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u/hwillis · 3 pointsr/robotics

Already a lot of great answers by clever people here! I can add a bit on motors and electricals, but I also want to say that you're probably underestimating how big a 3' arm is. Imagine that on your desk- it takes up half a table! Sizing the motors for static torque alone doesn't work well, as the inertia at the end effector increases with length^2 which is proportional to dynamic torque, speed, and vibration. Larger limb sections are also heavier and more complicated to make, which makes them even more heavy. Sizing down a little bit will make the arm dramatically more stable and performant.

> Belts or Gears for the actuators?

For 3 lb @ 35" you're looking at a minimum torque of 12.2 N-m at the shoulder. That will require reduction. Belts are far cheaper than gears, especially if you have a 3d printer- plastic pullys work great, although they need to be well glued to metal shafts (NB that a shaft key will greatly reduce strength and durability). Red loctite is great for that. A single belt reduction can do 5x, although you can do 10x+ with idlers. Mcmaster is a good place for belts, but amazon has a small selection that can be cheaper.

Note that belts can be very rigid: highly tensioned, fiber reinforced belts at moderate torque (otherwise the teeth start pulling out) are actually stiffer than most gears, which have a grease film and a gap between teeth that has a slight initial give/backlash. The reason you switch from belts to gears is because you need to tension the belts more tightly for higher torque. Once the tension becomes hard on the bearings and gearbox frame, you switch to gears. Basically you want to avoid gears if at all possible; they're expensive, hard to find, and hard to mount without metal backplates and the ability to cut bearing mounts. SDP/SI is a good place to get gears.

> Once I know how much torque I need, how do I know which type of motor is best for me? Stepper, Servo, Brushless?

Depends how much you want to spend. Hobby servos won't work for a 35" arm, even the $350 dynamixels. You also don't want to be designing your own brushless drivers, and the range of robotics controllers for bldc is limited. You are basically stuck between NEMA 23 and odrive.

NEMA 23 is the cheap choice- you can get very big NEMA 23s on amazon, hook them up to a single-stage 5x reduction, and have gobs of torque and good control. You can even get NEMA 34 for affordable prices. The drivers are stupidly cheap- for <$70 all-in you can have an arduino-controlled joint with 15 N-m of torque and top out solidly over 500 rpm. Add a couple heat sinks and you can increase that a lot- 500+ watts no problem, or 7 watts per dollar.

Downsides are you don't get any regen (not so important on an arm), low/no backdriveability (although this can be nice since the robot usually holds position when it turns off), very loud operation, low efficiency, and pretty low acceleration. Brushless motors require higher reduction and closed loop control, but are quiet, efficient, and can be used to build very responsive + high regen robots. Driving them is the weak link: the 56 V odrive dual driver cost a whopping $150. However for $70-80 per motor you get 40-90 amps continuous for 2 to 5 kilowatts, WITH regen and accuracy to >512 steps. That can be over 20 watts per dollar for the motor, reduction, sensors and driver. The limiting factor is even finding motors that can handle that power.

If your budget is <$500, go for steppers. If it's >$800, I'd go for brushless. You'll get an immense amount of speed and power, both of which are very good for an arm with a 3' reach. Note that 3' is a very large arm- the weight of the arm itself will be very limiting if you don't used fairly sophisticated techniques. 8"-12" sections are a hassle to 3d print. Rotational inertia increases with reach^2 so you'll need quadratically more power for the same acceleration (and to fight wobble). A 26" arm will require only half the power.

> Do I start my design from the end effector or do I start at the base?

I'd start at the end effector- that will set your payload weight and the torque required at the next joint, and so on back to the shoulder. Doing it the other way requires a lot more iteration.

The one thing I always say on posts like this is to learn how to use bearings. Bearings are the #1 cause of wobble in poorly designed arms, and the easiest way to tell if the designer had any clue what they were doing. Use 608 bearings for everything you can. They're incredibly cheap and precise because they're used in skateboards- 20 to 50 cents each. They're deep groove bearings, which are excellent for machinery, and can take 300 lbs radial and 150 lbs axial static load and 2-3x that for dynamic load. They're easily a 50x better value than any other types of bearings. If you want other bearings (maybe very large thin section) go to onlinebearingstore, despite having a 2000s era website/name they're really great. Unrelated, theoringstore is also really great.

The most important thing to know about bearings is that they always, always need a preload. The bearing will not meet specs if it does not have some axial force. It will have a very noticeable play and will wear out quickly. This is why you always use bearings in pairs- not because they can't take it, but because you can't preload a single bearing. You need two bearings to be pressed together. I like disc springs for this, but shims and even just bolts also work well for providing the axial force. You can usually just set your preload by feel (so make it possible to bolt down one bearing closer to the other), but if you want to do the math it's good to aim for an axial force of 50% of the maximum radial force you expect. That can come from static load, or torque from twisting the bearing.

u/HylianDoctor · 1 pointr/robotics

I saw someone else in the comments mention Lego Mindstorm; that would be a great idea for your son! Not only is the Lego Mindstorm kit still being produced and supported, but there's an entire professional organization centered around challenging kids to learn to build robots: FIRST Robotics

I'm a recent high school graduate and spent four years on a high school FIRST team. I can't say enough great things about FIRST; they're a really cool program that has competitions for all ages where kids get to build a robot to do certain tasks and then compete against other robots.

The very youngest level is FIRST Lego League Junior. While your son might be just a little bit young for it for now, you could certainly reach out to see if there are teams in your area, and if your son is still interested in robots in a year or two, this would be an awesome way to give him another resource to learn and play with robots.

Here's their website, you can read more about it and sign up to get further information here: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/flljr

You can also purchase the Lego mindstorm kits on their own, you might need to help him with it and keep him away from some of the smaller pieces, but he'll certainly enjoy watching it move around for now and you can use it to start teaching him how to program with their software. There's a lot you can do with the parts that come with it to get it to drive around, pick up things, etc.

I helped run a summer camp last year centered around Lego mindstorm, and we taught our kids how to make robots that could follow a line of tape using the color sensor, or find their way out of a maze using a touch sensor!

Here's the starter kit: https://www.amazon.com/LEGO-MINDSTORMS-31313-Educational-Programming/dp/B00CWER3XY/ref=asc_df_B00CWER3XY/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241989243824&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6335113284905928228&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017517&hvtargid=pla-381559943747&psc=1

And here's their website with the download for the software, as well as some how-to videos to help learn how to program the robot: https://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/learn-to-program

You will need a device that can run the software and write programs, probably a computer or laptop of some sort.

Tell your son he's super cool for already having such a strong interest in robots, I hope he keeps that passion as he grows up! Props to you for looking for ways to support his interests and help him learn more too, that's some A+ parenting right there.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions about FIRST or Lego Mindstorm, I'm a huge geek for this stuff and I'd love to help out someone who's also looking to get into it for the first time :P

u/JS1240 · 1 pointr/robotics

Hello,

I am just beginning to get into robotics but I am a bit confused as where to start. I am 25 years old and I have a degree in Marketing and Data Analytics. I have no background in computer science; however, I have begun to self teach Python and I am finding it very interesting. The language seems to be coming to me a bit natural as well. After weeks of researching, I have come to find out that to build robots, it might be easier for a beginner to learn Arduino first and then get into Raspberry Pi (please correct me if I am mistaken). I have a few questions:

  1. Would it be beneficial to start out with a robotics kit? If so, which one would be most helpful? I have noticed that quite a lot of the kits are catered towards younger kids.

  2. Would it be beneficial to get an Arduino Starter kit instead to learn all the basics beforehand? Would anyone recommend me buying “Arduino Starter Kit” by Arduino (link below). Though there are numerous Arduino kits listed on Amazon, I am not entirely sure if this is the right one or rather more useful one to purchase.

    Link: https://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Starter-Kit-English-Official/dp/B009UKZV0A/ref=sxin_2_ac_d_pm?keywords=arduino+kit&pd_rd_i=B009UKZV0A&pd_rd_r=9e598ad7-4080-4b23-b252-6efd4676fefe&pd_rd_w=ipetL&pd_rd_wg=durVx&pf_rd_p=64aaff2e-3b89-4fee-a107-2469ecbc5733&pf_rd_r=BTX5Q96NT2QPSCJ4FQBW&qid=1562463627&s=gateway


  3. Rather than buying any kits, would it be beneficial to buy “Robot Building For Beginners” book by David Cook? I read a few pages and the book did seem quite comprehensive regarding the basics of a robot building.

    Link: https://www.amazon.com/Robot-Building-Beginners-Technology-Action/dp/1430227486/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=robotics+book&qid=1562463842&s=gateway&sr=8-3

    My goal is to learn robotics from inside and out. I do not wish to simply follow a given template or copy/paste a given code. I would like to learn how the code operates internally and how everything is processed. I also do not wish to spend hundreds of dollars since I would like to start on smaller scale and comprehend all the basics first and then start doing larger projects.

    If anyone could please guide me where to essentially start with robotics, I would greatly appreciate it!! 
u/cr0sh · 2 pointsr/robotics

I'll tell you "how to start": Pick up all the editions (there are 4 current ones) of this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Robot-Builders-Bonanza-Gordon-McComb/dp/0071750363

That's the latest one right there - but I promise, you really want the first edition (back when it was still a TAB book). Gordon McComb will guide you one this quest, because he comes from the old school of 1970s and 1980s hobbyist robot builders.

In fact, if you can find copies of the old TAB robotics books by Frank DaCosta ("How to Build Your Own Working Robot Pet"), David L. Heiserman ("How to Design and Build Your Own Custom Robot" - among others), and Edward L. Safford Jr. ("The Complete Handbook of Robotics" - and others) - so much the better.

These are all fairly out-dated books when it comes to the electronics (with the exception of the Bananza books - though the first edition is kinda long in tooth), but the mechanics and ideas are what you may really need and want. Back then, whether you were a university or an individual, if you wanted a robot, you were building it from scratch with whatever you could get your hands on and bodge together most of the time. Sometimes as cheaply as possible, using whatever surplus parts you could find, beg, borrow or steal.

Need a low-cost 2-wheel platform for your robot that can haul hundreds of pounds? Repurpose a used 2-wheel differential drive power mobility chair!

Build the arm out of old electrical conduit and windshield wiper motors; use some potentiometers for angular feedback. Bolt, epoxy, or weld the whole thing together.

Gain an eye for going to the hardware store (or scrounging the trash on bulk-trash days or the junkyard) and looking at things and saying "Yeah - that'd make a right-fine robot chassis there!".

Ya gotta learn to think about things in a different way; I sometimes go to the grocery store and manage to see things that would work great for robotics. I always see things along the side of the road, or in the trash, or at a junkyard, or a pick-ur-part, or hardware store - tons of things that would work for robots! Thrift stores like Goodwill can be excellent robot parts places - if you know how to see!

But those books above will show you how to start, I promise! Give them a go - and don't think you need a ton of money to do robotics - because you don't.

u/CS_Student19 · 8 pointsr/robotics

You're getting a lot of lego Mindstorms EV3 recommendations.

I have a little experience I could offer.

I did the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars program and during my on-site experience we had a competition using the EV3. Basically designing Mars Rover and collecting 'rock' samples.

I was impressed by how much you could potentially do with the kit and the coding is very simple, I thought about purchasing one for myself, but after speaking to a NASA JPL intern here on reddit, they strongly advised getting an Arduino kit instead.

Basically their advice was that most people who are into robotics, have some programming skills and such will outgrow the Mindstorm kit pretty quickly and will want to move on to more complex projects.

Really depends on your own experience in programming, but Arduino is easy to learn.

[Amazon sells a Arduino kit https://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Starter-Kit-English-Official/dp/B009UKZV0A that comes with several projects you can easily do, and if you really want to get building [Texas Instruments has a long series you can follow. https://training.ti.com/ti-rslk-module-1-lecture-video-running-code-launchpad-using-ccs?cu=1135347 that uses Arduino like devices.

Mindstorms is fun, but really expensive.

Hope that helps!

u/timeforscience · 1 pointr/robotics

Hello! I've always liked this website as a quick primer: http://www.societyofrobots.com/

I remember liking this book a lot when I first started: http://www.apress.com/us/book/9781430227540 but it's a little more advanced and there's a beginner book as well: https://www.amazon.com/Robot-Building-Beginners-Technology-Action/dp/1430227486

Those books are pretty electrical focused, but if you want to learn more of the software (especially if you don't know much/any programming) I'd recommend the Lego Mindstorms.

Finally there's this book: https://www.amazon.com/Robot-Builders-Bonanza-Gordon-McComb/dp/0071750363 which is a pretty good overall reference and enjoyable to read through.

Disclaimer: I read these books over a decade ago. While they're still relevant some stuff in them is dated (especially the microchip programming portions)

u/supracedent · 5 pointsr/robotics

To start out with, use whatever operating system you're most comfortable with. Linux is the most prevalent, but you can do lots of things from Windows or Mac OS if you're more used to one of those.

The best way to familiarize yourself with hardware is just to start playing with it. Get an Inventor's Kit from SparkFun. Learn how to wire it up, make the LEDs blink, the motors spin, and all sorts of stuff.

As far as classes go, learn analog electronics, digital circuits, programming, and some mechanical engineering. Since you want to do neuroprosthetics work, you might also try to sneak in some biology-related from kinesiology, biomechanics, or neuroscience.

Since you said you want to do hardware/software interface, I'd strongly suggest you learn C. Where hardware meets software, it's mostly C or assembly language. Once you move higher up into software side, then you have a lot more freedom with what programming languages you can use.

u/Shadow703793 · 6 pointsr/robotics

You have to start small. With your puppets you'll be dealing with kinematics which is quite a complex subject depending on how deep you go in to it. Before that, you need to build something simpler so you can get yourself familiar with microcontrollers, motor drivers, coding, etc.

I posted the below text over at /r/Arduino yesterday and I think it'll help you as well.

--------------

Build a line following or obstacle avoiding robot.

You can make it as simple or as complex as you want. Lets take a line following robot for example. On the simple side your code would just check for variation and either move left or right. On more advanced version of the bot, you can use PID so your movements are much more smoother.

Anyway, here's a parts list to get you started:

  • Arduino Uno ($20)

  • Magician Chassis ($15). This has 2x wheels + (geared) motors with one ball caster. [Note: This chassis is a bit fragile, so be careful. There are other chassis you can take a look at]

  • DRV8833 Dual Motor Driver Carrier ($7)

  • Ultrasonic sensor ($6) (one is good enough to start with, you'll probably want 2 more for a proper obstacle avoiding bot)

  • 3-4x QTR-1RC Reflectance Sensor ($7.50-$10). These are great little things you can use for line following OR as a DIY wheel encoder.

  • Some limit switches like this to act as bumper detectors would be a good idea as well.

    Total: ~$60 before S&H

    There you go. You have everything to make a small obstacle avoidance robot AND/OR a line following robot.

    (PS: You can build a line following robot without a micro controller using just comparators if you want to)


    I built this little guy from stuff I had laying around (I tend to have a lot of things laying around because I buy in bulk lol). Here is a video of the older version of the above bot driving around.

    Also check out the tutorials here: http://tronixstuff.wordpress.com/tutorials/ and if you have any questions regarding Arduino, post at /r/arduino or the actual arduino.cc Forums.



    This is a great little bot. Just swap the PICAXE with Arduino. Look at other posts/guides on this site as they can be extremely useful.

    On a side note, the FRC team I mentor at started building bots like above because FRC season is over so they needed something to do. Robotics is fun :D

    If you have any questions just ask.

u/schorhr · 1 pointr/robotics

H-Bridge (for the UNO there are also shields)

Sensors e.g. this / that though you can also get tctr5000 modules for cents elsewhere.

And note that if you are not set on a line-follower, the kit you've chosen already includes the ultrasonic distance sensor which is nie for robotic projects as well :-)

Do you have a soldering iron and multimeter? Even a cheap $4 multimeter is fine for low-current & low-voltage tasks, and makes your life easier (checking voltages, connections, resistor values...)

As for a soldering iron, even a $1 will do (if it doesn't burn down your house ;-) ) - but an adjustable temperature one will be more worthwhile. Even a $20 soldering station will do to get started if you don't want to spend $80-$100. I tried to avoid soldering for years, and it was a big mistake. It's actually easy and useful.


And another note: The 2wd and 4wd chars will not always go in a straight line. Motors don't run 100% in sync, even at the same voltage.

With a rotary encoder you can ajust the speed in software. You can use one of those IR reflective sensors modules, or a gap sensor, or even a hall sensor... example


You can also get 2wd kits example, but overall, they aren't as great of a value (and as you can see, they just include the standard modules)

A "sensor shield" like in that kit is nice though as it reduces the wiring chaos a bit :-) They cost $1 for the UNO at Aliexpress, probably more expensive at Amazon.

u/jhill515 · 1 pointr/robotics

I was about your age when I started to get into robotics. By the time I was 17, I had been programming for fun for about 9yrs and was starting my second year of a high school internship in a hospital's IT department. What started that interest was my curiosity to learn some of the deeper parts of computer science, namely AI.

I'm going to take /u/jonlwowski012's answer to the next step. What you should consider first is what skills you have to start with and what you would like to do next. Robotics is an exceptionally broad field, and very multi-disciplinary. So, for a basic recommendation, I would rephrase your question to help focus on something you have as a goal project that you could do in about 6 months time.

All in all, I would recommend a beginner's book. When I first started, I used an earlier edition of Robot Builder's Bonanza to get a basic understanding. Start there, and let your curiosity drive you onwards!

Good luck!

u/I_want_hard_work · 5 pointsr/robotics

I am an engineering graduate student and I highly recommend this: http://amzn.com/B0017OFRCY

There's no programming to it. It's strictly the hardware of the robotics; gears, electric motors, linkages. I got it specifically because it's straightforward and I had plans to augment it with an Arduino wheeled robot and chase my roommate's ferrets (which I never got around to). It's all hard plastic and metal parts and the grip is pretty decent.

This would work well for you too since it has good instructions. If you can put together a table from IKEA, you can put together this robotic arm. It's also a great price. I see Mindstorms thrown around a lot, and that may work well in this case since he's 5 but I've always found their stuff to be incredibly overpriced (this is coming from someone who loves Legos).

Fair warning, this will give him great insight into the mechanics of how robotic arms work. Side effects may include him shutting himself in his room to work on his "arc reactor".

u/dansni · 8 pointsr/robotics

Hi,

​

I recommend this book "Programming Robots with ROS" by O'Reilly, I've PMed you a copy. You can BUY the bat book new on amazon too for only $40 (link).

Once you know how to use ROS, you can quickly pull together other people's code for perception, manipulation, etc. and build stuff quick!! ROS is like lego for robotics. Learn how to search http://wiki.ros.org/ for existing code and hardware for you to integrate with.

​

Also, don't do it alone! The other thing that really helped me was joining the closest university/college robotics engineering design competition team. Lookup clubs near you. Even though I wasn't a student, they wanted all the help they could find, so I showed up, offered to help and they accepted! I worked with them for 15 hours a week (sometimes more) for a year. It went really well: https://github.com/danielsnider/ros-rover

​

The other key thing is finding the time. I worked part-time, so that I could focus on this on the side, pretty significantly focus.

​

​

u/derper-man · 46 pointsr/robotics

I've spend almost 4 years teaching kids 7-13 robotics, and I can say that at that age you are almost guaranteed to have a bad time with such an open ended challenge. Children that age are simply not capable of realizing how many small problems contribute to the overall complexity of a problem. In order to effectively teach kids problem solving or robotics, it is essential to artificially reduce the complexity of the little problems. For example on our outside robot we have the following very non-trivial problems that are not strictly related to the central problem of, find interesting stuff then investigate:

  1. dirt getting in our robot and clogging it. building stuff that works well outdoors is hard.
  2. sensing different types of soil or surface. this is an enormously complex and expensive thing to do
  3. digging, moving dirt with a little robot is very hard. the complexity of that is crazy.
  4. cost, as a robotics engineering student in college, It would probably cost more than 1000 dollars to have a really good robot to do what you want.
  5. time, kids get bored fast. this kind of problem would likely take an engineer a couple days at least. kids don't focus for that long.

    if you wanted to come up with a different challenge that would be easier to succeed and teach with, I would go with something like the following: Cut out a bunch of pieces of construction paper, maybe 1.5 inch diameter circles. mostly brown or grey or black but a few red ones. Stick all these pieces of paper on a table in a random mess, you can even cut up the paper to look like leaves or something, and the red ones to look like ladybugs, whatever works to make the mock up yard feel more real. The idea is to build an environment that is similar to outside, but has much less "hidden" complexity to overcome. Now build a robot that drives around and has a little arm with some tape on it that it can push down on the table to pick up paper with, this way our robot doesn't have to actually dig or grasp objects, which eliminates some of the difficulty of the challenge. This robot could use a simple color sensor, which comes with every Lego NXT kit now to sense the leaf color. This eliminates most of the complexity of our sensor. By using legos we have an easier platform to work with. its not longer difficult for the kid to focus for long periods of time because it can come together faster, and its more toy like. we also have a relatively low cost option, a 400$ lego kit is an amazing deal considering it can be re-configured.

    here are some links to robotics kits that you might like. I highly recommend lego for a kid this age, but there are some other options if you'd prefer a toy you can learn something from as well.

    http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-6029291-Mindstorms-EV3-31313/dp/B00CWER3XY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422256562&sr=8-1&keywords=NXT&pebp=1422256562324&peasin=B00CWER3XY


    polulu 3pi robot, with the addition of a servo you could build a pretty sweet robot for the task i described above:
    https://www.pololu.com/product/1306
    https://www.pololu.com/product/1058

    Vex robotics. geared for much more complex robots, this would be my least favorite option for someone who is only 7.

    http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexiq
u/memes_420 · 10 pointsr/robotics

I really liked Lego Mindstorms when I was a kid. It's cool because they are easy to assemble because it's just legos and the coding language was pretty simple. It's a graphical block-diagram language that's nice for kids. https://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/learn-to-program

u/yoda17 · 2 pointsr/robotics

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_sop=15&_nkw=arduino&rt=nc&LH_BIN=1

$25 will easily buy everything you need except the computer/laptop to program it with. How many 'kits' are yo talking about? Instead of buying the same for each set, I would get a range of sensors/actuators and maybe save some money and see what people use.

Start with an arduino, a light sensor and a couple of servos. This is a good book for some simple yet very complex ideas.


Maybe a better idea would give them a cheap arduino and a $20 budget and let them pick out what they want.

u/BrokenSpikes · 5 pointsr/robotics

Well, something you both might have fun building together is the Owi robotic arm:
http://www.amazon.com/OWI-OWI-535-Robotic-Arm-Edge/dp/B0017OFRCY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367780839&sr=8-1&keywords=robot+arm
It's relatively cheap compared to other things and is good quality. I have one on my desk I built a while ago and it is great fun. Robotics leagues will appear more often in middle and high school (vex, first, things like that) but this should keep her interested.

u/jnez71 · 1 pointr/robotics

It definitely depends on the topic. For linear control theory, Hespanha has a good book. Slotine is popular for nonlinear control theory. Thrun has a ridiculously popular book for stochastic control. I've been meaning to finish Crassidis' book on estimation theory in general. As for underactuated systems specifically, like motion planning and such, I have not read any particular book, but the course notes for the MIT class I linked are basically a good book.

u/houfman · 5 pointsr/robotics

You should get a project book.

Something like the Robot Builder Bonanza might be nice, it's all about making your own bots rather than assembling a kit but still worth it, especially since you can shop around for individual components and save money.

u/seanbow · 2 pointsr/robotics

Once you gain some basic programming abilities (the Arduino suggestion is a good one to follow up on), if you're actually planning on controlling hands to pick things up as you say, you should delve into a book such as http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Robotics-Mechanics-Control-3rd/dp/0201543613/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314820514&sr=8-1 .

u/trebor89 · 1 pointr/robotics

Ohio State University's honors engineering intro series uses the Handyboard programmed in Interactive C.

Sample code is largely going to be dependent on the circuits you've actually connected; what your motor configuration is, etc.

You'll probably have more success looking for broader resources on robotics. Interactive C itself is very similar to ANSI C, except that it has some weird libraries most people wouldn't be useful. If you're having trouble with the language itself, pick up a book on C, or programming in general. K&R C can be kind of rough, and there are down-right factual inaccuracies in many editions, but it might give you a jumping off point.

Beyond that, you may want some books on robotics. I don't have any recommendations, but have you tried asking your professors? Ask the grad students TAing your class too! Students often ignore these resources, but you shouldn't trust some random guys on the internet over trained professionals with every interest in your success.

u/RKSchultz · 1 pointr/robotics

I recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Robotics-Analysis-Control-Applications/dp/0470604468

I read it.

Excellent treatment of forward and inverse kinematics, motion planning, etc needed for robotic arm manipulators.

u/Takoyaki_Freeride · 1 pointr/robotics

I built this with my son when he was 4 or 5, we had a blast. It was a good opportunity for us to explore planning and patience, as there are times when you need to leave it for some time for glue to set.

Pathfinders Robotic arm https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0087V3N3U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UfjiDbHSY8RHV

u/flightless_freedom · 1 pointr/robotics

I'm in a similar boat as you and recently picked up Robot Builder's Bonanza, 4th edition (https://www.amazon.com/Robot-Builders-Bonanza-Gordon-McComb-dp-0071750363/dp/0071750363/). It's a couple hundred pages containing a significant amount of information on understanding how to construct a robot start to finish. For the electrical engineering side, the website https://www.allaboutcircuits.com is the way to go when starting out. That site is chock-full of educational material, and it's totally free.

u/eubarch · 2 pointsr/robotics

Just to add to GreyMX's answer a little bit:


There are embedded IMUs on the market now (e.g. Analog Devices ADIS line) that cost a few hundred dollars, and are small, accurate, and precise enough to do these sorts of tasks. The go-to method for finding the postionand orientation of fixed wing UAVs has been a combination of IMU and GPS, where the translation/rotation information you're looking for is generated by a Kalman filter that is calibrated with a model of the UAV dynamics.



A really good book for getting into these techniques is Probabilistic Robotics:

http://www.amazon.com/Probabilistic-Robotics-Intelligent-Autonomous-Agents/dp/0262201623/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409573217&sr=8-1&keywords=probabilistic+robotics

u/theobromus · 4 pointsr/robotics

Hmm. I'm not aware of any free lectures (that doesn't mean there aren't any). There is this book, which is quite good (and you can read it online free): http://planning.cs.uiuc.edu/

Here's another textbook which I've read that covers many motion planning approaches: Principles of Robot Motion

Personally my favorite robotics book is Probabilistic Robotics, which doesn't really cover motion planning, but includes a lot about sensing and localization that you'll need to build a practical autonomous robot.

u/ordinary_squirrel · 1 pointr/robotics

I'm looking for the stepper motor which can make one revolution in the shortest amount of time possible. In other words, something which can make a catapulting motion. Should I be looking for high torque motors?


I found this one but I'm not sure if it has the right specs for what I'm looking for... Could anybody advise? Thanks!

u/EagleNebula · 1 pointr/robotics

Many years ago i started with this book, it has been updated to keep up with technology and is great for beginners:

http://www.amazon.com/Robot-Builders-Bonanza-4th-Edition/dp/0071750363/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1YS0Z9X2H3V1P95JTC9Q

I am the same way as you, i need to be hands on to learn, this book realy helped me.

u/Dangerzone812 · 5 pointsr/robotics

Here's my 2 cents on ROS.

No. You technically don't need it to do robotics. At all. I will say however that aside from a set of pretty well maintained software packages and a meta operating system...it's a community and a set of standardizations that the field of robotics is starting to need.

As a roboticist, I don't want to constantly have to write low level controllers if I'm trying to develop higher level deep learning. It's the ability to use tools that conform to a community standard that allows others in the community focus on new and more interesting problems. It's what's holding a lot of progress back...because companies and research groups need to constantly write the same stuff in different ways with every project. It's a waste of time.

That being said. Knowing how to survive without ROS will make you a better roboticist. I say it's akin to a mechanical engineer who can order gears and some smaller mechanisms. I don't want to have to design and machine them every project...I want to build bigger systems.

That being said. This is a book that I have read and can suggest. ROS has a really high learning curve. I struggled for a while at first.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1449323898/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1497723319&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=introduction+to+ros+robotics&dpPl=1&dpID=51edbxoCA8L&ref=plSrch

u/ScotticusMaximus · 1 pointr/robotics

If you look around the tech subreddits I know I've seen posts asking this and some good replies of lists of things to get,
but as far as kits of parts, I don't specifically know of any.

I do know of Arduino kits though that come with a few cool sensors and stuff, just google around for "Arduino Kit" and you'll find all kinds,

They can get a bit pricey though.

u/NightHawkHat · 2 pointsr/robotics

This was the wheel kit we used: http://www.canakit.com/arduino-robot-platform.html

This book was handy, though a lot of it was out-of-date: http://www.amazon.com/Make-Arduino-Controlled-Robot-Projects/dp/1449344372 For example, it's written for the previous version of the Adafruit motor shield. I didn't find the code examples useful, but simply having one book that capped the scope of the line-following project was huge. The details may not have been right for us, but at least we knew which details we needed to research and discover.

u/Andrew788 · 1 pointr/robotics

Just going to throw some ideas for products at you, please note I have no relationship whatsoever with them, I just googled for the kind of thing I think you're looking for.

Dirt cheap option: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motor-Chassis-Encoder-wheels-Battery/dp/B00GLO5SMY

Slightly better option: https://www.dfrobot.com/product-367.html

Quite a nice option: https://www.dfrobot.com/product-426.html

Basically look for robotics platform/kits/chassis and not for RC cars for this kind of thing.

A few points, you probably want geared motors with encoders as the drive mechanism. Servos typically aren't continuous rotation. If you want the kind of wheel configuration of a road car along with encoders which are almost essential for autonomy I think you'll have to look at a custom build. Also if you're looking at self-driving then have a look at LIDAR scanners, not cheap but they'll allow you to do far more than an ultrasonic sensor.

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/robotics

To answer the question in the post. This book is amazing. Up to date and VERY informative.

u/_Qubit · 2 pointsr/robotics

For manipulators, I liked Niku. It's decent, and if you look around the solutions for the exercises are available online.

u/Corm · 3 pointsr/robotics

I want to second the lego robotics

https://www.amazon.com/Genetic-Los-Angeles-6029291-Mindstorms/dp/B00CWER3XY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467523827&sr=8-1&keywords=lego+mindstorms

And legos in general. But definitely some form of programable motion, which lego robots provides

u/ivorjawa · 9 pointsr/robotics

$40.
https://www.amazon.com/OWI-OWI-535-Robotic-Arm-Edge/dp/B0017OFRCY

You'll have to add a microcontroller and some way to get position info for each axis, which you can do with some clever 3d printing, some Hall effect sensors and magnets.

u/YouFeedTheFish · 6 pointsr/robotics

Start with one of these for a chassis.

Add an arduino, some wires, some sensors. You're good to go.

u/MrNeurotypical · 2 pointsr/robotics

I found it much easier to learn C first and then C++

https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-2nd-Brian-Kernighan/dp/0131103628

​

BTW I don't use C++ anymore, just python and BASH.

u/IAmLinsky · 1 pointr/robotics

http://www.amazon.com/JunkBots-Bugbots-Bots-Wheels-Technology/dp/0072226013
great book for simple projects with stuff you can pull out of old broken electronics

u/BlahblahName · 3 pointsr/robotics

Try out one of the arduino starter kits. Search amazon for arduino kit.

The Arduino Starter Kit (Official Kit from Arduino with 170-page Arduino Projects Book) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009UKZV0A/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_X0pywb51ZSDYK

u/8BitDragon · 4 pointsr/robotics

You'll want a motor driver such as this between the motors and the arduino, as the arduino is not equipped to supply the current the motors need.

u/jnugen · 1 pointr/robotics

You may be thinking of 'Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology':

https://www.amazon.com/Vehicles-Experiments-Psychology-Valentino-Braitenberg/dp/0262521121

 

It describes "Braitenberg vehicles":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braitenberg_vehicle

u/hit_bot · 2 pointsr/robotics

Something you might consider is BEAM-style robots. A decent book I found a while ago discusses it in detail: JunkBots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels: Building Simple Robots With BEAM Technology.

The idea is to basically just build robots out of random parts you can find around the house in old electronics, focusing on simplicity. Wikipedia Article

u/MonochromaticPanda · 1 pointr/robotics

The Arduino Starter Kit (Official Kit from Arduino with 170-page Arduino Projects Book) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B009UKZV0A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_w3cO1dZs2RtgB


Came with a book of projects. Just wanted some human input.

u/wasontech · 1 pointr/robotics

I was searching for an unrelated arduino component and came across this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Arduino-Controlled-Robot-Projects/dp/1449344372/

I think it is exactly what you are looking for.

u/nadmaximus · 1 pointr/robotics

You guys could make one of these or buy a kit like this

u/Space8lues · 1 pointr/robotics

I've been researching this as well since I'm an absolute beginner and don't know any electronics or coding. I think I've settled on this Arduino starter kit.
Arduino Starter Kit - English Official Kit With 170 Page Book - K000007 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009UKZV0A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_QovCybMP2J2A7

u/stewedRobot · 2 pointsr/robotics

What's the goal of the workshop? To introduce programming? To introduce electronics? Does your target audience already have these basics down and you just want to cover some advanced control system topics?

(From experience these things tend to forget scope and leave attendees confused or bored. Or both.)

If budget isn't an issue and you don't want to focus on hardware buy some Pololu 3Pis: Arduino compatible they can work with C, C++, graphical programming and many languages.

Most of the time budget is an issue. If you're EE, take a look at the Harvard AERobot and build a few, they're pretty simple and cheap. (Or buy some: store link) They came from the Afron challenge:
http://robotics-africa.org/2014-design-challenge

No money and PCBs are too much work? Arduino + scrap electronics. CD drives, computer fans, etc. Or try this chassis, use a cheap motor driver design. I've done a similar workshop with cardboard robots, Arduino derivatives, motors pulled from scrap or surplus and simple IR reflectors bought in bulk (TCRT5000 are 10/$1 on ebay). Using a DC motor, a rubber band and food skewers in plastic straws you can make pulley systems that are cheaper than gearboxes. But these are neat. I didn't want programming to be a drag so we used Ardublock.

[Also: your Facebook group is closed, I couldn't see posts to make more accurate recommendations]