Hi all Here are my recommended robotics books. I hope you enjoy. Please put your favorite robotics books in the comment section below. This first book Robot Builders Bonanza is a hobbyist level book but I still recommend it. This book introduces the basics of mechanical, electrical, microprocessors, and sensors that are used in modern […]
Hi all While many people find it boring, one thing that has always interested me is the software infrastructure of a robot. By infrastructure I mean the code that all robots have and that binds everything else together. This includes the things like the interprocess communication (IPC) method, the system executive, the health monitor and […]
Hi all I got a question about PCB design for robots. I am not going to recreate what is already out there so here are some links. UPDATE: Contextual Electronics has released the entire KiCad course online. Check it out here! The two places that I have used to get PCB’s built are: – Advanced […]
Hi all Just a quick note on e-stops (emergency stops) and m-stops (mobility stops). There are various levels of e-stops. In an ideal world an e-stop would kill power to ALL power, however in complex systems we often settle for less. Some reasons for a weaker e-stop is to keep the computers and other sensors […]
Hi all I do not have much to say here except I have seen many cases where tolerancing was wrong in mechanical parts. A general rule is that if you need to assemble parts with a hammer since you can not slide them in your self, it is not correctly toleranced and can cause problems […]
Hi all When choosing a computer for your robot there are many options to choose from. How do you decide which one is correct? This post is going to go through some of the standard computing platforms and explain the good and the bad. We will look at both some standard form factor computers as […]
Hi all Here are some books that I like for electronics (including FPGA’s). If you have any favorite electronics book please leave it in the comments below. The first one is the Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill. This is a very in-depth book that starts with the basics and ohms law and works […]
Hi all This is going to be a quick post. I have used many wireless routers on robots over the years and they have all failed on me. Most of them probably failed due to the vibration, shock, and dust. The one vendor that I have found so far that has a reliable product is […]
Hi again There are many software repositories out there that can be used for backing up your files or sharing them with others. Repositories can be useful when you are the only developer or also when you are working with a team. It should also be noted that you can use the repos for storing […]
Hi all There are many types of motors and feedback methods to choose from. Which do you need? Keep reading to find out more about selecting your motor stackup. Since most field robots are DC powered I am skipping the many types of AC motors that are out there. In addition to this post you […]
Cool robot of the day. CHIMP is the CMU entry in the DARPA disaster response challenge. It can walk, climb, and drive. It is interesting that they developed their own drive joints. If anyone knows why or some details please leave it below in the comments. Will CMU be able to win this like they […]
This page is out of date. Click here for updated Conferences There are many conferences and journals serving the robotics community. Among other differences conference articles are often not reviewed by anyone other than the authors, while journal papers are usually peer-reviewed. Even if the journal is peer-reviewed there are many different levels of peer […]
