Robotics newb!!! Help!

Please help! I want to learn about robotics - I know NOTHING about it. Does anyone have any good books to recommend? Something that is explained very clearly and simply! Thank you so much!! 

ps. Just to give you an idea of how much I don't know - I hardly know what a servo is.  Thank you so much!

patti

Comments

[MCRIPPPer]

"junkbots bugbots and bots on wheels" is a great book on BEAM robotics. BEAM robots are really cool and dont require any programs or anything. great for starting out with. you can actually make beam bots do some fairly complex things with extremely common and simple components. check out "robot room.com" for alot of info on robotics and electronics. the guy who made robot room has a few books that are supposed to be pretty good, although i have not read them.

[Kaptain Kool]

Or you could modify an rc toy to your specifications, this is pretty easy.

[rickharris]

Yep Picaxe is a complete solution , fairly cheap and great support. You also get he chance to learn to programme rather then use others libraries.

To run a simple robot with 2 small toy motors and a picaxe & L239D to drive the motors you could try the following:


Assumes Picaxe 08M

left motor Fwd =output 0
Right motor Fwd= output 1
left motor Back=output 2
Right motor Back= output 4
Microswitch on input 3

Start:
High 0
High 1 ; move forward
check:
if pin3=1 then touch
goto check

Touch:
low 0
low 1: stop
wait 1
high 2
high 4 : back up
wait 2 : for 2 seconds
low 2
low 4 : stop
goto start

[rickharris]

Compare that with http://www.instructables.com/answers/Need-help-with-Code-to-control-servos-with-an-Ardu/

[The MadScientist]

I would recommend that the best way to learn about robotics is to find a simple project something like this or this (the first one might be a bit difficult with the circuit but you should research the components) and do it. This method is a lot more progressive than just reading stuff however you should still read stuff.

[AndyGadget]

 
I haven't read the book fully, but from what I've seen of it, "Picaxe Microcontroller Projects for the Evil Genius" appears to be a good primer which approaches robotics from a beginner level.
A vital part of any robotics project is the microcontroller, and the Picaxe is probably the easiest system to get started on (as opposed to AVR, Arduino etc) as it is aimed primarily at the educational sector.  The Picaxe forum is extremely knowledgeable and helpful as well.