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Speaking for myself, I would need the fundamentals of animatronics first (like, if I'm making a simple animatronic puppet, how do I design mechanisms to open an
by fenwick67 6y ago
Speaking for myself, I would need the fundamentals of animatronics first (like, if I'm making a simple animatronic puppet, how do I design mechanisms to open and close the mouth or turn the neck?). Assuming I am well versed in control systems, electronics, and have a solid grasp of torque, gear ratios etc, where would I go from there? Under-actuated robotics are like a step 2. Hell, even robotics 101 seems like a step 2, since it focuses on the control systems quite a lot, I'm talking about "how do I build it?" and "what is a four-bar linkage good for?". These courses always focus on modelling a real robot and controlling it, I'm interested in designing the mechanics of the thing.
- dbcurtis 6y agoFair enough. 6.832 is an advanced course. Building simple kits is always a good way to get going. You learn by seeing how someone else solved the problem, and add that to your bag of tricks. The Pololu Romi chassis is not a terrible place to start. The wheels have (kinda coarse) encoders, so you can at least get some decent control going. Even simpler robots can be built by modifying hobby servos for continuous rotation. Pick a simple challenge, like "Drive around on a table without falling off.", that is a decent robot "Hello, World!". (And it isn't as easy as it sounds.) If there is a robot club near by, check it out.