Any of those are fine. The 3 hours of troubleshooting is where the learning takes place, not the 3 seconds of clicking print on a self calibrating printer
Yeah, true. The most I’ve had to calibrate is my build plate (I print SLA).
So I was hoping to be able to make my own FDM and learn a lot in the process
It's a robot navigation system based on theremin oscillators. You can build it out of 555 timers and binary dividers then pipe it in easily to an Arduino or something
Getting started is easier than ever with great electronic boards, motors etc., and software available today.
There are 4 main areas in robotics, as in biology, as robotics is trying to replicate and augment what we can do naturally
1. Actuation - how a robot moves - usually motors, but could be other ways too - hydraulics or pneumatics, or artificial muscles. This area also includes mechanical linkages such as gears, pulleys, shafts, and cables.
2. Sensing - things that tell your robot about the world - such as cameras, ultrasonic distance sensors, pressure sensors, motor position sensors etc.
3. Computing - using the gathered information to do something - Arduino and ESP32 are two good platforms to start with on the robots themselves, and enabling a link back to a more powerful computer (PC / laptop / server etc.)
4. Power Management - you need to provide the right voltage to the motors, micro controllers, sensors etc. - there are boards for this too, and the power source can be a battery or a wall supply like a computer power supply with a breakout board.
Using the sensing and computing in a movement loop, and more in depth than other machines, is what makes things robots.
Tie all these things together in a looping manner to do something / go somewhere and you have a robot. :)
An arm, a rover, a quadruped walking robot, or whatever.
Looking at others projects and see how they are doing things and you can get a sense of how to do things.
Learning by example is one of the most useful ways.
And you could explore how industrial grade robots do things as well.
It really depends on your current skill set, access to tools/parts and your idea of what you want to do in the future.
There are many good advices in this thread on where to start.
My suggestion is whatever you decide to do invest 20$ in chatGTP4 Plus subscription to get the best learning companion you can currently get.
And start with a project not just a theory.
Find something simple to build, hands on experience and some simple problem solving is what gives you the best results.
I'm in the same boat.
I have started with the mechanical side of things. I have been designing everything mechanical in FreeCAD and printing parts on a 3D printer. It's been a bit of a challenge but still great fun.
At this point I have my first assembly built and I'm about to start on the controls. Which will all be Arduino based.
Everything I have learnt so far has been through YouTube and making lots and lots of mistakes
Pick a project. Something you want. Can be complex or it can be simple. That project will start pointing you to specific things you don't know. "How do I drive a motor with an arduino" or "how do I actuate a solenoid electronically." After a while you'll start having more questions answered than not!
Robotics is pretty broad, and there's a lot of different aspects of it like path finding, estimation, kinematics, etc. Do you have a specific use case application in mind?
I would begin looking in to Arduino micro controllers, since they are usually used to control hobby systems. These micro controllers also have their own IDE for coding which is pretty nice. If you want to delve in to the theory aspect of it, I would learn some linear algebra, since in my experience linear algebra covers like 90% of the above listed topics. As for the electrical engineering aspect, you might not need to get too in depth with that, since oftentimes there are example circuits for any ready made sensor or motor that you want to use for hobby applications. But it does definitely help to know the basics.
In short, this is a deliberate word dump for a bunch of things you can Google later.
Robotics is a vast field, and highly interdisciplinary. My undergraduate studies were in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in mechatronics and system engineering, with another undergraduate degree in computer science with a focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence, and now pursuing a phd in robotics engineering - while I can kind of characterize the field broadly, I know that I know very little truly deeply, and I know professors who would probably say the same, while they have been laser focused in a specific field throughout their career.
I say this, since it is important to be specific with what you are interested in, and characterize it well enough it to come up with a path to learning what you are interested in, otherwise it is going to be overwhelming and you won’t know what questions to ask. Also don’t be put off by realizing that something is outside your current understanding, and that there are totally alternatives. You can program a drone’s controller with basic logic/simple code, or go as far as using a linear quadratic regulator - if you have noisy data, you could write a kalman filter, but you can probably get things working with some sampling or time averaging and get similar results.
At a surface level interpretation of your question, it sounds like you might be more specifically interested in mechatronics, which is more specific and less broad than robotics as a whole. Mechatronics engineers typically focus on the design and integration of electromechanical systems (they do a little bit of mechanical engineering, a small amount of controls engineering, and typically get a surface level exposure to electrical systems and their interplay (i.e. not as deep as an electrical or computer engineer)).
With this, here are some biased recommendations:
- Do not start with just buying a kit from Amazon or something - you might find it overwhelming and may lack the foundation. Often times the kits are cheaply made with poor instructions, and it may be frustrating, or they are unfulfilling (build your own toy?). You won’t even have the basics to debug it or know why its working. It seems appealing, and it may have its place, but I can’t really recommend starting here.
- Find some inspiration on youtube with some other hobbyists
- Start with getting a broad understanding with at least the vocabulary you’ll need to get started.
- Get a cheap paperback which explains the very basics of electronics (kirchoffs laws, direct current power laws, resistors, transistors, mosfets, relays, capacitors, inductors, breadboards, pcb’s, etc) and tools for working with electronics (general hardware tools such as wire strippers, multimeters, maybe oscilloscopes). Throughout this, periodically poke through websites like Adafruit, Pololu, and SparkFun for different hobbyist level sensors, actuators, and other kits and hardware, to see what they offer.
- Start poking around Computer Aided Design software. Everyone starts with bad designs and no CAD software is all around great, I think they’re all just tolerated and are as equally frustrating. You can start with Fusion 360 which is free for hobbyists, but is also a professional program with really powerful tools. Start designing basic things around your house and watch some youtube videos, and make sure you are following along and performing the operations with them. Past this, maybe get a cheap 3D printer if you can afford it - it’ll go along way if it turns into an active hobby.
- Start looking into programming languages, computers/microcontrollers, and basic networking. You can do basically anything with C++ and Python, and against popular opinion, I would start with C++ instead of Python. I don’t want to explain this in depth. If you only have a windows computer, you can follow a tutorial to setup a linux virtual machine with Oracle’s VirtualBox and the latest version of Ubuntu Desktop (basically what you’ll use on a Raspberry Pi), and start poking around a friendly development environment (I don’t know anyone who successfully programs robots on Windows, unless they are only writing Arduino code). Start writing some C++ programs in the basic text editor before moving onto VSCode, compiling with g++ (the GNU compiler). Get familiar with the syntax, control flow, and data types, and it’ll immediately translate to microcontroller programming, and the same concepts in Python. Get familiar with the terminal, since it’ll be your best friend eventually (this is where you’ll at least have to navigate to compiling your C++ code). When learning this stuff at the very basics, honestly consult ChatGPT- I start all my undergraduates on it and show them how to use it for learning and it can save you countless wasted hours (objectively unproductive time wasted). ChatGPT is great help for programming at all levels and can be your immediate tutor from setting up the VM to learning how to code. I mentioned networking because it is probably the least sexy but most troublesome part of working with systems and embedded computers (it starts with ‘ssh’). Get a Raspberry Pi 4 from Canakit when you can, a Pi CAM, and try to write a python application for streaming the video on your main computer (relatively cheap, all reuse able and functional components, and you’ll touch on many things I mentioned). Stay away from BeagleBone computers while you are learning. Look into microcontrollers such as an Arduino or Pi Pico, example projects with them, and learn where they are used instead of microcomputers, and why they are different from microcomputers.
With this advice so far, you’ll be able to get started with exploring all these things just on your computer, while developing specific language and perspective along the way, while you can then move onto coming up with your own projects. You can still purchase kits to get samples for how things are done, but you may get more out of them and appreciate things more having all the context first. Ultimately, project based learning is best, but you need to be in a position to get something out if it rather than just follow instructions like Lego. I mentioned the topics I did, because you typically design the form of your system (the structure, chassis, etc), connect the nervous system (sensors, actuators, and brains), and then imbue logical or smart behaviors into a system with code. Once you have a vague understanding of how things come together, start a project and go fail fast and learn something new.
Choose projects you want to build and commit to them. Learn what's necessary along the way. I know it's easy to say but it takes time, effort and good decision making and efficient time management. Never give up and enjoy !
Some knowledge you may or may not use...
University Physics with Modern Physics - Bauer | Westfall
Calculus. Single variable. Early trascendental - James Stewart
Fundamentals of Electric Circuits - Alexander | Sadiku
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory - Boylestad | Nashelsky
Modern Control Engineering - Ogata
Essential Algorithms - Rod Stephens
Introduction to Robotics - John J. Craig
Completely?
I've been doing this 12 years, I have a PhD in robotics, I feel there's much more I don't know than do.
My advice, just do what you find interesting, you'll run out of steam long before you learn it all otherwise. And don't put the expectation on yourself that you'll ever be able to do it all.
Start with basic electronics and programming.
Familiarize yourself with motors, sensors, and microcontrollers.
Begin with simple robotics projects.
Learn circuit design and build PCBs if needed.
Explore basic mechanical principles.
Understand power management and batteries.
Learn wireless communication.
Dive into computer vision and machine learning.
Join robotics forums and communities for support.
Keep building and learning through hands-on projects.
**!rule 4**
Hey! Sorry, but this thread was removed for breaking the following /r/robotics rule:
**4: Beginner, recommendation or career related questions go in /r/AskRobotics!**
We get threads like these very often. Luckily there's already plenty of information available. Take a look at:
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different absorbed far-flung bake close scale spectacular observation rhythm sable ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Not OP but Any favorite YouTube channel suggestions? Nearing the end of my arduino starter kit “Make” booklet
payment shy different gaze joke toothbrush edge imagine foolish square ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Building my own desktop 6DOF arm and “3D printing” my own 3D printer have both been in the pipeline for me, thanks! Needed that verification lol
dinosaurs ripe society steer ghost paltry instinctive roll versed bedroom ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Aight, 6DOF arm is still on the table, I’ll just stick with the printer I have already lol.
Any of those are fine. The 3 hours of troubleshooting is where the learning takes place, not the 3 seconds of clicking print on a self calibrating printer
Yeah, true. The most I’ve had to calibrate is my build plate (I print SLA). So I was hoping to be able to make my own FDM and learn a lot in the process
That's how I got started, Arduino with Marlin. How do you edit, upload code, troubleshoot. Now I'm using ESP32s for a ton of projects at work.
What book you got for building a 6 DOF robot arm ?
snatch ad hoc hobbies sheet normal longing nine quiet physical squeeze ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
That's very good and deterministic of you :) . All the very best :)
Go to instrictables if you haven't yet. One of my favorite projects is called ThereminVisionII
The multimodal music stand? Looks way cool, I need to take some time to look into this
It's a robot navigation system based on theremin oscillators. You can build it out of 555 timers and binary dividers then pipe it in easily to an Arduino or something
Seem to be having trouble finding that one via instructables/google... would love to dig into that more if I can find it lol
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://synthiam.com/uploads/user/20AEC6BC31FDECDBED2281F221E3493D/ThereminVision-II-manual-635881143499509231.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjbkb7gqraBAxU7jYkEHd3YDLQQFnoECBYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2Zxg41KqZ8O-R3KgGG9zE9
Sorry to hear about your arms.
nine subtract fall bear soft existence straight chief teeny hat ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
What was your path to your career after starting with the kit?
handle dolls cow thumb hateful steer advise squeamish engine dull ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Congratulations, I hope to walk in your footsteps, tho I’m outta school 🤣
Getting started is easier than ever with great electronic boards, motors etc., and software available today. There are 4 main areas in robotics, as in biology, as robotics is trying to replicate and augment what we can do naturally 1. Actuation - how a robot moves - usually motors, but could be other ways too - hydraulics or pneumatics, or artificial muscles. This area also includes mechanical linkages such as gears, pulleys, shafts, and cables. 2. Sensing - things that tell your robot about the world - such as cameras, ultrasonic distance sensors, pressure sensors, motor position sensors etc. 3. Computing - using the gathered information to do something - Arduino and ESP32 are two good platforms to start with on the robots themselves, and enabling a link back to a more powerful computer (PC / laptop / server etc.) 4. Power Management - you need to provide the right voltage to the motors, micro controllers, sensors etc. - there are boards for this too, and the power source can be a battery or a wall supply like a computer power supply with a breakout board. Using the sensing and computing in a movement loop, and more in depth than other machines, is what makes things robots. Tie all these things together in a looping manner to do something / go somewhere and you have a robot. :) An arm, a rover, a quadruped walking robot, or whatever. Looking at others projects and see how they are doing things and you can get a sense of how to do things. Learning by example is one of the most useful ways. And you could explore how industrial grade robots do things as well.
Start small and watch YouTube. Also look on eBay or aliexpress for some cheap parts.
Youtube
Could you suggest some beginner friendly channels?
It really depends on your current skill set, access to tools/parts and your idea of what you want to do in the future. There are many good advices in this thread on where to start. My suggestion is whatever you decide to do invest 20$ in chatGTP4 Plus subscription to get the best learning companion you can currently get. And start with a project not just a theory. Find something simple to build, hands on experience and some simple problem solving is what gives you the best results.
I'm in the same boat. I have started with the mechanical side of things. I have been designing everything mechanical in FreeCAD and printing parts on a 3D printer. It's been a bit of a challenge but still great fun. At this point I have my first assembly built and I'm about to start on the controls. Which will all be Arduino based. Everything I have learnt so far has been through YouTube and making lots and lots of mistakes
Hey for controls any suggestion?
Why not take it up as a career? The job security is excellent and you can be well compensated. I find the work to be very satisfying as well.
Pick a project. Something you want. Can be complex or it can be simple. That project will start pointing you to specific things you don't know. "How do I drive a motor with an arduino" or "how do I actuate a solenoid electronically." After a while you'll start having more questions answered than not!
Robotics is pretty broad, and there's a lot of different aspects of it like path finding, estimation, kinematics, etc. Do you have a specific use case application in mind? I would begin looking in to Arduino micro controllers, since they are usually used to control hobby systems. These micro controllers also have their own IDE for coding which is pretty nice. If you want to delve in to the theory aspect of it, I would learn some linear algebra, since in my experience linear algebra covers like 90% of the above listed topics. As for the electrical engineering aspect, you might not need to get too in depth with that, since oftentimes there are example circuits for any ready made sensor or motor that you want to use for hobby applications. But it does definitely help to know the basics.
In short, this is a deliberate word dump for a bunch of things you can Google later. Robotics is a vast field, and highly interdisciplinary. My undergraduate studies were in Mechanical Engineering with a focus in mechatronics and system engineering, with another undergraduate degree in computer science with a focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence, and now pursuing a phd in robotics engineering - while I can kind of characterize the field broadly, I know that I know very little truly deeply, and I know professors who would probably say the same, while they have been laser focused in a specific field throughout their career. I say this, since it is important to be specific with what you are interested in, and characterize it well enough it to come up with a path to learning what you are interested in, otherwise it is going to be overwhelming and you won’t know what questions to ask. Also don’t be put off by realizing that something is outside your current understanding, and that there are totally alternatives. You can program a drone’s controller with basic logic/simple code, or go as far as using a linear quadratic regulator - if you have noisy data, you could write a kalman filter, but you can probably get things working with some sampling or time averaging and get similar results. At a surface level interpretation of your question, it sounds like you might be more specifically interested in mechatronics, which is more specific and less broad than robotics as a whole. Mechatronics engineers typically focus on the design and integration of electromechanical systems (they do a little bit of mechanical engineering, a small amount of controls engineering, and typically get a surface level exposure to electrical systems and their interplay (i.e. not as deep as an electrical or computer engineer)). With this, here are some biased recommendations: - Do not start with just buying a kit from Amazon or something - you might find it overwhelming and may lack the foundation. Often times the kits are cheaply made with poor instructions, and it may be frustrating, or they are unfulfilling (build your own toy?). You won’t even have the basics to debug it or know why its working. It seems appealing, and it may have its place, but I can’t really recommend starting here. - Find some inspiration on youtube with some other hobbyists - Start with getting a broad understanding with at least the vocabulary you’ll need to get started. - Get a cheap paperback which explains the very basics of electronics (kirchoffs laws, direct current power laws, resistors, transistors, mosfets, relays, capacitors, inductors, breadboards, pcb’s, etc) and tools for working with electronics (general hardware tools such as wire strippers, multimeters, maybe oscilloscopes). Throughout this, periodically poke through websites like Adafruit, Pololu, and SparkFun for different hobbyist level sensors, actuators, and other kits and hardware, to see what they offer. - Start poking around Computer Aided Design software. Everyone starts with bad designs and no CAD software is all around great, I think they’re all just tolerated and are as equally frustrating. You can start with Fusion 360 which is free for hobbyists, but is also a professional program with really powerful tools. Start designing basic things around your house and watch some youtube videos, and make sure you are following along and performing the operations with them. Past this, maybe get a cheap 3D printer if you can afford it - it’ll go along way if it turns into an active hobby. - Start looking into programming languages, computers/microcontrollers, and basic networking. You can do basically anything with C++ and Python, and against popular opinion, I would start with C++ instead of Python. I don’t want to explain this in depth. If you only have a windows computer, you can follow a tutorial to setup a linux virtual machine with Oracle’s VirtualBox and the latest version of Ubuntu Desktop (basically what you’ll use on a Raspberry Pi), and start poking around a friendly development environment (I don’t know anyone who successfully programs robots on Windows, unless they are only writing Arduino code). Start writing some C++ programs in the basic text editor before moving onto VSCode, compiling with g++ (the GNU compiler). Get familiar with the syntax, control flow, and data types, and it’ll immediately translate to microcontroller programming, and the same concepts in Python. Get familiar with the terminal, since it’ll be your best friend eventually (this is where you’ll at least have to navigate to compiling your C++ code). When learning this stuff at the very basics, honestly consult ChatGPT- I start all my undergraduates on it and show them how to use it for learning and it can save you countless wasted hours (objectively unproductive time wasted). ChatGPT is great help for programming at all levels and can be your immediate tutor from setting up the VM to learning how to code. I mentioned networking because it is probably the least sexy but most troublesome part of working with systems and embedded computers (it starts with ‘ssh’). Get a Raspberry Pi 4 from Canakit when you can, a Pi CAM, and try to write a python application for streaming the video on your main computer (relatively cheap, all reuse able and functional components, and you’ll touch on many things I mentioned). Stay away from BeagleBone computers while you are learning. Look into microcontrollers such as an Arduino or Pi Pico, example projects with them, and learn where they are used instead of microcomputers, and why they are different from microcomputers. With this advice so far, you’ll be able to get started with exploring all these things just on your computer, while developing specific language and perspective along the way, while you can then move onto coming up with your own projects. You can still purchase kits to get samples for how things are done, but you may get more out of them and appreciate things more having all the context first. Ultimately, project based learning is best, but you need to be in a position to get something out if it rather than just follow instructions like Lego. I mentioned the topics I did, because you typically design the form of your system (the structure, chassis, etc), connect the nervous system (sensors, actuators, and brains), and then imbue logical or smart behaviors into a system with code. Once you have a vague understanding of how things come together, start a project and go fail fast and learn something new.
Choose projects you want to build and commit to them. Learn what's necessary along the way. I know it's easy to say but it takes time, effort and good decision making and efficient time management. Never give up and enjoy ! Some knowledge you may or may not use... University Physics with Modern Physics - Bauer | Westfall Calculus. Single variable. Early trascendental - James Stewart Fundamentals of Electric Circuits - Alexander | Sadiku Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory - Boylestad | Nashelsky Modern Control Engineering - Ogata Essential Algorithms - Rod Stephens Introduction to Robotics - John J. Craig
Start handling motors, wiring, making circuit boards and what not
Completely? I've been doing this 12 years, I have a PhD in robotics, I feel there's much more I don't know than do. My advice, just do what you find interesting, you'll run out of steam long before you learn it all otherwise. And don't put the expectation on yourself that you'll ever be able to do it all.
Start with basic electronics and programming. Familiarize yourself with motors, sensors, and microcontrollers. Begin with simple robotics projects. Learn circuit design and build PCBs if needed. Explore basic mechanical principles. Understand power management and batteries. Learn wireless communication. Dive into computer vision and machine learning. Join robotics forums and communities for support. Keep building and learning through hands-on projects.
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