Hello there!! I am brand new to robotics but always had a slight interest in robots and how they work.
I have decided to have a play around at making robots and things alike, the problem is i dont really know where to start 
I was hoping i could get some advice on where to start in this project or maybe to be projects.
I am looking at being educated in how and why it works whilst building something so i can improve my knowledge as well as my construction skills.
So any pointers in a good starting direction would be amazing.
Welcome to the wonderful world of robotics! Before we make any specific suggestions, can you give us a bit about your background and any future wants / objectives you might have? What is your budget for this initial robot? Is there any particular kind(s) of robot you really want to build (wheeled, tracks, legged, arm, UAV etc)?
Ok yea, well i am a mechanical engineer in the army and work specifically on weapons. We are taught basic electrics and basic mechanics ( I am not too great with electrics and am self teaching to increase my knowledge in this field). I would like to gain knowledge and a better understanding of how electrics work in relation to how thinks are operated manually and automatically.
I have a budget of around £300 - £400 for my first project. I am not exactly fussed on the type as of yet, don’t believe I have enough experience yet to determine the kind of robot i prefer to work on.
Given that you are looking to gain experience in programming / electronics, you might want to consider something along the lines of a microcontroller experimentation kit:
Arduino is not widely used in industry, but is incredibly popular in the hobby robotics market as well as schools, and would allow you to experiment quickly with sensors, interfaces, actuators and more.
robotshop.com/en/arduino-kits.html
Ex: robotshop.com/en/d3-educatio … RB-Dfr-239
If you choose a kit which includes an Arduino-based microcontroller already, you can get a relatively inexpensive desktop rover in addition to the experimentation kit:
robotshop.com/en/mini-dfrobo … RB-Rbo-168
(All products provided are also available from the RobotShop UK website:
robotshop.com/uk/mini-dfrobo … duino.html
robotshop.com/uk/d3-educatio … e-kit.html
This approach should give you the confidence to start building custom robots.
Alright yea that sounds good to me 
So all i should need to get me started would be;
robotshop.com/uk/d3-educatio … e-kit.html
robotshop.com/uk/experimente … duino.html
robotshop.com/en/mini-dfrobo … RB-Rbo-168
Is there any sort of books i could get to help me understand how the electronics work, how commands are processed and created, etc. I am a big fan of understanding how things work even at the basic levels all the way to where the process starts and is created.
Many thanks, Ross
RB-Fee-32 is more component level whereas RB-Dfr-239 includes breakout boards with all the necessary components already included (plug and play).
RB-Fee-32 includes many of the same input / output devices which are found in RB-Dfr-239, but you need to assemble the modules on a breadboard.
This will give you some experience in electronics and wiring if you eventually plan to make your own circuits. The choice is yours.
The kits don’t include anything mobile, which is why we suggest the Rover. It does not include the microcontroller since one is already included with the other kits.
A popular book is:
robotshop.com/en/arduino-rob … =RB-Mcg-60 (great for the products above)
robotshop.com/en/robot-build … =RB-Mcg-58 (more general)
Additional books:
robotshop.com/en/books.html
ahhh right i see, think ill stick to the RB-Dfr-239 for the moment till i get a hang of things.
Thanks alot for the help and advice, look forward to receiving this and to start my journey into robotics
You’ll find that you’ll come up with new project ideas pretty quickly and will need new parts ("If only I had more X and Y, I could create this amazing… "), so envision a second order 
might require learning some programming aswel