Introduction
I work at Hadron Robo Labs and because of my work I am mostly surrounded by cool robots, sometimes we build new robots and sometimes we repair the broken ones because in robotics things don’t always go according to your plan
Enough bragging let’s start with the real work!
Who is this guide for?
If you are reading this it means either you want to build a robot on your own or you want to pursue a career in robotics.
In both cases, this guide will be of immense help.
I have written this guide with the mindset that the reader is an 8th-grade student. Therefore, it focuses on serving the absolute beginner, but I am sure that people who are more experienced like engineering students, but not so much robotics, will also be able to get value out of it.
What actually is a robot?
You might have heard of robots like Bipedal, android, quad, warehouse, medical, flying, wheeled, industrial, moping bot, cube in space, rover, and underwater. Robotics has set its foot on all the domains, be it water, land, sky, and even on the moon!
Robotics is a very broad term hence, defining and classifying it is a bit difficult but let me try to sum up a simple definition of Robotics for you-
“A programmable, autonomous or semi-autonomous machine that can perform tasks or actions in the physical world”
All Robots have three core components:
- Sensors: To perceive the environment
- Control System: To process information
- Actuators: To carry out the Physical Actions
Let’s take a step forward to learn Robotics…
How to start learning robotics?
- Beginner Level (3-6 months)
- Intermediate Level (6 months)
- Advanced Level (1 year)
We will classify robots based on their level of intelligence and we’ll also look at the skills required to build each type of robot.
Beginner Level
Like any great journey, the exploration starts with the basics. Try your hands on building the first and the most basic type of robot. They are hobby or simple robots. As the name suggests these robots are pretty simple – RC-controlled robots, line-following robot, obstacles-avoiding robot, hexapod, and simple robot arm all come under this category. These robots are based on microcontrollers which is crucial for managing all the robotic operations.
Pick any Arduino robotics kit and start building at least two projects. By doing so you will find out whether you are actually interested in robotics or not. In the process, your basics will strengthen and you will learn about C++ programming and microcontroller electronics.
Let’s level up geeks!
Intermediate Level
Once you have developed simple robots, it’s time to build some simple autonomous robots. They can work on their own in a static (non-changing) environment. An example of such a robot can be a robot arm that can pick up objects using a camera or a simple self-driven robot (Army Pi pro clip). You need to use Small Palm-sized computers called single-board computers while making these types of robots.
With enough computing power on board your robot, you can use cameras and microphones to make cool robots that can be controlled using voice commands, and also robots that can identify and track objects.
Get your hands on Raspberry Pi or Jetson Nano and build a few robots using them. It’s an amazing way to learn important subjects like computer vision, forward and Inverse kinematics, and a lot about Python programming.
Advanced Level
Congratulate yourself on coming this far on the journey! You are finally ready to make a practical, real-time use robot. These robots can perform real tasks in the actual human environment(dynamic/Changing) whether it’s exploration through Spot, vacuuming by Roomba, or a helper robot like Temi or Astro.
To make them, you need the knowledge of ROS- Robot Operating System. This might take you some months to a year to completely learn ROS but after that, you can level up to making Intelligent robots.
They can learn from their environment. For eg, Unitree robot learning to walk using reinforcement learning. Stay connected if you want to learn about ROS and topics like Reinforcement learning in a detailed way.
But my friends! This is not the end, the list goes on and on. In Robotics, there’s a lot to learn and implement.
Can we learn robotics in a smart and affordable way?
Well, I think the answer might blow your mind. There are countless ways to learn smartly and affordably. The internet is thankfully filled with a pool of knowledge and methods. I want to list some of them for you.
There are many YouTube channels like our very own channel “Hadronrobolabs” where you can get knowledge related to robotics and various projects that you can make to brush up on your concepts. From projects, I remember that there are multiple websites like Hackaday and Instructable that serve the same purpose.
You can join Robotics communities on say, Reddit, where you can meet enthusiasts like you. You can take part in online/Offline hackathons and I think it’s an amazing way to learn smartly. Moreover, you can get prizes too.
You can make a group of friends who are robotics enthusiasts like you. It’s an amazing way to get forward with your journey.
One more thing, robotics is about more than just software and programs. The Hardware plays an equally important role. Hardware can be costly and being a beginner, you are less likely to make your journey sour by damaging the components you buy, so I will advise you to buy a robotics kit and start with it.
Kickstart Your Journey
One robotics kit that I will recommend to you guys is the minibot robotics kit developed by Hadronrobolabs. MiniBot is different from all the available market kits. Our custom-built controller board is based on the World’s most popular microcontroller Arduino. miniBot controller board simplifies only what is necessary. Onboard components provide ease of experimentation, plug-and-play connectors provide ease of wiring, and they prevent damage when you make mistakes. It is expandable and teaches you the actual logic. You can check out the MiniBot robotics kit from our website hadronrobolabs.com.
Some General Advice
In order to develop robots you need knowledge about 3 domains namely Electronics, programming, and mechanics.
But you don’t have to master everything. In general, robots are developed by a team. Having a basic understanding of all three domains and proficiency in any one particular domain is the go-to norm.
You must be overwhelmed by the information that I have given you so far.
You don’t need to worry about this right now. Just start learning and making robots and everything else will start falling into place.
Ending Notes
This is going to be a series of blogs, by the end of this series you will be able to build your very first robot. Well, signing off for now, till then enjoy this amazing dance by our robot Hadron.
