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Learn Robotics Programming

Learn Robotics Programming

By : Danny Staple
4.9 (8)
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Learn Robotics Programming

Learn Robotics Programming

4.9 (8)
By: Danny Staple

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
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Get in touch
Free Chapter
1
Introduction to Robotics
Introduction to Robotics
What does robot mean?
Advanced and impressive robots
Robots in the home
Robots in industry
Competitive, educational, and hobby robots
Summary
Questions
Further reading
2
Exploring Robot Building Blocks - Code and Electronics
Exploring Robot Building Blocks - Code and Electronics
Technical requirements
What is inside a robot?
Types of motors, sensors, and actuators
Controllers and IO
Planning components and code structure
Planning our robot
Summary
Questions
Further reading
3
Introducing the Raspberry Pi - Starting with Raspbian
Introducing the Raspberry Pi - Starting with Raspbian
Technical requirements
What can the Raspberry Pi do?
What connections will we use?
What is Raspbian?
Preparing an SD card
Summary
Questions
Further reading
4
Preparing a Raspberry Pi for a Robot - Headless by Default
Preparing a Raspberry Pi for a Robot - Headless by Default
Technical requirements
What does headless mean and why?
Setting up wireless on the Raspberry Pi and enabling SSH
Finding your Pi on the network
Using PuTTY or SSH to connect to your Raspberry Pi
Configuring Raspbian
Summary
Questions
Further reading
5
Backing Up the Code with Git and SD Card Copies
Backing Up the Code with Git and SD Card Copies
Technical requirements
How code can be broken or lost
Strategy 1 - keep the code on the PC and upload it
Strategy 2 – using Git to go back in time
Strategy 3 – making SD card backups
Summary
Questions
Further reading
6
Building Robot Basics - Wheels, Power, and Wiring
Building Robot Basics - Wheels, Power, and Wiring
Technical requirements
Choosing a chassis kit
Choosing a motor controller
Powering the robot
Test fitting the robot
Assembling the base
Summary
Questions
Further reading
7
Drive and Turn - Moving Motors with Python
Drive and Turn - Moving Motors with Python
Technical requirements
Connecting the motors to the Raspberry Pi
Writing code to test your motors
Steering a robot
The robot object – code for our experiments to talk to the robot
Write a script to follow a predetermined path
Summary
Questions
Further reading
8
Programming Line-Following Sensors Using Python
Programming Line-Following Sensors Using Python
Technical requirements
Attaching line sensors to the robot and Raspberry Pi
Painting the test track
Writing the code – testing the sensors
Writing the line-following behavior
Summary
Questions
Further reading
9
Programming RGB Strips in Python
Programming RGB Strips in Python
Technical requirements
Comparing light strip technologies
Attaching the light strip to the Raspberry Pi
Making a robot display code object
Using the light strip for debugging the line follower robot
Summary
Questions
Further reading
10
Using Python to Control Servo Motors
Using Python to Control Servo Motors
Technical requirements
What are servo motors?
Positioning a servo
Adding a pan and tilt mechanism
Creating pan and tilt code
Summary
Questions
Further reading
11
Programming Distance Sensors with Python
Programming Distance Sensors with Python
Technical requirements
Choosing light versus ultrasonic sensors
Attaching and reading an ultrasonic sensor
Avoiding walls – a script to avoid obstacles
Menu modes – choosing your robot's behavior
Summary
Questions
Further reading
12
Programming Encoders with Python
Programming Encoders with Python
Technical requirements
What are encoders?
Attaching encoders to the robot
Detecting the distance traveled in Python
Driving in a straight line
Driving a specific distance
Making a specific turn
Summary
Questions
Further reading
13
Robot Vision - Using a Pi Camera and OpenCV
Robot Vision - Using a Pi Camera and OpenCV
Technical requirements
Setting up the Raspberry Pi Camera
Setting up OpenCV
Colors, masking, and filtering – chasing colored objects
Detecting faces with Haar cascades
Summary
Questions
Further reading
14
Voice Communication with a Robot Using Mycroft
Voice Communication with a Robot Using Mycroft
Technical requirements
Introducing Mycroft
Adding sound input and output to the Raspberry Pi
Installing Mycroft on the Raspberry Pi
Programming Mycroft skills for the robot functions
Summary
Questions
Further reading
15
Programming a Gamepad on Raspberry Pi with Python
Programming a Gamepad on Raspberry Pi with Python
Technical requirements
When speech control won't work - why we need to drive
Choosing a controller
Preparing the Raspberry Pi for our controller and driving with it
Upgrading the menu and displaying code for full headless
Making it start when the Pi starts
Summary
Questions
Further reading
16
Taking Your Robot Programming Skills Further
Taking Your Robot Programming Skills Further
Online robot building communities – forums and social media
Meeting robot builders – competitions, makerspaces, and meetups
Suggestions for further skills – 3D printing, soldering, PCB, and CnC
Finding more information on computer vision
Extending into machine Learning
Summary
Further reading
17
Planning Your Next Robot Project - Putting It All Together
Planning Your Next Robot Project - Putting It All Together
Technical requirements
Visualizing your next robot
Making a block diagram
Choosing the parts
Planning the code for the robot
Letting the world know
Summary
18
Assessments
Assessments
Chapter 1, Introduction to Robotics
Chapter 2, Exploring Robot Building Blocks - Code and Electronics
Chapter 3, Introducing the Raspberry Pi - Starting with Raspbian
Chapter 4, Preparing a Raspberry Pi for a Robot - Headless by Default
Chapter 5, Backing Up the Code with Git and SD Card Copies
Chapter 6, Building Robot Basics - Wheels, Power, and Wiring
Chapter 7, Drive and Turn - Moving Motors with Python
Chapter 8, Programming Line-Following Sensors Using Python
Chapter 9, Programming RGB Strips in Python
Chapter 10, Using Python to Control Servo Motors
Chapter 11, Programming Distance Sensors with Python
Chapter 12, Programming Encoders with Python
Chapter 13, Robot Vision - Using a Pi Camera and OpenCV
Chapter 14, Voice Communication with a Robot Using Mycroft
Chapter 15, Programming a Gamepad on Raspberry Pi with Python
19
Other Books You May Enjoy
Other Books You May Enjoy
Leave a review - let other readers know what you think
Appendix
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Appendix
Finding parts
Converting this code to Python 3
OpenCV versions
Power smoothing capacitor

OpenCV versions

Closely related to using Python 3 is using a more recent version of OpenCV. This may perform better but, at the time of writing, it is quite long-winded to install for Python 2.7. It installs easily in Python 3 by using a PiWheel (prebuilt packages for Python on the Raspberry Pi).

I'll assume that pip3 is the Python 3 pip installer:

$ sudo pip3 install picamera[array] numpy opencv-python

Following this, only one OpenCV function appears to have changed enough to require our code to change.

Find contours

In OpenCV 2.4.9 this function has the signature (arrangement of parameters and return values) of:

contours, hierarchy = cv.findContours(image, mode, method[, contours[, hierarchy[, offset]]] ).

We copy the...

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