Robotics project

Hello GRM,

I'm thinking about embarking on my first venture into robotics. Why you ask? For my son (4 years old) and my on interest and entertainment. Yes, 4 is too young and all that, but his shown a lot interest in robots and machines. I figured that it is a good opportunity to cultivate that interest while giving me a fun project to learn something new.

Anyway, any of you folks mess around with DIY robots? I'm looking for mentors and possibly team members to help with the project.

I've looked at build from scratch and kits, my general thought is to use a kit and expand on that as desired. Here is where I think I'm going to start:

http://www.arcbotics.mybigcommerce.com/hexy-the-hexapod/

My son, who is well on his way to becoming a super villain, wants to build a robot like the Omnidroid from the movie the Incredibles.

So any takers? Any thoughts or advice?

He is too young - but Lego Mindstorm is the easy button here. For both of you.

My house is covered in Legos. He wants a "real robot".

Also, he wants to build a time machine, I told him that project would have to wait a bit.

In reply to BradLTL:

You linked Hexy-the-hexapod and I'm telling you... for the same buy-in Mindstorms will do 10x more stuff and you can use all the legos you already have to make even cooler stuff. You can buy new/different/moar sensors and actuators for it. It's easy to program so you don't need to learn embedded systems programming before you can use it.

Google: coolest mindstorm creations

Show to 4yr old. Problem solved.

BradLTL wrote: My house is covered in Legos. He wants a "real robot". Also, he wants to build a time machine, I told him that project would have to wait a bit.

I did the case study, and the anti-gravity machine is a better bet than the time machine.

This little guy hangs out on my shelf. (I-Sobot)

Wow, times have changed. When I was four, eating my own buggers was acceptable and computers /robots was stuff in cartoons. I do recall being handy with a screwdriver and would try and unscrew things.

Given that we are all exposed to incredible technology on a daily basis, it's hard to imagine what the limits are for a four year old today. My frame of reference is from 40+ years ago and it's impossible to conceive what it must be like for a young mind in 2015.

That hexipod robot is cool, but after watching the assembly video I get the sense that it's very complicated.. Assembly requires some abstract thinking and a lot of patience. While the assembly may be somewhat difficult, I think the code would be incredibly difficult. Fortunately, It looks like they have a PC based software package to simplify the programming.

I'm not sure the Hexipod is a good starting point. Perhaps something with nuts and bolts but simpler.

The RobotShop has a number of kits available including a low cost somewhat complicated robot arm. It appears to be servo based and not programmable... but it could be hacked easily enough in the future.

Something like the robot arm is still very advanced, but once completed it wont need programming and should provide months of entertainment.... think along the lines of building Lincoln log house with a robot arm or something like that.

+1 for Mindstorms, I would've pooped myself with joy if I had that as a kid!

Good to get him started on this early too, building robots will be one of the last jobs around

I'm gonna recommend the Lego route also. I don't have any direct experience with the Mindstorms product, but Lego Education offers kits with motors and sensors that can build robots of a sort. Added bonus is that you can control them from the USB port on your computer with a freeware graphical programming language called "Scratch" that comes out of MIT. So you get robotics along with a dose of programming.

BradLTL wrote: My house is covered in Legos. He wants a "real robot". Also, he wants to build a time machine, I told him that project would have to wait a bit.

I'd focus on the time machine. When he finishes the time machine he can travel back in time to when he is 4 and deliver a kickass robot.

1988RedT2 wrote: So you get robotics along with a dose of programming.

How would you get robotics without programming?

Edit: Well I guess you could build a robot with electrical control or all-hardware electronic control or even mechanical control...but these days, that's going out of your way to make work for yourself

GameboyRMH wrote:

1988RedT2 wrote: So you get robotics along with a dose of programming.

How would you get robotics without programming?

My brief examination of the Mindstorms product gave me the impression that it was controlled by a smartphone app or some such where you pushed buttons to make it move. Not exactly programming. It may have some features that eluded my keen observational skills.

Examine more, it's a pretty open system. You can program it in C/C++, Java, Python, Matlab, take your pick.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms#Programming_languages_2

They've got sensors for light, color, ultrasonic, sound and the motors have postioning feedback.
http://www.legoengineering.com/nxt-sensors/

I've built antigravity machines out of Lego. It was part of a science fair project, I was the engineer who built the machines and the theorists had to explain why it wouldn't work.

GameboyRMH wrote:

1988RedT2 wrote: So you get robotics along with a dose of programming.

How would you get robotics without programming? Edit: Well I guess you could build a robot with electrical control or all-hardware electronic control or even mechanical control...but these days, that's going out of your way to make work for yourself

That would still be programming... just not software :)

Ok, I'm almost sold on Legos. Now I just have to convince myself to spend the price of a small car on some plastic bricks. $30 to $50 a pop is one thing, but laying out $400 for the starter set is a different decision.

There are many cheaper options... but they get more complex quickly.

Here's one: http://www.oddwires.com/robotics-kit-with-arduino-uno-and-motor-shield/

Only on GRM is $400 (which is actually $350) considered "the price of a small car"

The thing about the Lego setup is that you say you've already got a pile of Lego. So actual construction will be kept to a minimum compared to a more free-form robot, so you can focus on design and programming. Depends on what you want to do I suppose. If you want to spend your time designing and fabricating linkages, it's the wrong option.

Coolest robot I've seen today: The T8X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo2TUIEXJig

The starter set with software is $443.

https://shop.education.lego.com/legoed/en-US/catalog/product.jsp?productId=5003462&isSimpleSearch=false&ProductName=EV3-Core-Set-with-Software-Pack&ProductLine=LEGO-MINDSTORMS-Education-EV3

Fair enough. Your small car budget just got upgraded to one with some fuel in the tank and no more than three venomous reptiles inside

I agree with Mindstorms suggestion. You are a few years away, but my 10 year old was on a First Lego League (FLL) team this last year. Really cool, great experience; worldwide robotics, teamwork, problem solving, and presentation competition. FFL All the teams use the exact same field to compete with each other to get the most points. Each year the field changes. Put FFL into YouTube and prepare to be impressed with what these kids can build and program.

Think about how much Syndrome spent on those death machines. $443 is a pittance. You could actually wait until he is old enough for this stuff ... it buys you a couple years to save up. I mean, at 4... I'm sure he is super-advanced for his age but even still... motion in more than one vector and hysteresis around change of direction are thinkers. There is much coolness to master. Even as a kick-ass playset for dad.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I mean, at 4... I'm sure he is super-advanced for his age but even still...

It isn't that he is advanced, or ready... it's the opposite of that. He isn't ready, and that is why I want to introduce it now. I want it to be familiar to him when he is ready, and not be something exceptional that we do 1 time and move on.

I was around computers at a really young age (having IBM's first home PC). Computers are common, easy for me. There isn't a learning curve that I ever remember, it was just something that I was always around. That is a bit my philosophy on technology with my son. I want him to be comfortable with technology and have a fundamental understanding that technology is a tool that he can use, rather than a distraction (iPad Games, etc).

Kano is a computer made for kids. Step one for the kid taking it out of the box? Build the computer. At four, you might want to assist. I was given my first computer when I was five. Now I'm staring down forty, and am amazed at what kids consider passé.

If your child is reading, now isn't a bad time to get started. I like that the Kano feels to me like the home computers of the 80's. It enables building, experimentation, and discovery. It isn't a content delivery machine.

Kano is related to Raspberry Pi, which is more general purpose computer than the Arduino. Still, a kid's gotta get that discipline for robotics too.

Consider LOGO. Particularly if you can get a physical turtle. Touchdevelop follows LOGO syntax, and is available as a free app on several platforms.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_%28programming_language%29

https://www.touchdevelop.com

I was actually going to make a joke about doing a Logo turtle in real life, then I did a bit of reading and discovered that that's pretty much where it came from - and that it almost got used as the language for the Lego stuff. Alas, the Lego Logo was not to be.