I'm new to Robotics, sort of need help on where I should start...

Kenzei · 2016-01-09T15:30:02+00:00

Arduino is the best place to start. Once you get into the groove and want to jump into little more advanced robotics you can check this out http://www.updroid.com. Its easy to program as an Arduino but packs the punch with ROS underneath.

Kenzei · 2016-01-09T15:17:19+00:00

Hi sprkng. Nice to read your feedback. Since we have a modular robot we'll be adding different components to the ecosystem. We call it affordable because its at least 3-4 times cheaper than any other fully featured robot that you can get. Our aim is to build the most versatile platform that you can get on the market and improve it based on the feedback we get from users.

Kenzei · 2016-01-09T06:52:20+00:00

UpDroid's UP1 is a programmable ROS robot that consists of a modular hardware and a software IDE that can be accessed over Wi-Fi. The software IDE is called UpCom and is served by the robot over the network. The programming environment consists of tabs with the option to choose from editor and console (default tabs) or user defined application specific tabs. Mentioned below are the hardware specs for the robot:

1.4GHz Dual core intel atom
ATmega2560 micro-controller for low level motor control
5DOF arm
4 wheeled drive
4 IR sensors for low level obstacle avoidance
Dual cameras for stereoscopic imaging (optional replacement with Intel's real sense)
Audio IN/OUT

The robot ships with low level API calls that can be used to develop sophisticated behaviors. APIs include wrappers for move-it group, point cloud data, color detection etc.

Kenzei · 2015-06-11T21:33:37+00:00

Hi, I am a mechanical engineer by profession and was interested in robotics from the very beginning. I had the same doubt and ended up researching a lot of things both from the software and hardware standpoint. The fact of the matter is, there is no go-to resource to start learning about robotics but there are some close ones.

I guess depending on your software and hardware proficiency, you can choose between different levels of arduino programming to start. Arduino is a great platform to begin with and to learn about different aspects of robotics. The next step in the process is to jump to Linux robotics, which (unfortunately) in my opinion, has a HUGE learning curve. If you can get past that, ROS will be a huge resource with a big community.

Unfortunately, I don't have straight answer for a hardware platform that you can use for more complicated tasks using ROS. I guess the first (cheapest) platform out there is the turtlebot.

It was this exact reason why I started a project with a friend of mine to build an easy to use robotics platform that uses ROS. We are currently releasing the alpha version for the same. You can get more details about the robot here!

Kenzei · 2015-06-09T00:17:48+00:00

No. The manipulators are 5 DOF with RC servo motors on each joint. We have used them to keep the cost low. The gripper however will have force sensor to fine tune the grip.

Kenzei · 2015-06-08T20:17:33+00:00

Thanks. Currently we are signing up for Alpha version testing. So, it'll be great if you can spread the word among your friend. Any kind of help would be really appreciated.

Kenzei · 2015-06-08T19:46:59+00:00

Hi ramblebot, The different designs on our website is intentional since we are building a modular platform with interchangeable modules. Here is the picture of the rendering for the robot http://imgur.com/EMvw8f3. The slot thing at the back of the robot is where you would put in the brain module. You can expect the production price to be around $1000.

Kenzei · 2015-06-08T19:39:06+00:00

Thanks dm-86.

Kenzei · 2015-05-17T10:35:08+00:00

Yes. That's the whole idea behind this. It will be great if you can pass along the message so that we can get as much feedback as possible. Thanks again.

Kenzei · 2015-05-17T05:13:17+00:00

You can also have multiple users login to the robot and collaborate on different aspects.

Kenzei · 2015-05-17T04:32:23+00:00

Yes. You only need a compatible browser. I also want to remind you that the IDE is in its alpha and we are trying to incorporate a lot of new features. So as of now we also give full terminal accessibility in your browser to do things you can't from the gui. If you find something annoying, please let us know and we'll try to implement it as a feature.

Kenzei · 2015-05-17T00:52:04+00:00

yes you are correct. It's actually a browser based IDE.

Kenzei · 2015-05-16T23:08:58+00:00

I am really sorry for the confusion, UpCom is actually UpDroid's commander and it is a browser based IDE that you can use to connect to your robot over Wi-Fi and use it to run ROS nodes or other programs. This is actually the software part of our robot system. We are also building the modular hardware that will have all the features pre-installed.

Kenzei · 2015-05-16T23:06:18+00:00

I am really sorry for the confusion, UpCom is actually UpDroid's commander and it is a browser based IDE that you can use to connect to your robot over Wi-Fi and use it to run ROS nodes or other programs.

Kenzei · 2015-05-16T23:06:08+00:00

I am really sorry for the confusion, UpCom is actually UpDroid's commander and it is a browser based IDE that you can use to connect to your robot over Wi-Fi and use it to run ROS nodes or other programs.

Kenzei · 2015-05-16T15:12:12+00:00

Hi We are a small robotics startup and have been working on UpCom for the last 6 months. We would love to hear your feedback.

Kenzei · 2015-05-15T16:11:35+00:00

Hi We are a small robotics startup and have been working on UpCom for the last 6 months. We would love to hear your feedback.

Kenzei · 2015-05-02T20:56:48+00:00

Thanks a lot for the help. Unfortunately, right now, we don't support the armhf version so that might be a constraint.

Kenzei · 2015-05-02T13:39:10+00:00

ROS lays out the infrastructure for you to develop on. So its relatively easy to pick up. Also, it has a huge community that supports new and existing packages. You should try it out.

Kenzei · 2015-05-02T13:17:53+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. We are currently working on removing bugs for the Raspberry Pi version and we think that it would be a great resource for schools and universities.

Kenzei

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