Nice to meet you guys, you can call me Vic. I’ve recently become extremely interested in robotics and am on a journey to create something I can call my own. So far, I’ve bought myself a course on Udemy alongside an Arduino UNO starter kit. I’m having lots of fun, but looking for as many tips and teachings as I can get. I’m glad to have stumbled upon this awesome site and I look forward to learning from you all! For now, here is a list of questions I would love for you guys to help me answer:
What is possible within the realm of Arduino?
What other languages/ways can I use to control and program microcontrollers?
I will give some possible answers in a moment, but first I have some questions for you. What kind of relevant experience do you have? Robotics covers a LOT of different disciplines: mechanics, electronics, machining/fabrication, programming, physics, ethics, and more. Have you ever built anything mechanical? What kind of tools do you have access to? How much do you know about electronics? Programming? Other than Arduino, have you done any other programming?
So, maybe you got the idea from my questions that robotics is a HUGE subject. It is. It is also fascinating and well worth the effort you put into it. Quite a few people have devoted their entire life to robotics and still are finding new things to do.
With that in mind, let me offer some answers. These aren’t the only answers. And they aren’t the complete answers. They aren’t even the only correct answers. But they are a start.
Q: What is possible within the realm of Arduino?
A: A LOT! An Arduino UNO or Nano is much more powerful than almost every computer that controlled aircraft or spacecraft or industrial or hobby robots before about 1980 and the Space Shuttle, and many since then. Roughly about 10 times more powerful on average. Compare it to the original F14 or F16 flight computers. Compare it to a Hero 1 or Hero 2000 personal robot.
Q: Depends mostly on the microcontroller and how much memory and resources it has, in addition to what people have made available for it. For the AVR chips used in a “standard” Arduino, just off the top of my head I know about BASIC, Forth, C, C++ (the “Arduino Language” is a blend of C and C++, ) Ada, and even a LISP interpreter (but please don’t do THAT!) For other boards that aren’t really microcontrollers (e.g. Raspberry PI, Beaglebones, etc.) pretty much any language you can think of. Since they typically run Linux, you can use FORTRAN, LISP, Python, or whatever else you can think of. Having said that, I far and away recommend C and C++ – they are the closest thing there is to a standard language for this type of work.
Q: Raspberry Pi?
A: Anything you can think of and some you’ve never heard of. See above.
Q:A.I.?
A: Not really sure what you are asking, but if you mean what languages, see above. Languages used depend on the computer. But MOST AI work needs pretty powerful computers. Raspberry PIs are popular for robotics AI. Most of the common/popular AI frameworks run on Linux, so will run on almost any Linux computer, including PIs and Beaglebones.
Q: What kind of robots should I start with
What do you recommend?
A: Start simple. Build a simple object avoiding robot with a couple of motors and wheels, and Arduino, and either bump sensors switches or an ultrasonic module (or both) and go from there. There are literally hundreds, or probably thousands, of examples on this website to get you started as well as inspire further explorations. But just like NBA players still practice layups, start with the simple basics.
Q: IoT?
A: Again, not really sure about the question. But if you want to add IoT capabilities to your robots, do it after the basics. Probably the simplest way to get started with that is a wifi shield or an ESP8266 family module. Lots of tutorials and examples available on the web. But build a basic robot or five first.
Thank you so much for your response! I don’t have very much relevant experience outside of some mathematics and the basic Arduino programming I have learned so far. So far, I have access to the Arduino UNO alongside many resistors, LEDs, pushbutton switches, and other goodies the Arduino Starter Kit has (I will try to find and list the exact components that I have). I also have a soldering iron, and a very tiny, but modest workspace. I don’t know much about electronics or programming, but I am using an online course from Udemy as well as some books to fill the gaps.
I have definitely found that robotics is an immense subject, and you have only fueled the fires of my interest with the knowledge you have passed along xD. It will be a struggle, but I will follow your advice and stick to the basics for now. It would be great if we could keep in touch, is there a friend system on this forum?
