Hello! I’ve been working on a small mobile robot for about a month now. This is my first project. I have a camera, two IMU’s (inertial measurement sensors), and a spinning ultrasonic sensor attached to it. The goal of the project is to learn different SLAM and data processing techniques. However, because I had very little experience starting the project, I didn’t design the robot to fit all of the components properly. The second layer just won’t fit on top of the second layer, due to all the wires getting in the way and such.
(above: irl image of the project; the photograph is a few weeks old, and doesn’t show the now-present wire mess.)
As you can see, there are three layers. The first layer contains the motors for the wheel, batteries, the motor driver, and an arduino. The second layer has a rasberry pi along with a camera, and Bluetooth communication. The third layer has the spinning ultrasonic sensor.
As most of my beginner projects are, it’s a chaotic mess. I’ve learned a ton (ranging from I2C protocols to how a motor works), but it gives me anxiety to think about it. I very much would like to be able to use the robot to learn some SLAM techniques, but would it be best to start a new project with a predetermined use for the robot, rather than a learning tool for myself? I might be able to learn things as they come along, but I’m not sure. I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the project and it’s failure is rather depressing. No matter what I chose, I hope to keep working and learning in spite of any failure.
Don’t apologize - long posts are encouraged as they give background, rationale, explanations and insights. The only suggestion would be to include this instead in the “Robots” section rather than the forum. Note that when you create a Robot post, the discussion associated with it goes to the forum and the two are linked.
Also, you chose a quite difficult project for a beginner so you should be proud of what you’ve already accomplished
SLAM is a very interesting topic so it would be awesome if you could share more about your project here in the community, and as cbenson suggested a robot post would be perfect for that
Also, a nice way of avoiding design issues is getting some inspiration from other projects, that way you take advantage of the experience acquired by those makers and save some time. However, trial and error is common in the area so don’t get too frustrated just try to find an alternative solution
The most important thing is that you’re learning, and believe me, you learn more when you face a lot of problems than when everything works out the first time. That makes us really think about what we are doing and you don’t get that experience by reading any book, only by practice, especially when everything is “a chaotic mess” haha.
As for whether it is better that the robot has a purpose or just helps you learn, I think you will do both in any case, so just choose something that interests and excites you.
No matter what I chose, I hope to keep working and learning in spite of any failure.
That’s the spirit! Keep it up and good luck with your project
Sorry for the late reply… thank you all for the advice!
I ended up printing “extensions” which fix onto the preexisting supports. It turned out very nicely because now I do not have to glue the layer onto each other! (they slide into place!). It’s grown to be about half a foot in height now due to this.
Several days ago I implemented “roomba behavior” which made the robot slam itself into a wall in order to avoid hitting an obstacle. All of the components are working now and I will begin testing things on the software side this week. If I get the end-goal done in working order I’ll be sure to share my findings here! Just doing hobbyist robotics makes me very excited to see the commercial technologies which will arise in the coming years.
