New to Robotics and new to Parallax
KangarooRIOT
Posts: 13
Through conversation of a few buddies of mine who do machine programming for their company , over the last 3 days, I have become obsessed with the idea of robotics and machine programming.
I am a , 23 year old, senior in college (I graduate in December!) and my degree with be in Computer Information Systems.
I have a strong base in computer programming in languages that include: C, C#, C++, Java, SQL, HTML and CSS. I am currently learning JS.
That all being said I have been looking on the site and love the idea of programming my own robot and such to get a feel for robotics. My thought is that if I enjoy it then I may choose to pursue it as my grad degree.
I am excited and passionate
.
My question is- which robot should I buy to learn and get a great feel for robotics and mechanical engineering concepts? I want freedom to code anything I want while also learning about the hardware side (knowledge that I an not as familiar with technically).
Which robot would be best; the ActivityBot or ShieldBot?
What do they both offer? Anything different?
Thank you all for reading and I appreciate any and all help!
-Colt
If anyone would like to check out my new website I just built for myself check it out and let me know any feedback
http://www.OverWorldInnovations.com
I am a , 23 year old, senior in college (I graduate in December!) and my degree with be in Computer Information Systems.
I have a strong base in computer programming in languages that include: C, C#, C++, Java, SQL, HTML and CSS. I am currently learning JS.
That all being said I have been looking on the site and love the idea of programming my own robot and such to get a feel for robotics. My thought is that if I enjoy it then I may choose to pursue it as my grad degree.
I am excited and passionate
.My question is- which robot should I buy to learn and get a great feel for robotics and mechanical engineering concepts? I want freedom to code anything I want while also learning about the hardware side (knowledge that I an not as familiar with technically).
Which robot would be best; the ActivityBot or ShieldBot?
What do they both offer? Anything different?
Thank you all for reading and I appreciate any and all help!
-Colt
If anyone would like to check out my new website I just built for myself check it out and let me know any feedback
http://www.OverWorldInnovations.com
Comments
Shieldbot is Arduino (C-like), Activitybot is Propeller-based, so you can use C or Spin and more. The new Scribbler 3 will be out soon, with all those plus a push toward Blockly. You can't go wrong with any of those choices, there are plenty of people hanging out here who love to help.
You're in the right place, we have an active robotics forum with a lot of participants. Whichever bot you get, you'll want to get in on our longstanding Figure 8 challenge, just a simple place to start. First order of business is just learning to drive around. You can master the Towers of Hanoi and one-servo challenges later.
If you'd like to do a quick comparison of specs, compatible addons, programming language, and more for those two robots, check out the Parallax Small Robot Comparison Chart. We created it specifically for people who want to explore their Parallax small robot options.
You can also look at our Parallax Learn website to get an idea of the tutorials and projects we have available for each robot.
If you have specific questions, feel free to ask the community here or Parallax directly by emailing education@parallax.com.
Erco thank you so much for your encouragement and advice! I was concerned because I saw that some of the "levels" of the robots say "middle school/high school" and I wanted to make sure I was getting a bot that was customizable and not just entry but would be a great point for me to see if I actually enjoy robotics and if I'd want to pursue it as a grad degree
and
Thank you Courtney! I will check the chart out now
-Colt
I was also a tech grad who wanted to get a grip on microprocessors and robotics, so I have some experience.
If you are already a coding grad and you want to get a grip of robotics, I suggest you get a Prop board and use the education pages to master the basics. You will be able to leapfrog many of the educational modules. The input and output devices are cheaply available from Parallax, hobby and robotic stores.
-output drive servos
-output drive relays
-output drive brushed motors with PWM and H bridges
-output drive brushless motors with ESC's
-output drive stepper motors
-input digital switches and so on
-input analog voltages
-input sensor modules like PING, GPS, compass, IMU which use SPI and other protocols
-remote control using bluetooth module
-remote control using hobby RC
-feedback control using PID
-Pull it together and build your own simple wheeled bot
-Then move on to IMU's and flight control. That is where the real excitement, maths and coding challenges are - Quadcopters and so on.
Good luck.
Do you have a book of reference that you could recommend? Other then me just trying my luck at a circuit board xD? I do not know a lot of the terms you use even in your post. Any place to start?
Software. . . I know! Hardware on the computing level . . . not as much!
Thank you for your help!
-Colt
Also, the Propeller has a really cool "hardware abstraction library" called "PropWare" built by some other recent college grad around here. It wraps a lot of the complicated stuff like I2C and SPI communications in an easy-to-use API. It also allows you to compile your programs from the command line with ease, opening up a world of different editors/IDEs for you to program with. For instance, JetBrains offers a great C/C++ IDE called CLion, which is free for students, and PropWare works wonderfully with it.
Give a try at http://david.zemon.name/PropWare/
The Propeller goes very deep. It's the brain for WX and ActivityBot. You can write Assembly code for it, etc. I tend to start my students in C when it comes to Parallax products.
"Do you have a book of reference that you could recommend? Other then me just trying my luck at a circuit board xD? I do not know a lot of the terms you use even in your post. Any place to start?
Software. . . I know! Hardware on the computing level . . . not as much".
Colt,
There is enough on the Parallax website education to get you started with a Propeller and simple breadboard.
If you want useful primers on interfacing to microprocessors get Matt Gilhand's books "The Microcontroller Application Cookbook 1 and 2". Note these are for 5V Basic Stamps, but the concept can be applied to the 3V3 Propeller.
The Basic Stamps are simpler than the Propeller, and I started on them. I soon realized the limitations and moved to the Propeller. There is a huge amount of Basic Stamp education material on the Parallax website.
This all seems crazy cool to me and when I get my Bot I will try and make mine as "DOG" like as possible.
I do not know the limitations yet but it can not be that hard to design timed events like "barking", "requests" or to design mega basic A.I. to the bots. . . but then again I am new and am thinking nearly with code. . . I will start reading up on the electrical and hardware components before then
-Colt
Welcome to Team Parallax!
Very encouraging; thank you
I plan on buying mine soon!
-Colt