How to Start with Robotics
I lay out the exact steps you can follow to learn programming and electronics to be able to build a robot car and program it if you are an absolute beginner with no prior knowledge of programming or electronics. Now, let's get right into it.
Step #1: Programming Language The firs thing you need to learn is a programming language. Now, You may ask why do I need to learn a programming language Dr. Robot? Well, the real reason is robots are dumb before they are programmed. You need to tell them exactly what they need to do step by step. The precise step by step instructions are communicated to the Robot via a programming language. Ok Dr. robot, I agree, I need to learn a programming language. Now, what programming language do I need to learn? That's a great question. As a beginner, the best programming language for you to learn is C. C is the language used to talk to electronics and hardware. C is used to program an arduino board which we will talk about next in this video. Also, C is a pre-req to learn C++ which is the most used programming language for robotics. Dr. Robot, I'm confused, do I need to learn C++, how about python or java? No worries, I understand why you are confused, but lucky for you, I have created a video that answers your question. Please refer to the card above or the link down below for the video. But again, as a beginner and to start just learn C. Now, what is the best online resource or course to learn C? no worries, I have done my research and here is one of the best online courses to learn C for beginners. This course is on coursera platform and is called c for every one. This course will teach you only the basics of C, it should not take you more than 22 hours to complete the course. You can Skip week 5 because pointers and references are advanced topics and may not be needed to program an arduino or an educational robot car.
Step 2: Electronics You need to learn Basics of electronic using an Arduino board. First, what the heck is an Arduino board. Arduino is an easy to use microcontroller board designed for absolute beginners without any prior knowledge of electronics to do cool projects, projects like atomic clocks, drones, 3d printers, robot cars and many more. Arduino is essentially a small computer you can use to receive inputs from sensors and command actuators such as electric motors to do stuff. Arduino is programmed in C and comes with its own text editor or IDE. Arduino is even used in the industry to rapid porotype ideas and to build test fixtures. So, knowing arduino is a good skill to put on your resume. OK, first you need to buy an arduino kit. I have done some research and found this Arduino starter kit by Elegoo to be a great and complete Kit to buy. The kit is available on Amazon and runs for $38.99. I contacted Elegoo and they have been nice enough to offer a promo code for some discounts . we will do our best to send you an arduino kit.The eelgoo arduino kit is loaded with sensors, LEDs, and motors. It also comes with 14 toturials that you can follow to learn different things from turning on and off LEDs with different colors to displaying numbers on a small LCD display to controlling a servo motor. If you do not like reading tutorials, don’t worry, I don’t like them either. I'd suggest you take this course on Edx to learn how to do some cool hands-on projects. You should be able to complete the course and learn how to use arduino in 3 weeks if you spend 3 hours a day or maybe just a week if put in enough time each day. Now, you may ask, can I use rasbery pi instead of arduino? The short answer is yes, however, again, as a beginner, it's better to start with Arduino as Arduino is much easier to learn, has more training resources, and is more popular.
Step 3: DIY Robot Kit Alright, in Step 1 you learn C, in step 2 you learn how to use C to program arduino. Now that you know C and electronics. It's time to move on to build and program a Robot. Well, a DIY robot kit is probably the best tool if you want to get hands-on experience with Robotics in short amount of time with minimum cost. I did some research and I read about a few DIY robot kits, and finally I found this robot kit by Elegoo that is highly rated on Amazon and is well priced. I contacted them and they sent me a sample to test out and review.
The main reason this kit is a great kit to learn robotics are: 1- This kit comes with all the tools and fasteners you need to put it together. You basically do not need anything else to assemble the kit.
2- The second reason is this is an arduino based robot kit, from step 1 and step 2 you know how to program an Arduino and how to use an Arduino to different things.
3- The third reason is This kit comes with 7 easy to follow lessons. If English is not your first language, no worries, because these lessons come in French, Italian, and Dutch. We talked about the good things about this kit,
there are some points that you need to keep in mind when you start using the Robot kit:
1- the assembly instruction is clear but is not too detailed maybe on purpose to challenge you a little bit which I believe is a good thing. So be patient when you try to put this kit together.
2- The app to control the robot is easy to use but may not work right out of the box. However, you do not really need the app. In my opinion, the app is mainly for kids who want to play with the robot and have fun.
3- They robot comes pre-loaded with the default program that is controlled via the remote controller, it may or may not work properly. It's better to follow the lessons in the tutorial folder and load the program to get it to work properly. Please keep in mind that these lessons have been designed to get you started and some of them may not be detailed enough for you to understand what's happening under the hood. I’ll put some references and additional resources down in the description box that you can watch and follow to get a deeper understanding of the electronics,
how the program works and everything. Now, let’s summarize 3 steps:
Step #1: Learn C as the programming language used for Robotics
Step #2: buy an Arduino kit and learn electronics using the Arduino kit Step
#3: buy a DIY robot kit and learn how to build and program a Robot
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Thanks for reading: How to Start with Robotics? for Absolute Beginners || The Ultimate 3-Step Guide, Sorry, my English is bad:)