Posted November 11, 2009 by Chris

In our latest PyroElectro tutorial, we show you how to make a basic optical encoder for any mechanical system. Our example setup uses a simple printer pully and motor system. The write-up includes all source code, schematics and parts lists you’d need to build it.

Posted October 25, 2008 by Chris

If you’ve ever wanted to make your own PCB board this is a great project write-up to read through. The author has built a custom board & layout for the AT Tiny microcontroller which he eventually turned into a line-following robot.

Posted October 19, 2008 by Chris

This project is an autonomous blimp with surprisingly simple circuitry for controlling it. Autonomous blimps are quite a hassle to make because electronics (especially batteries) can start to weigh a lot very quickly. All schematics and a few videos are there waiting for you.

Posted September 29, 2008 by Chris

Today’s project write-up is a very in depth one. It covers the creation of a combat robot for a tournament. It goes from start to finish with several pictures. Since it’s remote control, the electronics and most all parts are just off the shelf components. Take a look if you want to make something dangerous!

Posted September 27, 2008 by Chris

This project write-up has a nice overview of what is necessary to both physically build a robotic arm and to control it with electronics. This is a complicated process but the author breaks it up into pieces so you can understand how to build it on your own!

Posted September 13, 2008 by Chris

Snake robotics is a relatively new idea, however really cool. The implementation can be tricky but the overall design is actually not very mind-numbing. Each link in the snake acts as a single actuator (this project uses a servo) and helps to move the entire body of the snake. The project write-up has the purely analog electronic design and schematic.

Posted September 11, 2008 by Chris

This is a cool little robot with a very straight forward and simple design to be controlled remotely. It uses “off-the-shelf” circuitry and the project write-up has all the schematic and software info necessary for building your own. This project is light on the software, which makes it better for beginners, check this one out!

Posted August 21, 2008 by Chris

The project write-up for this robot is very thorough and even the newest of the new can build this bot. The author’s write-up style is similar to mine except it’s all on one really, really long page (pro or con, I’m not sure). Be sure to check out the video of it in action!

Posted August 15, 2008 by Chris

This is an interesting project that I stumbled onto when I was surfing through source forge. The Rossum project attempts to create a standard software platform for similar hardware. Robotics software usually needs to be built from the ground up, so this project helps to leap over the first hurdles when developing robotics software.

Posted July 26, 2008 by Chris

The coat hanger walker is an interesting little robot that I came across. The parts are all off the shelf and the project write-up is literally for anyone interested in getting into robotics. The build process is detailed out very well and very thoroughly, which is exactly what beginners want & need.