This summer I got interested in making things in Seattle. After nearly 25 years since my last attempt with robots, I got to work with robots. As part of the SparkSip: Tiny Task Bots project, we built a small robot that will be used for cleaning metal roof. Congrats to the kids who worked on this robot over the past 8 weeks.
You can see the robot in action in this video.
It took a while to research the components required to build this robot. Hey, we were starting from scratch and this was a small team of newbies learning to work outside a kit and use the open internet and creative minds to build something from scratch. Not bad for that effort. We will be back at it as we develop more understanding.
Along the way I discovered many interesting things including NodeBots and Johnny-Five. We also discovered a variety of specialty eCommerce sites that sell the gear required (more on this later).
NodeBots offers a great collection of JavaScript library and tools that work with devices to build Robotics. There was a NodeBots day on July 30th for which I had volunteered during this summer. It was fun to see variety of kits for kids to play with. The simple onboard microprocessors and controllers along with an array of sensors provides more fun. We programmed with JavaScript libraries (primarily Johnny-Five framework). We built simple voice controlled buzzer and alarms. We used sensors and actuators to run motors and music devices.
Maker Faire is a great place to go and learn more. I am volunteering there on Sep 18th morning. I am hoping to see fun projects and enjoy a lot more here. Dan Shapiro from GlowForge will show his personal laser cutters. One of the presenters is Anantika who makes some really fun stuff – see her creations here.
Now my son wants to build an electric scooter from scratch with phone control. That will be a big project to tackle in the coming months.
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