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!
Looking for a great starter robot project? Doug Paradis is an active member of the Dallas Personal Robotics Group, and last year, they were looking for a way to help their beginner members strengthen their robot-building chops. Thus, the Tiny Wanderer was born. We produced a series of lessons covering 5 topics needed to make […]
When the whiskers touch an object this causes them to vibrate and the vibration pattern is picked up by sensitive cells in the hair follicle at the base of the whisker. These patterns are turned into an electrical signal which is sent to the brain, enabling the mammal to make instant decisions about its environment […]
Salvius runs off Ubuntu, can operate autonomously, is about the height and weight of a human being, and is mostly made from recycled and salvaged parts. The name ‘Salvius’ dates back to the time of the ancient Romans, but it seem oddly fitting for this robot because so much of the robot has been salvaged […]
As you may already know, David Lang, our Zero to Maker columnist, is involved in the OpenROV project, an open source camera-equipped R/C submersible, designed to look for water-burired treasure. They’re taking the ROV prototypes up to Hall City Cave in Northern, CA tomorrow for some preliminary dives. How exciting!
UPDATE (1/26/2012 2:56 pm Pacific: Kickstarter funding for the eye3 project was canceled by the project creator. UPDATE: Since posting this, I’ve received a number of emails about this Kickstarter project and Lumenlab, the company behind it. Some people have complained that they have placed large orders for Lumenlab kits but have not received them. […]
This monster Lego sorting robot, built by Kenneth and Lasse of BrickIt, organizes bricks by size as well as color. It uses 28 motors, 7 NXT microcontroller bricks, 7 muxes, 22 sensors, and 37,500 Lego elements total. The NXT bricks communicate with each other via bluetooth and are programmed in leJOS, a Java-based firmware replacement […]
Lithuanian artist Gintautas Velykis creates art with the help of an algorithmic painting robot that lays down layer after layer of paint. His art machine, called ART.e.FAX, sprays droplets of water-based paint — see this cool demo.
