How to Build Your First Robot

Robotics can teach you so much.I will learn skills ranging from electronics, mechanics, controls, programming, and even as broad as understanding animal behavior and human psychology. What does an easy to make robot look like? Browse the web for robot galleries. Remember, only bother looking at the really simple robots, DO NOT get imaginative or creative on your first robot. So your first robot will have 2 wheels. It will drive under the most basic algorithm for a robot - differential drive.



Let's start with the wheels. Big wheels will let your robot move faster. Small wheels for slower. So why not just get big? Bigger wheels means your robot has less torque to carry a heavy payload, and bigger wheels generally mean fine position control is harder too. Also, your sensors often cannot keep up with fast changes in position.

Ok now the motors. For an optimal robot choosing motors would involve calculations of weight, gearing ratios, desired terrain, desired velocity and acceleration, voltage, power consumption, controllability and a whole range of things too overwhelming for a beginner. So just wing it. Just make sure you keep your robot as light as possible, and get motors that can do overkill. But remember, bigger the motors, shorter your battery life, and more expensive and complicated your motor control circuitry will get.

Next comes power. No, solar power and eating slugs wont work. Use a battery. When buying a battery make sure they are rechargeable, have high mAh (energy capacity), and can output at least an amp at any time. Consider putting batteries in both parallel and in series to vary/control total voltage and mAh.


Ok now you need a cool circuit thingy. Forget about designing your own. It is best your first robot be simple, so a ready made circuit thingy is easiest. They are usually called microcontrollers, the most popular being PIC, Atmel/AVR, ARM, and BASIC Stamp based. Stamps are easier but offer less functionality.You can also handmake the programmer really cheap. Just make sure the controller you buy has a built in motor driver, LED's, and many analog input/output ports.

Now it is time to DESIGN, THEN BUILD, a robot chassis. A beginner may have difficulty designing just because he/she wouldn't know what does/doesn't work. 3D CAD program that shows placement of all parts, screws, everything. Parts were intentionally designed to require the least amount of drilling and cutting effort. You can never over design, especially when you are in a competition like battlebots where things break often, or don't have enough money/time to waste on mistakes.

This article can be a good guide to a beginner to start do a basic function of robot.Its explained from the simplest technology to the complicated technology.

By Society of robot website