Assembling your own robot and getting it to walk around will entertain kids of all ages for a good few minutes. However, for robotics to be long-term fun it needs to be a challenge.
A common misconception about robotics is that you need a degree to make anything of your own. Having said that, a robot does require many subsystems to operate. There are legs to move, arms to stretch, things to see and react to. Basically, everything we do as humans – except you must design the entire system that can handle all those tasks.
This isn’t something you whip up in your man cave on a rainy afternoon. Being free and open source enthusiasts, we know better than to believe we have to cover every detail ourselves. There have been many projects to make robotics an area you can thrive in and help expand, the most successful organisation to date is the Open Source Robotics Foundation (www.openrobotics.org). Out of this has developed the Robotics Operating System (ROS). It’s not an operating system as such, but rather a collection of tools that help you create your version of what a robot should be and do.
The ROS is better described as a robotics framework, but what do you want from the ROS and what do you need to do to get a robot up and running? We’ve already mentioned that many subsystems control different parts of the robot. Your robot will need to navigate, move and interact with its environment. That may include interacting with you and other humans, but that’s for another time. The simplest robot will run around the house exploring – a more advanced version will go to the kitchen and bring you a new beverage. For all this you need sensors, micro controllers and a lot of mechanics…
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Denne historien er fra February 2021-utgaven av Linux Format.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Create your first WebSocket service
Mihalis Tsoukalos explains how to use the Go programming language to work with the WebSocket protocol.
Fantastic Mr Firefox
Nick Peers takes a trip down memory lane to reveal the story behind the rise - and slight fall - of Mozilla's popular web browser.
Set up your terminal and email like it's 1983
Jump in the hot terminal time machine with Mats Tage Axelsson who emails from the command line using the latest technology.
Universal layer text effects with GIMP
Posters use them, films and presentations are hard to imagine without them: text effects. Attract attention with Karsten Günther and GIMP.
Jump to a federated social network
Nick Peers reveals how you can get up and running with this free, decentralised and non-profit alternative to Twitter.
Free our SOFTWARE!
Taking anything for granted is dangerous, so Jonni Bidwell and Mike Saunders revisit how the free software movement got started to help free us from proprietary tyranny!
Master RPI.GPIO
Les Pounder goes back to the early days of the Raspberry Pi - and his career with this classic library! -
Waveshare Zero to Pi3
Transform your Pi Zero into a Pi 3, they promised Les Pounder, but it's more like adding on go-faster stripes.
The Best OPEN SOURCE Software Ever!
In an attempt to trigger controversy, Michael Reed and Neil Mohr unequivocally state these are the greatest free software apps ever. Probably. We’re just trying to be helpful.
Linux-Mandrake 7
Simplicity and a wide range of applications make this a great distribution for all Linux users.
