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Advice Needed: Just Beginning — Parallax Forums

Advice Needed: Just Beginning

wvuwinswvuwins Posts: 1
edited 2011-10-17 10:52 in Robotics
I have a 14 year old son who has an interest in robotics. He particpated in a week long summer program at Georgia Tech to build and program "Lego" type robots. Could you please give me some advice on what robot and resources we should consider for him to get started? His school does not have a robotics program and we are located in the NE Atlanta area. Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2011-10-17 09:37
    The BoeBot robot is a great step up from something like the "Lego" robots. I'd seriously consider including a PING))) ultrasonic distance sensor with its matching servo bracket as well as the BoeBot wheel encoder kit. Go to the Parallax webstore page for the BoeBot (the 1st link) and download the "Robotics for the BoeBot" tutorial to get an idea of what sorts of things you can do with it. The webstore page for the PING))) has another tutorial ("Roaming with the BoeBot Robot") that shows what the PING))) adds to the functionality. The wheel encoder helps you to keep track of the BoeBot's position and is helpful when having the BoeBot "explore" a series of rooms keeping an internal map of obstacles, walls, doors, etc.

    Another possibility is the Scribbler II. This has its own wheel encoders and it would be possible to add something like the PING))). The Scribbler can do line following and has a more powerful microcontroller inside than the current BoeBot. It depends on your son's interests. Go through the documentation and tutorials for both of these with him and see what gets his interest going.
  • jdoleckijdolecki Posts: 726
    edited 2011-10-17 10:52
    try

    http://www.botlanta.org/

    http://wiki.freesideatlanta.org/
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