New in the Maker Shed: Arduino Robot Shield Kit
Want to learn about Arduino and robotics? Check out the new Robotics Shield Kit for Arduino from the Maker Shed!
Robotics
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!
Choosing Fasteners for 3D Printed Parts – Part 4
Earlier this month, we linked out to the first three posts in the I Heart Robotics team’s ongoing series about choosing hardware for the fused-filament parts that come off your RepRap-type 3D printer. On Sunday, they published the fourth installment, this time focusing on the best way to make a rotating pin joint between two printed beams.
Lego Mindstorms Submarine
This Mindstorms submarine (a.k.a., the Grey November) keeps the NXT microcontroller brick safe inside a plastic bag! [via The NXT Step]
Arduino-Controlled Robotic Arm Packs DIY Servo
Easton LaChappelle, 16, of Mancos, CO, created his own servo by adding a potentiometer to a DC motor, and won a 2nd-place ribbon at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. [Via Hacked Gadgets]
Choosing Fasteners for Fused Filament Parts
I Heart Robotics is running a cool series of posts testing the merits and failure modes of various types of threaded fasteners in 3D-printed plastic parts. So far they’ve hit wood screws, self-tapping plastic screws, and a special type of melt-in threaded insert for machine screws I’d never seen before. Check it out!
Asteroid-Grabbing Microspines
NASA JPL researchers present a 250-mm diameter omni-directional anchor that uses an array of claws with suspension flexures, called microspines, designed to grip rocks on the surfaces of asteroids and comets and to grip the cliff faces and lava tubes of Mars. [via Techland; thanks Bigpaws!]
HeinyBot Delivers the Beer
Daniel of Valencia, Spain, built this clever waiter bot to dispense (warm?) beer: This time, I show the operation of HeinyBot Waiter in static mode. In this mode, once activated the robot, it enters a loop oscillating movements, gestures and audio messages which only comes when we approach from the side or front to less […]