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!

Make a humanoid robot arm

Make a humanoid robot arm

22923131146Eb0F999398E86.SquareGreat HOW TO by powderly on Instructables “The following is Instructions for assembling the first generation robot arm that my wife and I are developing for the Eyebeam Atelier AiR program as part of an animatronic self-portrait. This arm includes 4 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) from the wrist to the shoulder, runs at less than 20 W and is about 12 ounces. I am currently working on V2 with limit and home switches for each DOF, a single DOF hand and adding another 2 DOF to the shoulder. Motor control units for the arm are also currently being developed…” Link.

Mac mini Robot

Mac mini Robot

MiniWow, here’s a really cool looking project – it’s a Mac mini robot. It seems to be using an iSight to see, external battery pack for the mini and USB to control the 3 wheels on the bot for getting around. [via] Link and project page. This could potentially be a great robotics kit, you could call it…er, iRobot, well only if you use a Roomba for the locomotion.

Segway Smart Motion comes to robots…

Segway Smart Motion comes to robots…

Logo Smartmotion Sm Looks like the Robosapien folks will be adding the Segway balancing technology to their product offerings. Press snippet – WowWee Ltd, parent company of WowWee Robotics, the #1 consumer entertainment robotics company, and Segway Inc., maker of the Segway Human Transporter (HT), today announced they will co-develop a range of WowWee products that will incorporate Segway Smart Motion technology. The best part of this will be picking up a fairly low-cost toy robot that uses Segway Smart Motion, and making something with else with it. Link.

Lego Yarn Winder

Lego Yarn Winder

Legoyarnwinder
All knitters know how painstaking a task winding yarn is on your poor wrists. There’s also a lot dexterity you need to keep the yarn from tangling into a big mess. (This unfortunate mess has happened to me many times.) Craftster.org’s multitude of project forums saves the day with a DIY Lego Yarn Winder. Powered by two motors and an RCX unit, this automatic yarn winder is just the excuse we need to go out and buy a new box of Legos. Thanks Leah! Link