Robotics

[Anon No.524719]

Computer engineering student here. I want to get into robotics. So far i think about getting an Arduino, but it is quite costly on a students budget. Would like advice on where to start, and with what board/microcontroller.

Lets say my first project will be a robotic arm.
Requirements:
- USB controllable.
- Beginner friendly.
- Programmable.

[Anonymous No.524723]

aliexpress dot com for cheapest dev boards on earf

[Anonymous No.524724]

You think a $20 arduino is expensive?

Boy, don't even try getting into robotics if that's your attitude.

[Anon No.524738]

>>524724
Thanks for the advice hidden in between all that sarcasm. Is ordering from china safe, or should i stick to Britain? eurofag here

[Anonymous No.524739]

>>524724
this
the arduino will be the cheapest part.
if you want to build a robotics arm you will either need 4 stepper motors or 4 servos. which will cost around 80bucks for anything semi moving and not failing to move because of weak components and high weight

[Anonymous No.524745]

>he didn't get a $9 ARDUINO Compatible STARTER KIT while they were on indigogo

Man you must feel pretty foolish

[Anonymous No.524746]

>>524745
When are you going to get that thing?

[Anonymous No.524747]

[Anonymous No.524749]

>>524747
actually what the fuck, they seem to have doubled the price

[Anonymous No.524750]

>>524724
>>524739
These guys have it head on. It isn't the board that will kill you in costs, but the components you will want to buy. If you really want to get into it but don't have the disposable income I suggest you just read up on them online. You can find lots of textbooks on Arduino that you can just download online.

Or if you want to try making something else, you can usually find old toys with electric motors in them from salvation army / goodwill stores. You could hook those up and combine them with cheap photoresistors and make a little rover that drives towards the brightest light it finds. That would be a fairly cheap build.

[Anonymous No.524769]

>>524746

Apparently they've started shipping already.

[Anonymous No.524792]

>>524749
Not surprising as they were obviously selling them below cost.

[Anonymous No.524801]

you could check out stm discovery boards, iirc they cost like <$20. Of course it's probably not as smooth learning curve as with Arduino, but they aren't exactly impossible either.

Another cheap favorite of mine is the teensy, the 3.0 costs $19 and as the name implies is quite small (but still should be more powerful than a arduino!)

[Anonymous No.524802]

>>524750
another common junkyard item that has motors are printers. they also have all sorts of gears and other mechanical bits and pieces. of course they aren't the most powerful things in the world, and most gears probably are just plastic, but you'll get started with them.

[Anonymous No.524810]

>>524802
Ooooh, good tip. I'll add those to my list of things to buy at secondhand stores and yard sales for electronic supplies.

[Anonymous No.524819]

Yeah, a robot arm is not the best place to start since you need high-torque motors/servos to do anything useful. You can get plenty of steppers from printers but imagine having a stepper at the elbow and holding it up with one at the shoulder... torque is a bitch.

[Anonymous No.524826]

>>524819
This. Pretty much a lot of (admittedly awesome) hobby robotics is just cup-sized things running around on a couple of wheels doing random shit.

[Anonymous No.524834]

>>524801
wow that thing looks pretty sweet

[Anon No.525031]

Thanks for the advice guys, ill probably start with an arduino starter kit, and play around with it until i get my hands on more cash, or at least create something good enough for some kind of funding.

I'll make a thread in a few months to show my progress, cya there

[Anonymous No.525335]

>>524746
Ausfag here. Got mine like 5 days ago.