robot FAQ for beginners - looking for questions

[Admin]

I'm going to write up a FAQ for beginners that are starting to build robots. This way we can save response effort in the future.

Can everyone post questions here that they have seen repeated too often (at least 5 times)? Ill then compile them and write up a good tutorial.

Examples:
I have this robot with X features, will my motor with Y specs be strong enough?

I want to make my first robot from scratch, where should I start?

What would be a good battery for my robot?

What is the best microcontroller?

[ed1380]

IMO all the stuff being asked could be answered by reading your tutorials

[airman00]

heres a few that show up quite a bit:

How can I have my robot track me ?

I didn't modify my servos correctly and when i give them a pulse to neutral position they still move. what should I do?

How can I control my robot from the internet?

What is code?

What is the best language to learn for programming robots?

[Rebelgium]

What's the difference between a servo and a motor?

[SomeSaba]

1. the diff btwn digital and analog servos?

2. Where do i find detailed information on my microcontroller? (from UART, pinouts to even sample code!)
The datasheet! 

[Rebelgium]

Ohhh, how could I forget? tnx somesaba for reminding me:

Any question about a specific component: RTFD ! 

[ed1380]

any question- RTFT

[Rebelgium]

any question- RTFT

Read The Friendly Topic?
Right the First Time ?
Rough Terrain Forklift Truck?

[paulstreats]

how about a plain old link to the tutorials.

I think a lot of people find the forum on google but dont realise that there is an actual website with the tutorial info on them, its not immediately obvious that when you click on the SOR title at the top left you go to a website. To most people coming here it would appear to just be a forum.

[ed1380]

any question- RTFT

Read The Friendly Topic?
Right the First Time ?
Rough Terrain Forklift Truck?

Read The F****n Tutorials

[cooldog]

any question- RTFT

Read The Friendly Topic?
Right the First Time ?
Rough Terrain Forklift Truck?

Read The F****n Tutorials

hey leave him alone LOL

[HDL_CinC_Dragon]

how about a plain old link to the tutorials.

I think a lot of people find the forum on google but dont realise that there is an actual website with the tutorial info on them, its not immediately obvious that when you click on the SOR title at the top left you go to a website. To most people coming here it would appear to just be a forum.

That is a very very good point. Perhaps admin should make it a tad easier to get to the main site? maybe a simple "click here to go to tutorial site" or w/e

[Rebelgium]

Agreed,

A big logo of SoR, with two tabs underneath, one is "Tutorials" or "Home" or something, and the other tab is "Forum".
I can see it right in front of me

[Mega]

A beginners FAQ is a good idea.
Some more questions I would like to see included:
-What are good online robotics stores?
-What are good robotics beginners kits (Boe-Bot, Lego Mindstorms NXT, ...)
-What is UART?
-What is I2C?


Mega

[paulstreats]

I have another suggestion, but not for a faq.

Is there any way of incorporating a robot image gallery into either the web site or the forum?

We get a lot of questions about robots, but never seem to see any results on them, its a rare occasion when there is a new robot to see. A show case robot gallery would be good to let people actually see whats possible - it would probably help with coming up with ideas and also let beginners realise that robots dont always have to be bipeds.

[airman00]

I agree with paulstreats, an image gallery would be awesome, but someone would need to monitor it so there isn't like 50 images of the same robot. One image per robot.



Also, i couldn't help but laugh at your comment.

I have another suggestion, but not for a faq. ( sound out faq)

   thats what engineering robots does to you at night....

[Rebelgium]

-What is UART?

There are already two tutorials about this. The other suggestions though are very good.

Is there any way of incorporating a robot image gallery into either the web site or the forum?

We get a lot of questions about robots, but never seem to see any results on them, its a rare occasion when there is a new robot to see. A show case robot gallery would be good to let people actually see whats possible - it would probably help with coming up with ideas and also let beginners realise that robots dont always have to be bipeds.

I've also suggested this to admin in a pm a month or so ago, this is the convo:

ME:
Hi Admin,
I've got a little suggestion:

Maybe it would be a good idea to have an extra forum called "show your robot".
It's pretty self-explanatory:
Everone who wants to, can create a topic about his own robot with pictures, movies, description, how the construction went (with pics maybe), future changes, ....

And everyone can reply with suggestions, comment, ...

Offcourse no pressure, and it's entirely up to you.
I just think it's a good idea, I know I'd like to post my robot there to get some suggestions etc. And it would be nice for us to see the result of the help that has been given.


ADMIN:
So whoever that wants to just show their robot can do it on the forum with an ordinary post, people do this all the time (including myself) . . . but for a detailed showing I offer free webspace here:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/member_tutorials/

Im very resistant to adding new forum categories to keep down the clutter. There is a post someone that explains it all . . .

I thought it'd be best if it was another subforum.
-This way ther's no extra work to make another page,
-No double posts (as Airman mentioned)
-Possibility to reply (suggestions, critics, ...)
-And making a member tutorial page is (or at least seems) much more effort.
 Because it is expected to write tutorials etc.
 Also I believe the member tutorial pages should only be for the better robots, with good tutorials, good documenting, etc....

[Admin]

Perhaps admin should make it a tad easier to get to the main site? maybe a simple "click here to go to tutorial site" or w/e

So the very first pic in big letters on every forum page is a link to the main site . . . but I can see how its not entirely obvious . . . What if I write 'Main Site' on the right of where it says 'Robot Forum'?

Is there any way of incorporating a robot image gallery into either the web site or the forum?

What if I create a special section in the member tutorials just for robot showcasing? Basically a separate area where tutorials aren't required? I already have it set up for comments at the bottom of each member tutorial page.

any question- RTFT

yea, the tutorials answer 95% of all questions . . . but there is quite a lot of info to absorb all at once . . . mostly I want to set up a page so if a newbie asks a common question, instead of us repeating ourselves we can just forward the one link to them.

I am writing the 'how the FAQ do I build a robot?' tutorial right now . . .
last call for questions! (and links where it's already been answered would speed me up with copy/paste)

[Ro-Bot-X]

What if I write 'Main Site' on the right of where it says 'Robot Forum'?

I think you should write: For TUTORIALS click here...

The pictures in the members section are a good idea.

About the questions answered... there are tons of them. I don't even remember where they are and how I answered them. I'll try to find a few.

[Rebelgium]

What if I write 'Main Site' on the right of where it says 'Robot Forum'?

Yeah sounds good. It has to be something that makes it obvious there are tutorials on the main site. Like "tutorials" or something...

What if I create a special section in the member tutorials just for robot showcasing? Basically a separate area where tutorials aren't required? I already have it set up for comments at the bottom of each member tutorial page.

Yeah, a subforum or a separate section in the member tutorials are both fine. As long as it is possible to post photos, videos and text. And it's possible for everyone to reply.

[paulstreats]

Yeah, a subforum or a separate section in the member tutorials are both fine. As long as it is possible to post photos, videos and text. And it's possible for everyone to reply.

I dont think it would be necesarry for other people to reply or post comments on robot pictures, just a plain old picture gallery that you can upload a picture to and write the basic stats/components would be sufficient. By letting people comment, it would just clutter a picture gallery up

[Mega]

I dont think it would be necesarry for other people to reply or post comments on robot pictures, just a plain old picture gallery that you can upload a picture to and write the basic stats/components would be sufficient. By letting people comment, it would just clutter a picture gallery up

I fully agree, just plain picture. Leave the talking for the forum

[Admin]

Ok, the FAQ is finished:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robot_faq.shtml

Notice that each individual question can be linked to for easy posting. I also permanently linked to it on the main page. I can always add more questions/answers to it per request.

Lastly, I added up top of the robot forum two things, Robot Tutorials, and FAQ. If it's ugly or people have better ideas on what I can link, just let me know.

Adding a robot gallery to the members tutorials has gone on my list of projects to get done.

[ed1380]

looks great

awesome. hope this helps cut down on teh Q's

[Mega]

Lastly, I added up top of the robot forum two things, Robot Tutorials, and FAQ. If it's ugly or people have better ideas on what I can link, just let me know.

Very nice. One suggestion: it would be nice if this top main menu remains the same when switching between forum, tutorials, faq and main page. This way you will always have a consist navigation menu regardless of where you are in the site.

Adding a robot gallery to the members tutorials has gone on my list of projects to get done.

I'm looking forward to it 

[HDL_CinC_Dragon]

Looks good admin

One suggestion though, Make it so that the paragraphs topics are bold or underlined or something like that so you can see where each question ends and the new one starts. Maybe even just a simple horizontal separator between each question? That would make it easier on the eyes and encourage newbies to look at the page instead of being overwhelmed with where each question even is.

Other than that, it looks very nice

[Admin]

Make it so that the paragraphs topics are bold or underlined or something like that so you can see where each question ends and the new one starts. Maybe even just a simple horizontal separator between each question?

added. how about now?

Very nice. One suggestion: it would be nice if this top main menu remains the same when switching between forum, tutorials, faq and main page. This way you will always have a consist navigation menu regardless of where you are in the site.

I added the same 'Robot Tutorials' link to the members tutorials last night too, based on the same suggestions. I'll think about this some more.

[Rebelgium]

One suggestion: it would be nice if this top main menu remains the same when switching between forum, tutorials, faq and main page. This way you will always have a consist navigation menu regardless of where you are in the site.

Agreed.

Yeah, a subforum or a separate section in the member tutorials are both fine. As long as it is possible to post photos, videos and text. And it's possible for everyone to reply.

I dont think it would be necesarry for other people to reply or post comments on robot pictures, just a plain old picture gallery that you can upload a picture to and write the basic stats/components would be sufficient. By letting people comment, it would just clutter a picture gallery up

hmm, agreed and not agreed.
I see a picture gallery as a big page with alot of thumbnails (one thumbnail per robot). And every thumbnail is clickable, which takes you to a page for that robot only.
On that page you'll find everthing I mentioned above. If there are comments on the bottom of that page, it doesn't clutter the page up don't you think?

[Admin]

I see a picture gallery as a big page with alot of thumbnails (one thumbnail per robot). And every thumbnail is clickable, which takes you to a page for that robot only.

What if I set up a robot gallery for members that looks just like this:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robots.shtml

Then the links go to either a personal page or a page on the members tutorial 'gallery' section?

[paulstreats]

Thats kind of how I would image a robot picture gallery to be