Beginning with robotics

[Hassan]

Hello everyone,

I'm somewhat new to robots world, or generally, hardware world, i have background on programing (game programming with C++ mostly), i've always been into robots and hardware intelligence, so, i decided to make a board (that's what you call it? i dunno, that green piece including all electronics attached to it) that can do variety of functions depending on the plugged sensors/motors/program.

First things first, i need a good chip, fully programmable through C++, have somewhat good program space (so like, you can make large programs without limitations), and can be attached with 10+ motors and 10+ sensors at once, i hate having limitations, totally destroys your ideas.
So where can i find such a chip? and how much will it cost?
Also, how can i attach a camera to my controller? is it just same as the motors/sensors, or it has some different configurations?

as for the motors, are there smaller ones than these: (taken from the 50$ robot tutorial)

those are pretty big, and weak, is there a smaller/stronger ones? (does the strength depend on the power supply? excuse me, still a beginner), smaller ones would be really useful for things like arms for the robot, unless im going to make a robot as large as a human, these are too big

last question is, can i make some sort of bluetooth system, where i can send/receive data to and from the robot? for example, lets say i made an application that sends some packet to this bluetooth device giving it some info, my program inside the chip responds to the packet and do some specific job


Even if some mentioned points are not easy to implement, im asking if they are possible, without needing a factory or such (at home/school(high school)), i want to make sure that all i plan to do in the (hopefully) soon future is possible, rather than being disappointed after spending a good amount of money

Regards
-Hassan

[Soeren]

Hi,

If you want to program in C++, you need a Nano-ITX or similar PC - For a microcontroller, regular ("ANSI") C is the nearest thing.
Apart from that... Anything can be done with electronics, but that's not saying that you can do them (what you want to do sounds a bit too advanced for a beginner).

[madsci1016]

Hi,

If you want to program in C++, you need a Nano-ITX or similar PC - For a microcontroller, regular ("ANSI") C is the nearest thing.

AVRs can be programmed in C++. In fact, most of the Arduino Library is object oriented C++.

[Soeren]

Hi,

That was new info for me (but then, I would never consider doing that myself, so it's not something I get newsletters about ).
Isn't it pretty wastefull with the programming space?

[madsci1016]

Isn't it pretty wastefull with the programming space?

No idea; i'd guess it would depend on how well the compiler handles it.

So where can i find such a chip? and how much will it cost?

Here, it's called an Axon and it's around $100

can i make some sort of bluetooth system, where i can send/receive data to and from the robot?

Yes, look around this site. There are many tutorials for bluetooth and other things you are asking.

[Hassan]

Here, it's called an Axon and it's around $100

Wow! this chip is incredible! exactly what i'm looking for, will probably buy this, cheap and seems functional

@Soeren, the chip you suggested is somewhat expensive, and i think it does more than what i need

thanks for the information!

[TheWiz]

Hi,

I think you are in WAY over your head sense you are a beginner!!! Start off slow and work your way up. What your trying to do is like jumping off the high diving board into the deep end when you don't know how to swim! What you will end up doing is wasting a whole lot of money just to have a SUPER expensive paper weight I mean really just think about what your doing before you do it!

[Hassan]

I have participated in some robot competitions as a programmer, one of them is called botball (you can google it), its hosted by carnegie mellon's students, it was such an easy thing (got 2nd place of 28), it was like: you have the controller, you have an IDE, you have the motors and sensors, what you need to do is to build your robot off the given kit, have a good design, and the rest is for programming.

So after i found it that easy i decided to start with it individually, this is not different from that competition, the controller is ready for use just plug in your motors and you're ready to go, programming is, once again not a problem at all

i don't really see the "jumping off the high diving board into the deep end when you don't know how to swim!", i dont even need to swim, the whole board is assembled and ready for use, maybe you'd say that if im creating my own circuit from scratch

by the way if im mistaken about the ease level, correct me please

[TheWiz]

Ok well I just didn't want you to waste any money but it seems you know what your doing. If you need any help just pm me!!

[madsci1016]

If you need any help just pm me!!

Hi, welcome to the forum.

We don't encourage this around here. If Hassan needs help, he should ask the whole community by creating a forum post, not by PMing a single person.

[TheWiz]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

We don't encourage this around here. If Hassan needs help, he should ask the whole community by creating a forum post, not by PMing a single person.

I am trying to be nice!!!

[Admin]

Hassan, I say go for it. That is of course you decide to use the Axon, as it and WebbotLib makes it really easy for beginners.

I recommend using C, though. Its very similar to C++, just the syntax will take a few days to get used to. I learned C++ before C, myself.

Also, put the camera off until you get the hang of things and everything else is working. Its a fairly big step, but if you got everything else working, I say why not? I'd recommend the Blackfin Camera to keep it easy.

[madsci1016]

I am trying to be nice!!!

I understand, I'm just letting you know how it works around here, since you are new and don't know how we operate.

Also, why did you PM me a link to this thread? I would have checked back eventually.

[TheWiz]

Also, why did you PM me a link to this thread? I would have checked back eventually.

For fun!! Also can you help me out with the new thread I just posted!!
Thanks,
        TheWiz

[futurrobotech]

Why not give it a go. As long as you don't fry the Axon everything will be okay. Maybe you don't get the results you expect the first time, but just don't get discouraged if something doesnt work!

[Soeren]

Hi,

@Soeren, the chip you suggested is somewhat expensive, and i think it does more than what i need

I didn't suggest a chip - the Nano-ITC is a complete PC in a very small board.
This means that it can run the same software as any other PC (within its speed limits), so you can develop directly on the 'bot, by hooking up a screen, keyboard and a mouse.

But hey, if you want to take on a whole new system, that you need to learn quite intimately before being able to make anything remotely useable (not even mentioning your rather ambitious first time project), just don't take my advice