combat, but all sorts of other robotics events as well. We only got here a little while ago, but have already been fascinated by the great stuff we’ve seen.
Tomorrow kicks off the 10th year of RoboGames, a three-day extravaganza of robots and technology. The dozens of competitions cover everything from line following and fire fighting to weight lifting and mech warfare.
Whiskey Tango Hotel’s Hand of Pi is a robot hand that gestures (sometimes rudely) when a tweet is sent to @OurCatDoor that contains certain keywords. It’s all controlled by a Raspberry Pi. Looks like this is one of the entries in our Raspberry Pi Design Contest which closed last night…
Twelve-year-old Maker Quin already has a company of his own–Qtechknow. He founded a hackerspace in his garage on California’s Central Coast. He helps teach Arduino classes for kids and adults. And he developed the “gas cap” a baseball hat that detects human methane emissions. (What 12-year-old woulnd’t want that?) And now he’s created the FuzzBot, a cool little robot that not only turns on a dime to avoid obstacles, it helps his mom out by dragging a dust cloth as it makes its rounds.
This is MAKE’s third issue featuring robots, after Volume 06 in 2006 and Volume 27 in 2011. So, what’s changed in robots in that span of time from a maker’s perspective?
