Design, build and program a simple robot and share it with other learners. Here’s your chance to build a simple robot. Robotics is all about integrating hardware and software. In this course, you’ll design, build and program a simple robot, with at least two joints, that can carry a pen or pencil and draw a coordinated line on a sheet of a paper.
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There are lots of ways you could actually build such a robot and that will depend on your skill level, your budget, or what equipment you can source.
You may find the project challenging. You’ll need to bring together a number of skills, such as mechanical design and software development. The software needs to implement kinematic algorithms as well as communicate with sensors and motors. You will need to generate a trajectory of points for the robot to move on the worksheet and test and adjust the software to improve your robot’s performance. At the end of the course, you’ll be invited to submit a video of your completed robot for peer review.
What topics will you cover?
- Build your robot arm:
Sourcing the equipment
Connecting to the brick
Moving the motors
Braking modes
-Configuration and design:
Joint types
Key design decisions
Connecting structure and gears
-Move and test your robot arm:
Robot design tips
Developing kinematics equations in MATLAB
Moving your robot to a point
Joint movement
Improving movement performance
- Assess your robot (optional):
Filming your robot arm
Submitting your video for peer assessment
Assessing other learners’ videos
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...
- Apply mathematical, algorithmic and control principles of robot arm manipulators
- Produce a working robot through physical construction and software development
