Hello everyone. I am very new (as in I have zero experience) to this hobby, but I have been very interested in it for quite some time.
I’ve looked at many robot ‘kits’ in the past, but none of them seemed to have the ‘customizability’ that I want. I found this site, then found the Servo Erector set, and this seems to offer what I’m looking for in robot construction.
However, I have no idea where to begin, so I have a few questions.
What do I need to get started? I assume I need some method of ‘programming’ what I build, and a power supply/battery pack, as well as any various ‘construction’ pieces, and the servo’s obviously.
How sturdy are the robots built from this set, generally? I would want something I could disassemble when necessary, but not something that would fall apart when it bumped a wall.
Can anyone recommend any very basic ideas to begin my exploration with? I am on a reasonably limited budget, but would be able to splurge (a few hundred here and there) on occasion if I just had a brilliant idea that I had to pursue.
I am a mechanical/process engineer for a steel manufacturing company, so the construction concepts shouldn’t prove difficult to comprehend, as well as any of the physics behind construction.
These parts are all very sturdy.
The aluminum brackets are thick enough that you probably won’t be able to bend anything but the tiniest of pieces.
Even then, it will be difficult to do.
Just bumping into a wall won’t hurt a thing.
I’ve dropped my assembled biped from a height of about five feet onto a hard tile floor without any problems (I didn’t have any electronics on it, yet).
You’ll have to be more careful with any electronics, since those tend to be more fragile.
But, if you keep them covered, you shouldn’t run into problems, even if your bot happens to fall over.
The servos and batteries can take a real beating.
I’ve dropped them countless times with no ill effects.
The bolts, nuts, screws, etc… are of a great quality.
But, as with all attachable hardware, you’ll need to be careful with the assembly of them if you want to be able to reuse them.
The nice part is, Jim sends extras, so if you strip one or two, it’s no biggie.
After using these parts for about a year, I can vouch for their excellent quality with no worries.
And, because Jim is an actual human, and not some big corporate business, customer service is un-paralleled.
To generalise, though.
For a servo project, you’ll usually need:
Atom Bot Board
Microcontroller (of your choice; Basic Atom and Basic Stamp are popular picks)
Servo Controller
Servos
Battery Pack(s)
Male battery connector(s)
Battery charger
DB9 Serial Cable
And, of course, Erector Set Brackets
For a motor project, you’ll probably need:
Everything in the above example, except for servos and servo controller
Motors
Motor Controller
Some form of car-body (perhaps one of the rover kits frame)
Edit:
I almost forgot sensors.
They’re an integral part of making your robot intelligent, rather than a doll that only works when you plug it into your computer and tell it what to do.
More (and better) sensors = greater potential for intelligence
Beware, though, that just tacking on sensors does nothing.
Each sensor will need it’s own piece of programming.
Well the hexapods look very appealing to me, both the circular and rectangular ones.
Programming behaviors through sensors to acheive autonomy is what I’m most interested in. I’d like to be able to load a program into my robot, sit it on the floor and cut it on, and have it run all over the place doing stuff. I also have a very extensive background in computer programming, so the programming part should prove no trouble.
Thanks for the excellent posts, by the way. The input is greatly appreciated.
Well, if you’re goal is a robot that you want to program, cut loose, and have it be pretty much independant, rovers are for you.
Servos simply are not made for long periods of strain.
Even if you get top-of-the-line servos, making an independant bot will be difficult.
You’ll have to program it so that it sits down every 30 minutes or so and rests, to prevent overheating the servos.
Also, in servo robotics, you spend a lot of time just positioning the servos themselves.
If you have the time and patience, though, a fully independant, autonomous servo bot is doable.
However, servo robotics are much more expensive than rovers.
All told, I’ve spent about 2 grand on my biped.
If you’re willing to invest the money and time, though, you’ll find any robotics project truly rewarding.
As for ideas, since you seem to lean towards servo robotics… why not build your own creature?
I’ve seen a T-Rex in a Japanese video clip.
I saw a dog at a robotics expo.
There’s just too many options available, to pick one and say that it’s the best.
With the Servo Erector Set, you can build just about any design.
I highly recommend the “What’s a microcontroller” from Radioshack. This book will give you the basics of programming a microcontroller and shows you the Pbasic language syntax. The book comes with a microcontroller board with the Basic Stamp 2 built into the board, Breadboard prototyping area, a servo, and a handful of electronic components that you use to build simple circuits. The book walks you through building the circuits and writing the code to utilize those circuits. I highly recommend it as a first book. I bought this book and it sling shot me into this hobby.
I think its around $70 Well worth every penny and a lot of fun.
The most amazing thing I have found is that the only real limitation is your imagination when building with the erector set, oh and of course skill! (I’m still fighting that problem.)
The best way to go about this is find what really interests you and read, read, read.
Jim is always got new stuff up and coming and sometimes that gets me derailed! I think I know what I really want to do and then he comes out with something new!
His service is THE ABSOLUTE BEST! And as Nick said he isn’t some cold conglomerate that only wants your money.
IMHO, you have definately come to the right place.
Welcome to the obsession! I mean hobby!
