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  • Book Overview & Buying Learn Robotics Programming
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Learn Robotics Programming

Learn Robotics Programming

By : Danny Staple
4.9 (8)
Buy this Book
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Learn Robotics Programming

Learn Robotics Programming

4.9 (8)
By: Danny Staple
Buy this Book

Overview of this book

We live in an age where the most difficult human tasks are now automated. Smart and intelligent robots, which will perform different tasks precisely and efficiently, are the requirement of the hour. A combination of Raspberry Pi and Python works perfectly when making these kinds of robots. Learn Robotics Programming starts by introducing you to the basic structure of a robot, along with how to plan, build, and program it. As you make your way through the book, you will gradually progress to adding different outputs and sensors, learning new building skills, and writing code for interesting behaviors with sensors. You’ll also be able to update your robot, and set up web, phone, and Wi-Fi connectivity in order to control it. By the end of the book, you will have built a clever robot that can perform basic artificial intelligence (AI) operations.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
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Preface
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Preface
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Who this book is for
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What this book covers
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To get the most out of this book
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Get in touch
Free Chapter
1
Introduction to Robotics
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Introduction to Robotics
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What does robot mean?
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Advanced and impressive robots
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Robots in the home
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Robots in industry
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Competitive, educational, and hobby robots
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
2
Exploring Robot Building Blocks - Code and Electronics
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Exploring Robot Building Blocks - Code and Electronics
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Technical requirements
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What is inside a robot?
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Types of motors, sensors, and actuators
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Controllers and IO
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Planning components and code structure
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Planning our robot
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
3
Introducing the Raspberry Pi - Starting with Raspbian
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Introducing the Raspberry Pi - Starting with Raspbian
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Technical requirements
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What can the Raspberry Pi do?
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What connections will we use?
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What is Raspbian?
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Preparing an SD card
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
4
Preparing a Raspberry Pi for a Robot - Headless by Default
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Preparing a Raspberry Pi for a Robot - Headless by Default
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Technical requirements
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What does headless mean and why?
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Setting up wireless on the Raspberry Pi and enabling SSH
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Finding your Pi on the network
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Using PuTTY or SSH to connect to your Raspberry Pi
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Configuring Raspbian
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
5
Backing Up the Code with Git and SD Card Copies
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Backing Up the Code with Git and SD Card Copies
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Technical requirements
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How code can be broken or lost
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Strategy 1 - keep the code on the PC and upload it
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Strategy 2 – using Git to go back in time
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Strategy 3 – making SD card backups
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
6
Building Robot Basics - Wheels, Power, and Wiring
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Building Robot Basics - Wheels, Power, and Wiring
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Technical requirements
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Choosing a chassis kit
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Choosing a motor controller
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Powering the robot
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Test fitting the robot
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Assembling the base
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
7
Drive and Turn - Moving Motors with Python
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Drive and Turn - Moving Motors with Python
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Technical requirements
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Connecting the motors to the Raspberry Pi
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Writing code to test your motors
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Steering a robot
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The robot object – code for our experiments to talk to the robot
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Write a script to follow a predetermined path
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
8
Programming Line-Following Sensors Using Python
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Programming Line-Following Sensors Using Python
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Technical requirements
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Attaching line sensors to the robot and Raspberry Pi
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Painting the test track
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Writing the code – testing the sensors
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Writing the line-following behavior
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
9
Programming RGB Strips in Python
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Programming RGB Strips in Python
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Technical requirements
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Comparing light strip technologies
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Attaching the light strip to the Raspberry Pi
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Making a robot display code object
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Using the light strip for debugging the line follower robot
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
10
Using Python to Control Servo Motors
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Using Python to Control Servo Motors
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Technical requirements
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What are servo motors?
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Positioning a servo
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Adding a pan and tilt mechanism
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Creating pan and tilt code
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
11
Programming Distance Sensors with Python
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Programming Distance Sensors with Python
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Technical requirements
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Choosing light versus ultrasonic sensors
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Attaching and reading an ultrasonic sensor
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Avoiding walls – a script to avoid obstacles
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Menu modes – choosing your robot's behavior
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
12
Programming Encoders with Python
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Programming Encoders with Python
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Technical requirements
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What are encoders?
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Attaching encoders to the robot
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Detecting the distance traveled in Python
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Driving in a straight line
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Driving a specific distance
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Making a specific turn
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
13
Robot Vision - Using a Pi Camera and OpenCV
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Robot Vision - Using a Pi Camera and OpenCV
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Technical requirements
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Setting up the Raspberry Pi Camera
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Setting up OpenCV
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Colors, masking, and filtering – chasing colored objects
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Detecting faces with Haar cascades
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
14
Voice Communication with a Robot Using Mycroft
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Voice Communication with a Robot Using Mycroft
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Technical requirements
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Introducing Mycroft
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Adding sound input and output to the Raspberry Pi
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Installing Mycroft on the Raspberry Pi
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Programming Mycroft skills for the robot functions
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
15
Programming a Gamepad on Raspberry Pi with Python
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Programming a Gamepad on Raspberry Pi with Python
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Technical requirements
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When speech control won't work - why we need to drive
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Choosing a controller
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Preparing the Raspberry Pi for our controller and driving with it
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Upgrading the menu and displaying code for full headless
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Making it start when the Pi starts
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Summary
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Questions
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Further reading
16
Taking Your Robot Programming Skills Further
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Taking Your Robot Programming Skills Further
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Online robot building communities – forums and social media
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Meeting robot builders – competitions, makerspaces, and meetups
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Suggestions for further skills – 3D printing, soldering, PCB, and CnC
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Finding more information on computer vision
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Extending into machine Learning
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Summary
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Further reading
17
Planning Your Next Robot Project - Putting It All Together
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Planning Your Next Robot Project - Putting It All Together
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Technical requirements
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Visualizing your next robot
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Making a block diagram
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Choosing the parts
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Planning the code for the robot
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Letting the world know
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Summary
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Assessments
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Assessments
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Chapter 1, Introduction to Robotics
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Chapter 2, Exploring Robot Building Blocks - Code and Electronics
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Chapter 3, Introducing the Raspberry Pi - Starting with Raspbian
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Chapter 4, Preparing a Raspberry Pi for a Robot - Headless by Default
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Chapter 5, Backing Up the Code with Git and SD Card Copies
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Chapter 6, Building Robot Basics - Wheels, Power, and Wiring
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Chapter 7, Drive and Turn - Moving Motors with Python
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Chapter 8, Programming Line-Following Sensors Using Python
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Chapter 9, Programming RGB Strips in Python
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Chapter 10, Using Python to Control Servo Motors
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Chapter 11, Programming Distance Sensors with Python
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Chapter 12, Programming Encoders with Python
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Chapter 13, Robot Vision - Using a Pi Camera and OpenCV
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Chapter 14, Voice Communication with a Robot Using Mycroft
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Chapter 15, Programming a Gamepad on Raspberry Pi with Python
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Other Books You May Enjoy
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Other Books You May Enjoy
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Leave a review - let other readers know what you think
Appendix
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Appendix
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Finding parts
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Converting this code to Python 3
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OpenCV versions
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Power smoothing capacitor

Technical requirements

For this chapter, you will require the following:

  • The robot with the Raspberry Pi built in the previous chapters
  • Screwdrivers—small pozi
  • Small pliers or a set of miniature spanners
  • Nylon bolts and standoffs kit—2.5 mm
  • A two-axis mini pan-tilt micro servos kit
  • Two micro SG90/9g servo motors if the kit does not include them, with their hardware and servo horns
  • Cutting pliers or side cutters
  • Safety goggles

Check out the following video to see the Code in Action:

http://bit.ly/2P4RqO1

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