Robotics

Projects

• Ultrasound Sensors (NEW)
• Incremental optical encoders
• Atmel AVRs
• Mobile Robot pictures, schematics, and PCB (NEW)
• Reprogramming a mobile robot using infrared communication
• Light sensors and line following
• Infrared Proximity sensor
• Wire wrapping
• Free UNIX tools for drawing schematics and creating PCBs
  • gEDA home page
  • my gschem examples
  • xcircuit home page
  • pcb home page
• Making your own PCBs

Robot Resources on the Web

• Google Groups. For almost any kind of question, I've started looking here instead of doing a web search. Just type some of the words you're looking for, and click on View Thread. Avoid threads that are only 1 article (it's probably a question with no answer) and threads with >50 articles which have probably degenerated into a Windows vs. Linux or C vs. Fortran war.
• Control of Stepping Motors, a tutorial by Douglas W. Jones at University of Iowa.
• Electronics Resources by Tom Loredo at Cornell.
• Johann Borenstein is head of the mobile robotics lab at University of Michigan. On his page are many ideas about robot navigation. Especially look for his report called Where am I? Systems and Methods for Mobile Robot Positioning. (Warning: 13 meg PDF file)
• Nashua Robot Builders Club
• A whole website about Kalman filters by Greg Welch and Gary Bishop.

Robot Books

• Mobile Robots: Inspiration to Implementation, by Joseph Jones, Anita Flynn, and Bruce Seiger.
• The Robot Builder's Bonanza: 99 Inexpensive Robotics Projects, by Gordon McComb.
• The Art of Electronics, by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill.

Where to find stuff

• Digikey has an amazing online catalog and ships many orders within an hour of pressing Send. The fastest way I've ever found to find a datasheet is to type the part number into Digikey's search form and click on Technical/Catalog information. Most parts have a PDF datasheet that you can download.
• Jameco is less complete but less expensive. You don't always know what brand of part you're going to get, but usually you can't tell the difference anyway. They have several catalog pages just for robot builders: robot kits, uC programmers, flex sensors, servos, tiny gears, and a selection of DC and stepper motors.
• Mouser. I haven't used Mouser much, but sometimes they have things that I can't find anywhere else. For example, ST Electronics L293 H-bridge drivers, and headers with long pins for wire wrap. Prices similar to Jameco.
• Acroname is all about amateur robotics. Lots of ideas and hints, and they sell some hard-to-find items like Polaroid ultrasonic rangers, compass, and roller wheels.
• Tower Hobbies seems to be targeted to people building remote control stuff: cars, planes, boats. You'll find lots of motors, gears, batteries, glue, etc.