BYOR, Build Your Own Robot

The Time Is Right:

The field of hobby robotics is more exciting today than ever before. The day when you will have a humanoid, walking, talking robot in your home that will do your cooking and cleaning looms ever closer. Short of having a real robotic maid or butler, there are many other options that can be built today on just about any budget. If you really want to enjoy a fun, reasonably priced hobby, you should try to build your own robots. There are many reasons why it makes sense create a robot from scratch rather than buying pre-made ones.

 

Affordable:

The technology that exists today staggers the mind in not only how advanced it has become, but also in how cheap it is to purchase. There are microcontrollers today that literally replace a room-sized computer of the previous century. The cost for such controllers can be well under $100 for a more-than-capable unit. Some can be purchased as kits to assemble and learn about computer architecture and electronics, others are pre-built units and some even come as single boards that are ready to “plug and play.”

Sensors for hobby robots have increased in functionality while they have also reduced in price. It has gotten to the point where advanced sensors like ultrasonic range detectors and infrared distance sensors even come with robotic toys like the Lego Mindstorms kits. The accuracy of these sensors is astonishing and affords the robotic hobbyist with very high-precision instruments capable of providing ample functionality on even an entry-level robot.

 

Programability:

It was formerly the case that many of these microcontrollers required a high-level understanding of computers, binary math and assembler language programming to operate. This restricted the field to schooled adults or older children with a great deal of mathematics background.

Today, many of these robotic products come with a computer interface that allows “building block” style components to be visually ordered on-screen in a graphical editor which allows even younger children the ability to understand logic programming and control-flow logic structures in an easy to understand format. These same programs usually also allow code-level programming to be performed as the student gains an understanding of the high-level logic. This allows them to get “closer to the metal” of the processor’s native language and architecture while providing skill-building opportunities.

Even more interesting for some, is that many of the common hobby robots have their loyal fan following, usually very technical people, who like to push the limits of the platforms. Often you can find compilers or interpreters written to support programming in other languages. This allows the clever and curious inventors to use their robotic for other purposes while learning ever more technical skills. You can often find more than one website devoted to groups like these.

 

Attack of the Toys:

If you are not as interested in learning programming software, you can also take existing toys and use them as a springboard to more advanced uses. Toys like the Furby of yesteryear gained a following by inspired experimenters who took them apart, rewired them, and put them back together in their own vision, to perform functions not intended by the original manufacturers.

Radio controlled toys are also an excellent springboard for robot development as they take care of a common problem with robots, locomotion. One of the persistent problems creating a robot from scratch is how to propel your robot accurately around the room. Motors require careful selection, knowledge of velocity, gearing and other complex formulas in order to operate accurately. Robots like the iRobot Roomba have solved these problems and thus it makes sense to reuse the work they have done rather than re-inventing the wheel.

Also, battery power can be tricky to learn and many of these platforms take the guesswork out of creating rechargable platforms that won’t run out of juice after a five minute stroll around your home.

Reusing these technologies allows the experiment to concentrate on higher-level functions like navigation, vision and other robotic applications that may be more appealing to the robotics enthusiast.

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Popular Robot Kits To Buy

Robotic toys are a lot of fun and they are remarkable instructive toys also. Robotic toys have evolved a lot since da Vinci’s model, and the first robot toy was made in 1939 when Westinghouse created Elektro, a humanoid robot, and Sparky, his robot dog. A stripped-down version, the Omnibot 2000, was a robot toy developed during the mid 1980’s.

A company called WowWee created the most advanced human-like robotic toy hailed the The Humanoid Robot Called the Robosapien in 2004. Priced at under $99 (US), the first cost-effective, mass-produced humanoid sold four million units and gave life to the consumer robot industry.

The robot marketplace continues to grow at a exceedingly swift rate. In the present day the popularity of buying and using robots whether it’s a toy for our kids, a security system or a lawn mower, adults and kids similarly share in using them.

Common Robotic Toys

Roboni-i Game Playing Robot

Robotic toys are fun to own, but they don’t actually boast the same multi player functionality that video games presently have. That might all change with the Roboni-i Game Playing Robot, Earth’s first-ever programmable gaming robot.

It’s simple to customize and is packed with games; play by yourself or against friends with like robots. You can even create your own games, or download games others have made. To set up a multi player game, the robots must link to each other in a group so that they can identify each other. When this occurs, you’re able to intermingle with other Roboni-i Game Playing Robot units and play games with them.

The Humanoid Robot Called the Robosapien

The Humanoid Robot Called the Robosapien is a sophisticated union of technology and personality. Loaded with emotions and intelligence, The Humanoid Robot Called the Robosapien is the first humanoid based on the technology of applied biomorphic robotics. The The Humanoid Robot Called the Robosapien is able to identify objects and even skin tones and recognize when its owner walks into a room. In addition, The Humanoid Robot Called the Robosapien also has internal slope sensors that can discontinue the majority of functions when he is located in out of the ordinary positions, such as lying on its back. The neat thing about this robot is the ability for him to get up from the floor in case he tips over. The Humanoid Robot Called the Robosapien is a programmable, rapid moving robot. The The Humanoid Robot Called the Robosapien has real multi-speed quick dynamic running, turning, and walking.

The Humanoid Robot Called the Robosapien has four programming modes: right sensor, left sensor, sonic and master program. The right and left sensors are triggered when sensors on their parallel sides are activated, the sonic sensor is triggered when the robot hears a loud noise (Listen mode), and the master program is triggered from the remote control.

The Ultimate Robot Kit Called the Lego Mindstorms

The Ultimate Robot Kit Called the Lego Mindstorms lets you build and program robots that can do pretty much everything. The Ultimate Robot Kit Called the Lego Mindstorms give you all the tools you need to put together your own robots and encode them to perform all types of actions. Version 1.0 RCX bricks have a power adapter jack to allow nonstop operation instead of the restricted operation time when using batteries. In version 2.0 (as well as later 1.0s included in the RIS 1.5), the power adapter jack was removed. Version 2.0 of the robotics invention kit comes with a programming environment that is better than a lot of professional robot kits. It is easy to understand why numerous schools are standardizing on the mindstorms kits to instruct people in the field of robotics.

Wrex

Wrex’s snout acts like a stop button when he is moving and a random actions selection button when he is not. Wrex is capable of walking about, amusement and obey commands and run like a real dog. He can rotate his head, move his ears, huff and even wag his tail.

The First Robotic Arthropod Known As Roboquad

The First Robotic Arthropod Known As Roboquad is a four-legged, spider-like robot with unparalleled mobility and consciousness. The The First Robotic Arthropod Known As Roboquad is built with advanced sensory awareness, helping it respond immediately to the surrounding environment and follow a moving object in any direction, including forward, backwards, and sideways. The First Robotic Arthropod Known As Roboquad, by WowWee Robotics, claims the honor of being the first true robotic arthropod. It is fundamentally an animated robot that has multi-directional movement capabilities and highly developed sensory perception. The First Robotic Arthropod Known As Roboquad even has an extended battery life for extended missions. Capable of spotting movement from up to 6 feet away with a IRscanner, he can also hunt for and navigate doorways, and distinguish table edges. When the lights go out, The First Robotic Arthropod Known As Roboquad can continue operating, turning on his head-mounted LEDs which lets it move in the dark. The First Robotic Arthropod Known As Roboquad becomes crabby, happy, attentive, standoffish and jumpy as he walks about on any type of floor. The First Robotic Arthropod Known As Roboquad can even dance.

Roborover

Roborover appears to be WowWee’s 2009 successor to their hugely popular Tri-Bot robot which appeared first in 2008. The biggest noticeable difference is that Roborover moves on treads rather than wheels.

Roborover is enabled with object detection. He has front and behind sensors that prevent him from bumping in to walls. Roborover’s tread wheels allow it to drive over objects up to a 15-degree gradient, or about an inch high. Roborover is an nimble tread based buddy with a shy but inquiring nature, his personality grows and becomes more confident as you engage with him. He is constantly keen to be on the move or play games with you. Roborover has several different modes: explore, lookout, standby and sleep. Explore mode does just what you would expect; Roborover moves around the room autonomously while it avoids bumping into objects. Sensor-based LED headlights will automatically turn on if it’s dark. The Roborover has a range of spoken content and driving-based games.

The Roving Rovio Security Robot

The Roving Rovio Security Robot, allows you to be in two places at one time! WowWee The Roving Rovio Security Robot includes a WiFi connection which allows you drive it from anywhere in the world given that you have a web capable mobile phone or a PC with internet connection. The Roving Rovio Security Robot’s built-in LED headlight will help you steer it even in faintly lit locations, so you will always know what is going on at home or at the office. Its skull-mounted, movable camera and wide range of vision allow you to see and hear precisely what The Roving Rovio Security Robot sees and hears, on your computer screen, anyplace in the world! No need to be concerned about The Roving Rovio Security Robot running low on power while you’re gone – the self-docking feature allows you to send The Roving Rovio Security Robot back to the charging dock to recharge, with the tap of a button in your internet browser. Once it’s done charging, The Roving Rovio Security Robot is ready to continue watching your home or office.