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!
In an attempt to make brewing his small batch beer even more fun than it already is, Android hacker and home brewer Paul Carff created KegDroid, an NFC/RFID enabled smart tap for his home bar. Presenting the device with a MiFare-based RFID/NFC compatible tag will cause it to authenticate the user and pull up their preferences on an Android tablet.
I loved this interview with kickass robot builder RobotGrrl by Robot Dreams. [via Adafruit]
R.J. McNamara built this great Mindstorms bottle opener: I decided to tackle building LEGO Mindstorms NXT Bottle Openers… The task turned out to be somewhat more difficult than I envisioned. The most difficult part by far was the Gripper Mechanisms, as they had to securely hold the Bottle and it’s cap in a manner that […]
In my previous article Jan Malasek from Pololu had some really interesting statements on intellectual property, so in addition to wanting to know more, I thought I’d see if Jan was up for an interview with MAKE about Pololu. I’ve been covering a lot of open-source hardware companies, almost exclusively, so I wanted to make […]
I don’t know what to say about this, beyond the fact that Festo can sure turn out a cool robot video. Check out all the other Festo pr0n on the site! [via the NXT Step]
Pete Prodoehl, inspired by this robot, created an art bot — the Arco-O-Matic — with servos hot glued to dowels, and a clothespin holding the Sharpie. So to make it all work we start by putting an 18″x24″ sheet of paper down with a few pieces of tape, and then insert a Ultra Fine Point […]
An oldie-but-goodie from a student project at Florida Atlantic University. This pipe inspection robot has a modular “train car” or “snake” construction and uses an unusual “screw drive” mechanism to pull itself along the pipe. Best of all, it comes with a very well-told story.
