5 ms·

Robot Gift Guide 2022

51 points by petoi 4y ago

zetazzed 4y ago
Does anyone have advice on whether the Lego Spike kits are actually good for home use? (In my case, for a 9 year old who is very Lego-proficient and has some basic Scratch skills.) They seem very structured for classroom use, but I keep thinking they should probably be flexible enough for to build some fun and crazy bots at home...
- mcphage 4y ago
  Hardware wise they're pretty similar to the Mindstorms kit, just more colorful. Not the exact same, but close. And I think the firmware is different, but you can swap it out for the Mindstorms firmware.
jamestimmins 4y ago
Can anyone here recommend the best entry point into robotics for adults? I'd like something where I can start with Python, then potentially dig into the ROS and add more accessories over time. Background is that I'm a software engineer.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- pj_mukh 4y ago
  Do you want to build the hardware? Cuz if not, Gazebo's [1] a great starting point to just play with the software/build your own. Built from the ground up deeply integrated with ROS.
  - jamestimmins 4y ago
    Depends what you mean by "build". I'd prefer to not to have to 3d print anything, but I'd like to assemble real world pieces.
- alsodumb 4y ago
  I recommend the Roomba like Create 3 robot. It's made by iRobot, the company that makes Roombas but for education. It supports ROS2, is relatively cheap and easy to her started with. You can layer build your own systems. PS: If you can afford to spend like $5000 and want a quadraped like Spot, you can get one from Unitree. If you are looking for manipulators, you can get one from Elephant robotics for less than $1000. If you are looking for a more useful manipulator, I love Franka panda but it's like 20,000 USD.
  - jamestimmins 4y ago
    Thanks, this is helpful. I was looking at the Create 3, and I like the price point, but the website doesn't include much in the way of accessories or addons. Do you know what people use it for w/out those?
    - alsodumb 4y ago
      I need to find the link but there is a way to attach camera to it. Tbh most people use it only for learning ROS. I know you can learn ROS using Gazebo similations but real robot feels better and many universities use such hardware for reaching ROS and robotics basics in intro to robotics classes. A more useful, affordable "robot" I can think of is Crazyflie nano drone. It has an amazing ecosystem of extensions around it and you can do as high level or low level as you want to. You can develop and tune your own sensor fusion and state estimation algorithms, control algorithms, etc.
- petoi 4y ago
  Check out Petoi Bittle robot dog(https://www.petoi.com/products/petoi-bittle-robot-dog https://www.petoi.com/products/petoi-bittle-robot-dog) for under $270. It has a complete set of tools for entry-level robotics. The motion controller is a Arduino-like controller and can connect to many third-party sensor modules such as camera, gesture & microphone. It supports C++ and Python API It runs on open source software OpenCat and can integrate with Pi or ROS. Here's the review by MagPi in its Nov 2022 issue: https://images.ctfassets.net/2lpsze4g694w/2A12bpCahduZNgNQZv8UT2/a9d246048e333d2f51a895f725811efe/078-079_MagPi-123_REVIEW_sample.png https://images.ctfassets.net/2lpsze4g694w/2A12bpCahduZNgNQZv...
pj_mukh 4y ago
I really want a functioning vacuum robot (as in the vacuum works great) with a good API. The closest thing I’ve seen is Roborocks Socket API.
- the_sleaze_ 4y ago
  Not sure what you'd want to do with the project if it's already a 'great vaccuum'. There's this https://github.com/Sollimann/CleanIt https://github.com/Sollimann/CleanIt for iRobot or 'Valetudo' for Xiaomi, which may be at the very least hackable, if not have good APIs. And there are of course projects to build your own https://github.com/awesome-vacuum/awesome-vacuum https://github.com/awesome-vacuum/awesome-vacuum
  - pj_mukh 4y ago
    A great vacuum as in it can suck dirt. That's all. CleanIt for example, only works with iRobot Create i.e. no vacuum. Cool open-source hardware projects in awesome-vacuum though. I'd love to abstract away atleast the hardware vacuum parts if possible.
- gherdty 4y ago
  I don’t think it’s a public API but you can easily hack the Eufy 30C. I have been using mine with home assistant automations for a few years now. It’s cheap but I love it and I’m honestly considering buying another one. It has gotten a little noisy after 3 years.
  - qup 4y ago
    They probably upload a map of my house to the cloud.
- neilv 4y ago
  iRobot Roombas have (had?) APIs. I collected info about the various protocols and interfacing options in 2013, in the course of making a Racket package for the Roomba and Create. https://www.neilvandyke.org/racket/roomba/ https://www.neilvandyke.org/racket/roomba/
WrtCdEvrydy 4y ago
I'm very much surprised to see Skydio 2 on this list. Although it's a robot, there's not much you can do with your code right now since the Skills SDK access has been heavily restricted.
- alsodumb 4y ago
  That's true, but I'd call the smartest robot available to consumers that is relatively affordable. Their tech blows my mind. They do all the navigation and motion planning based on just RGB cameras, running multiple neural networks in parallel on board the drone. All the depth estimation, including small obstacles likes leaves and power cables, they are doing it all onboard. I don't think anyone in industry come close to that. I so regret missing interning with them when they were starting to grow in 2018 - they came to my University for recruiting and I was just starting my PhD and decided to not look for internships.
  - good_boy 4y ago
    > I don't think anyone in industry come close to that. Check NVidia. I believe Jetson Nano can do stereo matching from multiple camera pairs in real time. From here one step to 3d points cloud. New Orin will have like 10x performance. Coming in January. So, it's within the reach. I'm thinking, have big stupid drones collecting the dust...
    - krisoft 4y ago
      Not surprisingly the Skydio 2 robot is built using an NVidia chip. https://support.skydio.com/hc/en-us/articles/5338292379803-Comparing-Skydio-2-and-Skydio-2- https://support.skydio.com/hc/en-us/articles/5338292379803-C...
    - alsodumb 4y ago
      Skydio is too small to design their own chipset - they use Nvidia GPU onboard. My comment was about people using neural network models for everything needed to fly a drone. I've seen models fail badly in ground based robots. They are flying a drone that's running so many models to be able to track, detect, localize, plan and fly. It's insane. Jetson Nano can do stereo matching, and perhaps one can manage to even run multiple neural networks at the same time in inference mode. Getting it into production on real world systems is a whole different story. I can't imagine how Skydio manages to produce such robust and consistent outputs. I mean it kinda makes sense why Skydio is the first and the only company so far who's able to do it effectively - Adam's (CEO) been working on it for like more than 10 years now and his PhD thesis at MIT is awesome!

51 points by petoi 4y ago

Does anyone have advice on whether the Lego Spike kits are actually good for home use? (In my case, for a 9 year old who is very Lego-proficient and has some basic Scratch skills.) They seem very structured for classroom use, but I keep thinking they should probably be flexible enough for to build some fun and crazy bots at home...

mcphage 4y ago
Hardware wise they're pretty similar to the Mindstorms kit, just more colorful. Not the exact same, but close. And I think the firmware is different, but you can swap it out for the Mindstorms firmware.

jamestimmins 4y ago

Can anyone here recommend the best entry point into robotics for adults? I'd like something where I can start with Python, then potentially dig into the ROS and add more accessories over time. Background is that I'm a software engineer.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
pj_mukh 4y ago
Do you want to build the hardware? Cuz if not, Gazebo's [1] a great starting point to just play with the software/build your own. Built from the ground up deeply integrated with ROS.
- jamestimmins 4y ago
  Depends what you mean by "build". I'd prefer to not to have to 3d print anything, but I'd like to assemble real world pieces.
alsodumb 4y ago
I recommend the Roomba like Create 3 robot. It's made by iRobot, the company that makes Roombas but for education. It supports ROS2, is relatively cheap and easy to her started with. You can layer build your own systems. PS: If you can afford to spend like $5000 and want a quadraped like Spot, you can get one from Unitree. If you are looking for manipulators, you can get one from Elephant robotics for less than $1000. If you are looking for a more useful manipulator, I love Franka panda but it's like 20,000 USD.
- jamestimmins 4y ago
  Thanks, this is helpful. I was looking at the Create 3, and I like the price point, but the website doesn't include much in the way of accessories or addons. Do you know what people use it for w/out those?
  - alsodumb 4y ago
    I need to find the link but there is a way to attach camera to it. Tbh most people use it only for learning ROS. I know you can learn ROS using Gazebo similations but real robot feels better and many universities use such hardware for reaching ROS and robotics basics in intro to robotics classes. A more useful, affordable "robot" I can think of is Crazyflie nano drone. It has an amazing ecosystem of extensions around it and you can do as high level or low level as you want to. You can develop and tune your own sensor fusion and state estimation algorithms, control algorithms, etc.
petoi 4y ago
Check out Petoi Bittle robot dog(https://www.petoi.com/products/petoi-bittle-robot-dog https://www.petoi.com/products/petoi-bittle-robot-dog) for under $270. It has a complete set of tools for entry-level robotics. The motion controller is a Arduino-like controller and can connect to many third-party sensor modules such as camera, gesture & microphone. It supports C++ and Python API It runs on open source software OpenCat and can integrate with Pi or ROS. Here's the review by MagPi in its Nov 2022 issue: https://images.ctfassets.net/2lpsze4g694w/2A12bpCahduZNgNQZv8UT2/a9d246048e333d2f51a895f725811efe/078-079_MagPi-123_REVIEW_sample.png https://images.ctfassets.net/2lpsze4g694w/2A12bpCahduZNgNQZv...

pj_mukh 4y ago

I really want a functioning vacuum robot (as in the vacuum works great) with a good API. The closest thing I’ve seen is Roborocks Socket API.

the_sleaze_ 4y ago
Not sure what you'd want to do with the project if it's already a 'great vaccuum'. There's this https://github.com/Sollimann/CleanIt https://github.com/Sollimann/CleanIt for iRobot or 'Valetudo' for Xiaomi, which may be at the very least hackable, if not have good APIs. And there are of course projects to build your own https://github.com/awesome-vacuum/awesome-vacuum https://github.com/awesome-vacuum/awesome-vacuum
- pj_mukh 4y ago
  A great vacuum as in it can suck dirt. That's all. CleanIt for example, only works with iRobot Create i.e. no vacuum. Cool open-source hardware projects in awesome-vacuum though. I'd love to abstract away atleast the hardware vacuum parts if possible.
gherdty 4y ago
I don’t think it’s a public API but you can easily hack the Eufy 30C. I have been using mine with home assistant automations for a few years now. It’s cheap but I love it and I’m honestly considering buying another one. It has gotten a little noisy after 3 years.
- qup 4y ago
  They probably upload a map of my house to the cloud.
neilv 4y ago
iRobot Roombas have (had?) APIs. I collected info about the various protocols and interfacing options in 2013, in the course of making a Racket package for the Roomba and Create. https://www.neilvandyke.org/racket/roomba/ https://www.neilvandyke.org/racket/roomba/

WrtCdEvrydy 4y ago

I'm very much surprised to see Skydio 2 on this list. Although it's a robot, there's not much you can do with your code right now since the Skills SDK access has been heavily restricted.

alsodumb 4y ago
That's true, but I'd call the smartest robot available to consumers that is relatively affordable. Their tech blows my mind. They do all the navigation and motion planning based on just RGB cameras, running multiple neural networks in parallel on board the drone. All the depth estimation, including small obstacles likes leaves and power cables, they are doing it all onboard. I don't think anyone in industry come close to that. I so regret missing interning with them when they were starting to grow in 2018 - they came to my University for recruiting and I was just starting my PhD and decided to not look for internships.
- good_boy 4y ago
  > I don't think anyone in industry come close to that. Check NVidia. I believe Jetson Nano can do stereo matching from multiple camera pairs in real time. From here one step to 3d points cloud. New Orin will have like 10x performance. Coming in January. So, it's within the reach. I'm thinking, have big stupid drones collecting the dust...
  - krisoft 4y ago
    Not surprisingly the Skydio 2 robot is built using an NVidia chip. https://support.skydio.com/hc/en-us/articles/5338292379803-Comparing-Skydio-2-and-Skydio-2- https://support.skydio.com/hc/en-us/articles/5338292379803-C...
  - alsodumb 4y ago
    Skydio is too small to design their own chipset - they use Nvidia GPU onboard. My comment was about people using neural network models for everything needed to fly a drone. I've seen models fail badly in ground based robots. They are flying a drone that's running so many models to be able to track, detect, localize, plan and fly. It's insane. Jetson Nano can do stereo matching, and perhaps one can manage to even run multiple neural networks at the same time in inference mode. Getting it into production on real world systems is a whole different story. I can't imagine how Skydio manages to produce such robust and consistent outputs. I mean it kinda makes sense why Skydio is the first and the only company so far who's able to do it effectively - Adam's (CEO) been working on it for like more than 10 years now and his PhD thesis at MIT is awesome!