Starting Robots.

rigidigital

Senior Member
Ive just begun looking at a couple of options to get started in robotics and I want to share in case any of you have advice.

I have looked at the Extreme Snap Circuits kits but from what i see it ends up expensive making a robot from that type of kit.

There is the 120 Bot with a picaxe 20X2 for the brains. it is cheapest at about $75 au.

Lego MindStorm...looks great and there are plenty of sensors you can add, but $400+ ,its out of my reach.

Arduino Robot... would be fantastic but its a bit over $300 :) and I have never programmed in C, C# I have made a cdouple of applications but that is probably a long way from C ?

So I am swerving hard towards buying the Bot with the picaxe for its brain. Initial cost is about $75 but by the time i add a few sensors it will probably use up a lot of money! There might be a few sensors included in the more expensive options, but if i go for the 120 Bot, i can take my time spending to add extra sensors.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

JamesWhite

New Member
The Bot120 is a nice pre-made bot. I got one for my daughter and she loves it. We added a solar panel to charge the batteries and ultrasound too. You can easily add your own sensors by soldering on wires instead of buying the more expensive sensor packs.

You might also just build from scratch (with any micro) that way you can scavenge some parts, lowering your total cost. Plus you get to make it however you please.

Also, check out letsmakerobots.com they have a cool "start here" kit and the best robot building community on the web if I do say so. =)
 

Bill.b

Senior Member
There are a number of basic robot car kits available at reasonable prices.

http://www.banggood.com/buy/robot-kit.html

you can construct the control system on strip board or use one of the board available from rev-ed

This is a photo of one I constructed using one of these kits.

bigbot.jpg

This bot started out with only simple motor control but grew over time as I accumulated additional sensors
and expanded its abilities.

Bill
 

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
Have a browse through the PICAXE project gallery for inspiration and to see what other PICAXE users have managed to put together -

http://www.picaxe.com/Project-Gallery

Anything with two motors driving wheels or tracks can be turned into a basic robot chassis and control can be simple relays if you don't want to get into H-bridge circuits to start with. Beyond that it's pretty much everyday PICAXE sensor interfacing and programming.
 
Top