Daniel Knox - Home Robotics: Maker-Inspired Projects for Building Your Own Robots

Once you have mastered the earlier projects, you will probably want to take on something a bit more complicated. The three advanced robots in this book have been designed to give you the flexibility to expand and modify them as you see fit. They do require a few more tools and parts than the other robots, but dont worry there is a simple step-by-step guide to help you build them.

The first of them is a Robo Warrior designed for combat. Fighting with small robotic machines is a popular competitive sport that is enjoyed around the world. There are a few important rules to follow, but dont worry I will teach you all you need to know and show you how to build a simple machine that can be easily adapted and customized. If you have access to a laser cutter, I have designed a template to help you get started with your combat bot. If you dont have access to one, dont worry stiff cardboard works fine too. I have also created a file complete with a step-by-step guide to help you configure your transmitter if you want to change the way the robot is steered. All the files can be found and downloaded here: https://github.com/danielknox/Robot_Warrior.

The second project, CNC Writer, is a type of CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine. In industry, robots are commonly used to perform repetitive tasks over and over again with high precision. Finding the parts for a CNC machine might sound really expensive, but everyday objects around the home actually use similar components. So for this project we will go green and recycle some old discarded electronics to build our own mini CNC Writer. This machine functions like and understands the same language (GCode) as its larger counterparts. Like our other advanced projects, I have prepared the software files for you, so you just need to build the physical machine. The files that you will need to go with our step-by-step guide can be found here: https://github.com/danielknox/CNC_Machine.

The real Mars Rover must rank as the ultimate remote-controlled robot. The final project in the book shows how to build your very own machine that can roam about rough terrain. It is controlled from your mobile phone. At its heart, this robot uses a board based on the popular Arduino platform this board can easily be expanded to accept additional sensors and there are also many popular software libraries available to help add new functionality. Arduino commonly uses a text-based programming language known as C++. This programming is too long and complex to be described in this book, so to keep things easy and fun for you I have already done the hard part!

All the software that the robot needs can be found here: https://github.com/danielknox/Mars_Rover.

Some basic tools and a few household items are all you need to start building your own robots. Tools are also useful for doing any running repairs that might be needed.

Marker pen

Cross-head screwdriver

Flat-head screwdriver

Nut driver

Engineer pliers

Precision snips

Retractable knife

Multimeter