HOW TO MAKE A ROBOT

How to Make a Robot - Lesson 1: Getting Started

Lessons Menu:

• Lesson 1 – Getting Started
• Lesson 2 - Choosing a Robotic Platform
• Lesson 3 - Making Sense of Actuators
• Lesson 4 - Understanding Microcontrollers
• Lesson 5 - Choosing a Motor Controller
• Lesson 6 – Controlling your Robot
• Lesson 7 - Using Sensors
• Lesson 8 - Getting the Right Tools
• Lesson 9 - Assembling a Robot
• Lesson 10 - Programming a Robot

Getting Started

Welcome to the first installment of the Grand RobotShop Tutorial, a series of 10 lessons that will teach you how to make your own robot. This tutorial is aimed at anybody willing to get started in robotics and have a basic understanding of terms such as “voltage”, “current”, “motor”, and “sensors”. Although this might seem pretty basic, even people with previous robot building experience might find useful information regarding the general method of building a robot.

What is a robot?

There are many definitions of robot and no real consensus has been attained so far. We loosely define a robot as follows:

Robot: An electromechanical device which is capable of reacting in some way to its environment, and take autonomous decisions or actions in order to achieve a specific task.

This means that a toaster, a lamp, or a car  would not be considered as robots since they have no way of perceiving their environment. On the other hand, avacuum cleaner that can navigate around a room, or a solar panel that seeks the sun, can be considered as a robotic system. It is also important to note that the  “robots” featured in Robot Wars for instance or any solely remote controlled device would not fall under this definition and would be closer to a more complex remote controlled car. Although this definition is quite general, it might need to evolve in the future in order to keep up with the latest advancement in the field. In order to get a sens of how robotics is rapidly growing, we suggest you take a look at the RobotShop History of Robotics.

Let's get started

This series of tutorials is intended to guide you through the steps of building a complete mobile robot. There are 10 lessons that will be released in the following 10 weeks.  Each lesson guides you through one step of making a general-purpose mobile robot.  This will enable you to build your very own mobile robot in order to perform a task of your choice. Each lesson will be illustrated with an example from RobotShop experience in producing the RobotShop Rover. The lessons are intended to be read one after the other and build upon the information gained.

The first step is to determine what your robot should do (i.e. what is its purpose in life). Robots can be used in almost any situation and are primarily intended to help humans in some way. If you are unsure of what you want your robot to do or simply want to concentrate your efforts on specific tasks, here are some ideas:

Knowledge & Learning

In order to build increasingly complex robots, most professionals and hobbyists use knowledge they have acquired when building previous robots. Instead of building one robot, you can learn how to use individual components with the objective of building your own "knowledge library" to use to undertake a larger, more complex design in the future.

Amusement & Companionship

Building a robot is in and of itself is fun and exciting. Robotics incorporates aspects of many disciplines including engineering (mechanical, electrical, computer), sciences (mathematics and physics) and arts (aesthetics) and users are free to use their imagination. Amusing others with your creations (especially if they are user-friendly and interactive) helps others to become interested in the field.

Competitions & Contests

Competitions give the project design guidelines and a due date. They also put your robot against others in the same class and test your design and construction skills. Although many competitions are specifically for students (elementary to university), there also exist open competitions where adults and professionals alike can compete.

Autonomous "life form"

Humans are natural creators and innovators. The next great innovation will be to develop a fully autonomous "life form" that rivals or surpasses ourselves in ability and perhaps creativity. This goal is still being accomplished in small steps by individuals, research organizations and professionals. Although you are likely just getting started in robotics, you will hopefully find creating basic autonomous behavior to be fun and interesting, and easier than you might have expected.

Domestic or Professional tasks

Domestic robots help liberate people from unpleasant or dangerous tasks and give them more liberty and security. Professional and Service Robots are used in a variety of applications at work, in public, in hazardous environments, in locations such as deep-sea, battlefields and space, just to name a few. In addition to the service areas such as cleaning, surveillance, inspection and maintenance, we utilize these robots where manual task execution is dangerous, impossible or unacceptable.  Professional and Service Robots are more capable, rugged and often more expensive than domestic robots and are ideally suited for professional and/or commercial use.

Security and Surveillance

Most mobile robots are used to venture into areas where humans either should not or cannot go. Robots of various sizes (either remote controlled, semi-autonomous or fully autonomous) are an ideal choice for these tasks.    

Practical Example

We anticipate that most of you following this guide have the objective of building a robot for learning and knowledge, but also for sheer fun; though many will have a specific idea or project they want to materialize. The last major consideration is budget. It is difficult to know exactly what people have in mind when they build their first robot; one might already want to build an autonomous snow removal robot, while another simply wants to make an intelligent clock. A simple programmable mobile robot might cost about $100 while a more complex can be several thousands of dollars. In this exercise, we have chosen to make a mobile platform in order to get an understanding of motors, sensors, microcontrollers and programming, and to include a variety of sensors. We’ll keep the budget to about $200 to $300 since we want it to be fairly complete.

For further information on learning how to make a robot, please visit the RobotShop Learning Center. Visit the RobotShop Community Forum in order to seek assistance in building robots, showcase your projects or simply hang-out with other fellow roboticists

Apple's adoption to YouTube trend for iPhone promotion.

Apple adopts YouTube's trend for iPhone promotions

IANS | 

 

-25 mins ago

San Francisco: Ahead of the launch of its 2019 line-up of iPhones, Apple has turned to a YouTube trend -- called autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) -- that has gone viral online, for its promotional videos.



The first four ASMR videos posted on Apple's official YouTube handle are labelled "Season 1", which clearly implies that the company would bring more such content, Engadget reported on Wednesday.



On its Youtube page that has nearly nine million subscribers, Apple has posted four ASMR videos, titled 'Whispers from ghost forest', 'Satisfying woodshop sounds', 'Crunching sounds on the trail' and 'A calm rain at camp' - all shot on (upcoming) iPhones.



Developed in 2010, ASMR is a relaxing, often sedative sensation that begins on the scalp and moves down the body.



The sensation is triggered by simple satisfying sounds like rain falling, food being chewed and slow whispers. On its own, a top ASMR video can garner over 16 million views.



With these videos, Apple is trying to show that the new iPhones are coming with capabilities that would assist users to shoot these kinds of high resolution videos.



The videos received a warm response by Twitteraties, who shared jokes and appreciation on Apple's marketing efforts.



"(Apple Business Meeting) -- Guy 1: We need new product ideas. People aren't buying as many iphones and ipads. What do you guys have? Guy 2: I mean we could make some ASMR videos. Everyone in Boardroom: *thunderous applause*," a tweet read.



"I think Apple Marketing knows what the hell they are doing. You're horny for some clicks is what it is," another tweet read.



"Me: What do you mean Apple uploaded an ASMR video to its official Youtube channel? Me, 2 seconds after watching it: Oh, this is nice," a user wrote.



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Use of technology

You’re never too old to learn something new, even if it’s technology.

In the ever-changing digital times, it’s difficult for seniors to learn how to use new devices on their own.

A study from Pew research found that 77% of older adults needed assistance when it came to learning how to use technology.

In the last year they also found that social networking almost doubled for people over the age of 50, growing from 22 percent to 42 percent.

With assistance in learning technology, it shows that adding technology to your loved one’s life will benefit their life immensely.

Not only do our Papa Pals have extensive knowledge and background with technology, they also have the patience to teach your loved ones how to effectively use it.

It’s important to use a step-by-step process when you’re explaining technology to someone who’s unfamiliar with it.

Helpful ways you can teach a senior in the digital age

Explain the value

Showing a senior how easy it is to talk to a friend you haven’t seen in 7 years through Skype, or getting an email back within 10 minutes from a family member, helps them see the importance of technology and what it has to offer.

Having them understand that this enhances their social life without needing to leave their house at all.

Our goal is to hear them say “Wow!”

Use easy language

Be mindful of the word choice you’re using. The new words the Internet has created in our dictionary might not make sense to someone who barely uses a computer.

Instead, ask them what they already know about technology so you can use analogies to what they’re already familiar with.

Take it slow

It’s always best to start small and have multiple sessions so you don’t give them information overload.

The last thing you want to do is get them feeling too overwhelmed and then they give up because you gave them too many tasks to try by themselves.

Write it down

Since writing by hand is something that they are used to, get them a notebook specifically for writing down any steps they need to remember.

If they get lost or forget how to do something, they can jog their memory from their own handwriting.

Patience is key

It’s important to stop a lot and take time for them to ask questions. The more engaged they are, the more they will take in and learn.

Give them confidence

Celebrate the small victories. Focus on the positives and what they are doing right and they will want to continue using it.

Show them free resources

TechBoomers and AARPTEK are two great websites that give free technology tutorials to help your loved ones.

Visit the websites together and bookmark them so they have easy access to it.

Make sure you watch a video or two together and practice the tutorial after so they can get comfortable using the sites when you aren’t around.

Get them used to technology

Games are a great way to get them engaged with technology. Maybe they love crossword puzzles, scrabble, or Sudoku.

Download an app or give them a website and show them how to play from their device.

This will help them get comfortable with using the buttons and touching the screen.

Talk about Internet safety

Show them the best practices on how to create strong passwords. Let them know to never put any personal information out through emails.

If you address these issues and show them the best Internet safety, they will feel confident and not get taken advantage of.

Interested in learning technology from a young mind?

If you have a loved one with little to no experience, download our app today and request a Papa Pal.

Our patient Pal’s are experts in technology and fully understand how to guide you through setting up your devices and making you feel comfortable.

INTRODUCTION

           Adult Technology Information 
                     (Adult-Tech Info) 
Brief Introduction  
A technology-based programme which sole purpose for existence is to eliminate the ignorance portrayed by our adults on technology by showing them what they can do with technology,  why they should use technology and how they can use technology with its usefulness through this online platform to show and be taught what needs to be known about technology and it's application in our daily activities

Objective 

• To give adults a platform to be conversant with the latest technological news and trends.
• To enlighten adults how to use and maintain  their technological gadgets.
• Tutoring adults to be computer masters. 
• To show  adults the positive side of technology and how to curb,  control and curtail it's negativity.