Robotics is not one of those easy hobbies but with a little hard work and diligence, you can get things up and running within no time. Designing a good robot requires you to have basic skills in scientific and engineering fields although how much you learn will also depend on the complexity of the robot you intend to design. For instance, you will need relevant skills in solid mechanics to build a large robot and some basic skills in programming and electronics to design a small tabletop robot. In this robotics overview guide, we are going to discuss some of the most important fields that you need to learn in order to succeed in robotics.
1. Electronics
If you do not intend to use pneumatics to control your robot or you are building a complete mechanical robot, you will need to learn something about electronics which is all about Electronic Components, Analog Circuits, MicroControllers and Digital Logic. You can find several books and reference material covering all the basics in these topics.
2. Mechanics
Mechanics is all about learning how the transfer of forces occurs between the different components of a construction. This also involves understanding the center of gravity, friction, position, speed and acceleration as well as learning some basic skills in Newton’s law, inertia and material properties. Mechanics is what keeps your robot in balance. While it is possible to build your robot with very little knowledge about mechanics, you will need the skills to perfect your robot and prevent it from tipping over when picking up an object or when turning.
3. Solid Mechanics
This involves learning how forces are distributed inside solid materials and how different materials respond to loads. This knowledge is useful as it will help you avoid using too thin or too thick materials when designing a large robot.
4. Programming
Skills in computer programming are essential in robotics as you will learn about control structures (sequence, selection and iteration), data types, algorithms, logic and hardware control. Computer programming may sound difficult but it is extremely easy in practice.
5. Math
Math may generally seem like a complex topic to learn but is an essential skill when it comes to more advanced robotics. For example, when learning mechanics, you will use a lot of math although you will only need to learn basic high school level math for constructing simple robots but for larger robots involving more complicated shapes, more complex math tools will help you make the right approximation.
6. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
In robotics, you will need to find the shortest way between two or more points, deal with obstacles and handle new situations. AI is more than just getting your computer to think and reason but it is all about ordering, organizing and sorting knowledge in machine to help you extract conclusions from databases. Some examples of how artificial intelligence works include search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Learning how the human brain works can also provide interesting insights to AI on robots.
While you do not necessarily have to know everything about all of these fields, it is critical that you learn a few basics in each subject which will help you build better robots while avoiding some common beginner’s mistakes.
How can robots use their motors and sensors to move around in an unstructured environment? You will understand how to design robot bodies and behaviors that recruit limbs and more general appendages to apply physical forces that confer reliable mobility in a complex and dynamic world.
Do you want to know how robots work? Are you interested in robotics as a career? Are you willing to invest the effort to learn fundamental mathematical modeling techniques that are used in all subfields of robotics?