Hi,
About a year ago, I picked up a soldering iron again after 25 years or so of programming. I've been getting acquainted with a microcontroller and the circuitry to drive various motors and servos, along with reading various kinds of sensor data.
I work for a big technology company here in San Diego, and I have access to a machine shop with CNC lathes, mills, etc. I find myself wanting to design and build all sorts of things (I've modeled various ideas in 3-D software), but never having had any formal mechanical engineering classes, it'd be more like trial and error than actual _design_... I want to do engineering, not bumbling-hacking...
I know that it's possible for EEs to learn to program late in life (enough to get a microcontroller to do what they want)... is it a realistic notion that I, a humble software weenie could learn some ME basics - enough to be able to design articulated robot arms that aren't underpowered and don't collapse under their own weight, killing their creator?
Any advice on books, sites, groups, podcasts, etc. would be very much appreciated.
Mr. INTJ San Diego, CA