What skills do you need as a robot experimenter? Certainly, if you are already well versed in electronics, programming, and mechanical design, you are on your way to becoming a robot experimenter. But intimate knowledge of these fields is not absolutely necessary; all you really need to start in the right direction as a robot experimenter is a basic familiarity with electronic theory, programming concepts, and mechanics (or time and interest to study the craft). The rest you can learn as you go. If you feel that you’re lacking in either begin- ning electronics or mechanics, pick up a book or two on these subjects at the bookstore or library.
ELECTRONICS BACKGROUND
Start by studying analog and digital electronic theory, and learn the function of resistors, capacitors, transistors, and other common electronic components. Your knowledge need not be extensive, just enough so that you can build and troubleshoot electronic circuits for your robot. You’ll start out with simple circuits with a minimum of parts, and go from there. As your skills increase, you’ll be able to design your own circuits from scratch, or at the very least, customize existing circuits to match your needs. Schematic diagrams are a kind of recipe for electronic circuits. The designs in this book, as well as those in most any book that deals with electronics, are in schematic form. You owe it to yourself to learn how to read a schematic as there are really only a few dozen common schematic symbols you will have to familiarize yourself with. Several books have been written on how to read schematic diagrams, and the basics are also covered in learn electronics section in our website.
PROGRAMMING BACKGROUND
Sophisticated robots use a computer or microcontroller to manage their actions. In this book you’ll find plenty of projects, plans, and solutions for connecting the hardware of your robot to any of several kinds of robot “brains.” Like all computers, the ones for robot con- trol need to be programmed. If you are new or relatively new to computers and program- ming, start with a beginners’ computer book, then move up to more advanced texts. Advanced Electronics section in this website covers the programming basics. If you’ve never programmed before, you are probably expecting that there is a lot of knowledge that you must have to successfully program a computer. Actually there is about a half dozen basic programming concepts that once you understand completely you will be able to program just about any computer system in just about any programming language.
MECHANICAL BACKGROUND
Some robot builders are more comfortable with the mechanical side of robot building than the electronic and programming sides—they can see gears meshing and pulleys moving. Regardless of your comfort level with mechanical design, you do not need to possess an extensive knowledge of mechanical and engineering theory to build robots. This book pro- vides some mechanical theory as it pertains to robot building, but you may want to supple- ment your knowledge with books or study aids. There are a wealth of books, articles, and online reading materials on mechanical design equations and engineering formulas for you to draw upon when you are designing and building robots. This eliminates the need for this book to repeat this information, but like the information provided in electronics and programming, our future posts give you many of the basics required to cobble together the robot’s mechanical systems.
WORKSHOP APTITUDE
To be a successful robot builder, you must be comfortable working with your hands and thinking problems through from start to finish. You should know how to use common shop tools, and all related safety procedures, and have some basic familiarity with working with wood, lightweight metals (mostly aluminum), and plastic. Once more, if you feel your skills aren’t up to par, read up on the subject and try your hand at a simple project or two first. You’ll find construction tips and techniques throughout In our future posts, but nothing beats hands-on shop experience. With experience comes confidence, and with both comes more professional results. Work at it long enough, and the robots you build may be indistinguish- able from store-bought models (in appearance, not capability; yours will undoubtedly be far more sophisticated!).
THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS
Two important skills that you can’t develop from reading books are patience and the willingness to learn. Both are absolutely essential if you want to build your own working robots. Give yourself time to experiment with your projects. Don’t rush into things because you are bound to make mistakes if you do. If a problem continues to nag at you, put the project aside and let it sit for a few days. Keep a small notebook handy and jot down your ideas so you won’t forget them.
If trouble persists, perhaps you need to bone up on the subject before you can adequately tackle the problem. Take the time to learn more about the various sciences and disciplines involved. While you are looking for ways to combat your current dilemma, you are increas- ing your general robot-building knowledge. Research is never in vain.
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