One of the perennial challenges of building robots is minimizing the size and weight of drive systems while preserving power. One established way to do this, at least on robots with joints, is to fit each joint with a quasi-direct-drive motor integrating a brushless motor and gearbox in one device. [The 5439 Workshop] wanted to […]
Here’s a fun build from [RootSaid] that is suitable for people just getting started with microcontrollers and robotics — an Arduino-controlled two-wheeled robot. The video assumes you already have one of the common robotics kits that includes the chassis, wheels, and motors, something like this. You’ll also need a microcontroller (in this case, an Arduino […]
Cycloidal drives have an entrancing motion, as well as a few other advantages – high torque and efficiency, low backlash, and compactness among them. However, much as [Sergei Mishin] likes them, it can be difficult to 3D-print high-torque drives, and it’s sometimes inconvenient to have the input and output shafts in-line. When, therefore, he came […]
[Engineezy] might have been watching a 3D printer move when inspiration struck: Why not build a robot arm to clean up his workbench? Why not, indeed? Well, all you need is a 17-foot-long X-axis and a gripper mechanism that can pick up any strange thing that happens to be on the bench. Like any good […]
[Aditya Sripada] and [Abhishek Warrier]’s TARS3D robot came from asking what it would take to make a robot with the capabilities of TARS, the robotic character from Interstellar. We couldn’t find a repository of CAD files or code but the research paper for TARS3D explains the principles, which should be enough to inspire a motivated […]
[Will Dana] is engineering his way to better sleep hygiene. Not satisfied with a simple bedtime reminder notification — such things are easily dismissed, after all — [Will] is offloading self-control onto a robot which will take his phone away at bedtime. Scrolling in bed is allowed up to a prescribed time. At that time, […]
In Dune, the Fremen people of Arrakis practice an odd future hybrid religion called “zensunni.” This adds an extra layer of meaning to the title of [Mark Rehorst]’s Arrakis 3.0 sand table, given that the inspiration for the robotic sand table seems to be Zen gardens from Japan. The dunes on the tabletop version of Arrakis […]
Much like calling over a buddy or two to help with moving a large piece of furniture and pivot it up a narrow flight of stairs, so too can quadcopters increase their carrying capacity through the power of friendship and cooperation. However, unless you want to do a lot of yelling at your mates about […]
Things are not looking good for iRobot. Although their robotic Roomba vacuums are basically a household name, the company has been faltering financially for some time now. In 2024 there was hope of a buyout by Amazon, who were presumably keen to pull the bots into their Alexa ecosystem, but that has since fallen through. […]
There are many incredible open-source robotic arm projects out there, but there’s a dearth of affordable, stable, and mobile robotic platforms with arms. That’s where XLeRobot comes in. It builds on the fantastic LeRobot framework to make a unit that can be trained for autonomous tasks via machine learning, as well as operated remotely. XLeRobot, […]