Getting started in robotics

"Naveed"

After spending the whole night debuging an I2C digital compass, I would say
having a decent oscope is fundamental.

Padu

   This question is asked alot here isn`t it?

   I basically went overboard and experimented with as many tools and
materials that I could find!

   Still, no Robot.
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Ashley Clarke
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Where are you in this world? Maybe my shop could be of help if you are in
SoCal...

Wayne

Naveed:

If you live in a metropolitan area, there is a reasonable
chance that there is a robot club.  If you can find one,
you might want to attend a meeting to meet other people
who have are perhaps a little further along than you.

My $.02,

-Wayne

An oscilloscope is essential for debugging complex circuits and often
makes debugging simple ones much quicker.

My current favourite construction technique is sheet aluminium, joined
by machine screws with nuts and washers. Threaded rod (all-thread) and
aluminium tubes make for excellent spacers and braces. The only
specialist tool you need is some good tin snips, assuming you have a
drill. I use straight jewelers snips mostly, they have a non-serrated
blade (so they don't mark the metal) and are easy to handle. They are
fine for the thin 1-2mm aluminium sheet you get a DIY and hobby
stores, but you'd want meatier snips for steel or for cutting big
sheets. You can't beat sheet metal for instant sensor-mounting
brackets and the like, it's as quick and easy as using card but a
million times more durable.

A Dremel-type tool can be anything from a precision PCB drill to an
angle grinder for chopping motor shafts. There not much it can do that
you can't do with a drill, file, hacksaw, knife and some time, but it
does make some cutting jobs quicker and easier.


Tim
--
You are being watched. This gives you power.

Kits are good starting points, and not always more expensive than making
yourself, especially if you don't have a lot of shop tools. Several
outfits sell walking robot kits; enter "robot kits" in Google and you'll
be flooded with good hits.

I personally like the mechanical construction, so my toolset is heavy on
that end. Scopes are handy if you're designing your circuits. Dabble
first to see what interests you the most. Then you can invest on that
part of the hobby. You'd go broke trying to get everything.

-- Gordon

Main thing is to have fun.
Can get buy with basic tools , good set of screw drivers ,
nut drivers , spanners , pliers, cutters etc


How about starting with a few servos and going from there.
Could get some blank pvc / lexan panels and have a go making your own
simple bot to start with.

For building your own raid the local hardware store
and look at some of the kits that are out there
like
http://www.lynxmotion.com/Category.aspx?CategoryIDs
http://www.lynxmotion.com/ViewPage.aspx?ContentCode=ServoBracketBuild#biped

Alex

My advice is to get some knowledge regarding basic robotics and the
common components like PWM, Speed Controllers, etc... From there, I
would hack apart an old RC car and play around with that. Its fairly
cheap and easy. You'll learn the specific tools you'll need, as you go.
But the baseline knowledge is invaluable.

--
Lee V. Mangold
Research Assistant
University of Central Florida
Institute for Simulation and Training
lmangold@ist.ucf.edu

Thanks for the replies.  I guess I have most of the tools I need to put the
hardware together.  I just need to start on a project.  I think I will go
for a walking robot.

Thanks
Naveed

On Wed, 14 Sep 2005, Naveed wrote:


Have a look at http://www.xcprod.com/ROBOT

Regards
Sergio Masci

http://www.xcprod.com/titan/XCSB  - optimising PIC compiler
FREE for personal non-commercial use



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