subt robots
Posted inRobots Systems & Sensors

Hands On Ground Robot & Drone Design Series

Hi all, This is a new series looking at the detailed design of various robots. To start with we will be looking at the design of two different robots that were used for the DARPA Subterranean Challenge. Both of these robots were designed for operating in complex subterranean environments, including Caves, Mines & Urban environments. Both of these robots presented…
The Electronic Connector Book
Posted inElectrical & Electronics Misc

Book Review: The Electronic Connector Book

The Electronic Connector Book by Davide Andrea is the book I wish I had when I first started out as a roboticist, and is the book I am happy to now have. I say this is a book, but it is a large tome of everything you ever wanted to know (and did not know you wanted to know) about…
SICK TiM LIDAR Teardown
Posted inSystems & Sensors

SICK TiM LIDAR Teardown

Hi allA few years ago I did a teardown of the classic LMS 291 "brick" that was common on many early robots. Now I had the chance to open up a newer much smaller TiM-100 LIDAR sensor. Lets see how things have changed. See the video below to learn about the SICK TiM sensor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O8Lb10BFfM To look back at the…
project schedule
Posted inMisc

Project Planning: Scheduling & Estimating Activity Duration

Successful projects tend to have schedules that work (as well as budget, but that is for another time). This schedule should be made at the start of the project and actively maintained throughout the project. On large projects this may mean having a dedicated person to maintain and track the schedule. I would generally recommend revisiting the schedule at least…
Automate 2023
Posted inMisc

Automate 2023

Automate is my favorite trade show to attend each year. While there are many conferences that are academic in nature (IROS, ICRA, etc..), this show is geared to actually building and deploying of robotics. Over 725 vendors show up to exhibit to show off everything from motors, fleet management software, grippers, wheels, UGVs, IMRs, bearings, and much more. In many…
Drone Flying
Posted inComputing & Networking Electrical & Electronics Systems & Sensors

Drone Sensor Payload Design Hands On

This post is part of the Hands on Robot Design series. See here for the full list of posts/topics https://robotsforroboticists.com/hands-on-ground-robot--drone-design-series for information on mechanical, electrical, motion control, computing, sensors, and more. Once we had a drone we needed the sensors and computer to make this drone operate. Keeping with the idea of trying to make the drone as light as…
Drone Flying
Posted inElectrical & Electronics Mechanical Robots

Drone Design Hands On

This post is part of the Hands on Robot Design series. See here for the full list of posts/topics https://robotsforroboticists.com/hands-on-ground-robot--drone-design-series for information on mechanical, electrical, motion control, computing, sensors, and more. The drones designed for the DARPA SubT challenge needed to be great at flying through tunnels and exploring unknown subterranean environments. The plan was to be as aggressive as…
Jim Teza. How to be a better Roboticist.
Posted inMisc

Jim Teza. How to be a better Roboticist.

Hi This morning I got the news that a friend, mentor and colleague for the past 17 years has passed away. I wanted to share a few lessons from Jim. Never be satisfied and always seek perfection, yet also know when a robot is ready to test.Think about your work. If you did something incorrectly, fix it.Become an expert in…
Posted inMisc Research

Quadruped Control Full Stack Development Kit

Just sharing this announcement with the Robots for Roboticists community. I have not had a chance to use this yet. I know I generally only share things that I have used, but I felt this was worth sharing. If you try it out, let us know how it works. Announcing Quad-SDK! A full-stack quadruped control code open source, so anyone…
Posted inMisc

Robotics Dictionary

This is functional dictionary for roboticists, and not a proper dictionary. The goal of making this is to define terms from within the research and engineering world in an easy to understand manner. Try to read through this list to test your robotics terminology. This is a work in progress and I will be continuing to add to this list.…
Setup & Configuring a Copley Motor Controller
Posted inElectrical & Electronics

Setup & Configuring a Copley Motor Controller

I generally try and use Copley motor controllers whenever I can. This is for several reasons including: ReliabilityLinux software API (for a small fee) which can easily be wrapped for using in ROS Copley, if you are reading this you should make CML available to everyone for free...Same software API for a wide range of different controllers (AC, DC, brushed,…
router and access point
Posted inComputing & Networking

Wireless Radio Selection

Radios are used for different things; data, audio, video, etc.. In robotics they are most often used for transmitting data wirelessly. There are many different types of radios available to choose for your robotic system. There are probably hundreds of individual radios to choose from. This post will look at some of the different categories. I am partially sorting this…
KVH Fiber Optic Gyro
Posted inSystems & Sensors

Fiber Optic Gyro (FOG) Teardown

I recently had an opportunity to take apart a Fiber Optic Gyro (FOG). I have always known the theory behind a FOG and that there was a fiber optic cable that was used as the sensing element, however I was not prepared to actually see the fiber optic cable in the sensor. The unit I have to open is a…
sensor payload
Posted inComputing & Networking Electrical & Electronics Systems & Sensors

Sensor Payload – Hands On Ground Robot Design

This post is part of the Hands on Ground Robot Design series. See here for the full list of posts/topics https://robotsforroboticists.com/hands-on-ground-robot--drone-design-series for information on mechanical, electrical, motion control, computing, sensors, and more. Sensor Selection Based on the system requirements we determined that we needed RGBD cameras in all four directions to help find required artifacts (survivors, fire extinguishers, cell phones,…
R3 motor controllers
Posted inComputing & Networking Electrical & Electronics

Motor Controls & Computing – Hands On Ground Robot Design

This post is part of the Hands on Ground Robot Design series. See here for the full list of posts/topics https://robotsforroboticists.com/hands-on-ground-robot--drone-design-series for information on mechanical, electrical, motion control, computing, sensors, and more. Check out the post below for some pro tips on getting better support when talking with motor controller vendors. Motor Controls We used Copley BPL-090-30 and Copley ADP-180-30…
robot schematic
Posted inElectrical & Electronics

Power System & Soft Start – Hands On Ground Robot Design

This post is part of the Hands on Ground Robot Design series. See here for the full list of posts/topics https://robotsforroboticists.com/hands-on-ground-robot--drone-design-series for information on mechanical, electrical, motion control, computing, sensors, and more. Power System The power system of the robot is key for making everything move and for powering all of the sensors and computers. Often reliability issues within a…
modular robot design
Posted inMechanical

Mechanical & Wheels – Hands On Ground Robot Design

This post is part of the Hands on Ground Robot Design series. See here for the full list of posts/topics https://robotsforroboticists.com/hands-on-ground-robot--drone-design-series for information on mechanical, electrical, motion control, computing, sensors, and more. Robot Size Decision After we have the list of system requirements we start with the design of the mechanical structure of the robot. In this case we decided…
Book Cover
Posted inMisc Robots Systems & Sensors

Book Review: The Design and Engineering of Curiosity

As soon as I saw this book existed on Amazon, I instantly wanted to read it. It is not often that I see a book dedicated to the detailed engineering design of a complex robotic system. The Design and Engineering of Curiosity: How the Mars Rover Performs its Job by Emily Lakdawalla did not disappoint. It is a fascinating read…
The easiest part was building the hardware?
Posted inMisc

The easiest part was building the hardware?

A colleague of mine who wishes to remain anonymous recently heard somebody say that hardware was the easy part of robotics. In response to that he wrote this email/poem. (I am calling it a poem, he did not). (I made a few small changes to protect anonymity) I fully understand why many people think that designing and building hardware is…
Intel RealSense L515 Teardown
Posted inSystems & Sensors

Intel RealSense L515 Teardown

The Intel Realsense L515 is a nice little LIDAR Depth Camera. Intel is planning on discontinuing this sensor in early 2022, however I have an old one that I want to tear apart. I am not adding much text to this, I am mostly just sharing the images. Please discuss any parts you can identify in the comments below. Expanded…
Servotronix Motion Coordinator
Posted inElectrical & Electronics Software & Algorithms Systems & Sensors

Motion Coordinator Gateways: Make interfacing to motor controllers easier

Often we need to communicate with motor controllers from different vendors. Writing software drivers for each one can be a pain and time consuming. Other times we need to use motor controllers utilizing EtherCAT or CANopen, but talking to those drives from our computers is difficult to implement. One solution is using a motion coordinator as a gateway. Sample layout…
realsense CAD
Posted inSystems & Sensors

Intel RealSense D435 Teardown and Cleaning

The Intel RealSense D435 is nice little depth camera. So naturally I want to tear it down and see what is inside of it. Also I have seen many cases where if the the camera is used outdoors dust can get inside on the lenses and affect image quality. I have also seen the internal black rubber seal start to…
Comparing depth and color RGB images
Posted inSystems & Sensors

Intel RealSense 3D Camera for Robotics & SLAM (with code)

Note: I have been using these cameras for the past 2 years or so. They are great for research, but I do not recommend them for commercial applications due to USB reliability issues. The Intel RealSense cameras have been gaining in popularity for the past few years for use as a 3D camera and for visual odometry. I had the…
Hydraulic System
Posted inMechanical

Using Hydraulics for Robots: Introduction

Hydraulics are sometimes looked at as an alternative to electric motors. Some of the primary reasons for this include: Linear motionVery high torque applicationsSmall package for a given torqueLarge number of motors that can share the reservoir/pump can increase volume efficiencyYou can add dampening for shock absorption However there are also some downsides to using hydraulics including: More parts are…
Oriental Motor
Posted inElectrical & Electronics

Wiring Oriental Motor Motors

I really like the Oriental Motor motors and gear boxes. The motors work well and they have nice gearbox configurations. In particular I like these for driving wheels on medium size robots. Internals of the hollow shaft gearbox. The motor attaches below the gears on the right. Then a drive shaft is inserted into the keyed hole on the left.…
image underwater with lights and no lights
Posted inSystems & Sensors

Underwater Photography and Videography

I had somebody ask me questions this week about underwater photography and videography with robots (well, now it is a few weeks ago...). I am not an expert at underwater robotics, however as a SCUBA diver I have some experience that can be applicable towards robotics. Underwater Considerations There are some challenges that exist with underwater photography and videography, that…
List of industrial safety standards
Posted inMisc

Industrial Robot Safety Standards, Abbreviations, Codes & Titles

I recently attended the National Robot Safety Conference for Industrial Robots and found myself confused with all of the safety standards. Here is the sheet that they provided to help identify Standards, Abbreviations, Codes & Titles. If you find any of these interesting and wish to purchase the standards you can go to the Robot Industries Association. Enjoy this list…
national robot safety conference
Posted inMisc

National Robot Safety Conference – October 2017

I had the opportunity to attend the National Robot Safety Conference for Industrial Robots today in Pittsburgh, PA (USA). Today was the first day of a three-day conference. While I mostly cover technical content on this site; I felt that this was an important conference to attend since safety and safety standards are becoming more and more important in robot…