[HN Gopher] Making my first robot as a software engineer
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       Making my first robot as a software engineer
        
       Author : robertleoj
       Score  : 166 points
       Date   : 2024-12-10 22:31 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | cluckindan wrote:
       | Very nice project, haven't seen many xy plotters built like that.
       | 
       | Instead of inventing your own, you could have used Gcode as the
       | protocol language.
        
       | usixk wrote:
       | Congrats! cool project and great write up as well
        
       | msdundarss wrote:
       | I was looking for something similar to get started! Thanks for
       | sharing
        
       | cgreerrun wrote:
       | The SO100 arm[1] and LeRobot[2] community are great too if you're
       | getting into robotics from the software side of things.
       | 
       | Demonstration of the arm:
       | https://x.com/ChrisMGreer/status/1867278261631561996
       | 
       | [1]https://github.com/TheRobotStudio/SO-ARM100
       | 
       | [2]https://github.com/huggingface/lerobot
        
       | NalNezumi wrote:
       | Cool project! Since the arm seems to be a 2 DoF arm in a 2D
       | application, you don't really need numerical optimization but can
       | get the analytical solution to the inverse kinematics problem.
       | Otherwise using previous joint states as initial guess for the
       | optimization is good so that you don't get weird "swings" in the
       | arm (rarely happen in 2D)
        
       | JKCalhoun wrote:
       | Super cool. And it reminds me why to do these projects: you learn
       | so much in pursuing the project end-goal: motor selection, 3D
       | printing, model slicing, ESP32 programming, etc.
       | 
       | I expect to see a second robot soon with significant changes
       | based on the lessons learned.
       | 
       | (I too just picked up a Bambu A1 printer after deciding to dive a
       | little more into 3D printing. I can confirm it is amazing
       | compared to the Ender-3 I had only dabbled with a bit before.)
        
       | darepublic wrote:
       | I've been wanting to get into robotics and this is inspiring to
       | me. Thank you!
        
       | dheera wrote:
       | As a software and robotics engineer I really wish we could get
       | rid of these stupid "DuPont" connectors already. I want them
       | gone. They're huge, fall out easily, and hard to keep track of.
       | 
       | JST-EH is my preferred connector for most through hole type
       | stuff. That shit really stays in place after it's plugged in.
        
         | riskable wrote:
         | JST-EH is great but let's try to avoid JST-SM. It's worse than
         | DuPont! There's no surface mount connector for JS-SM yet for
         | some f'ing reason every LED strip ever uses JST-SM connectors.
         | This makes it impossible to design something like an RGB LED
         | strip controller board without having to solder some wires to
         | the board (with the connector on the other end).
         | 
         | Drives me bonkers.
        
       | riskable wrote:
       | Up next: Learn how to make your own circuit boards instead of
       | relying on individual microcontroller and motor controller boards
       | :)
        
       | BWStearns wrote:
       | Awesome writeup! As someone who is roughly in this same stage of
       | hardware learning, this had me laughing.
       | 
       | > I went into "screw with it until it works" mode. I took it
       | apart, re-applied the magnet, swapped wires around, did all kinds
       | of stuff. After a while of this, the error finally went away! No
       | idea why though.
        
         | semitones wrote:
         | This gave me a chuckle too - such a familiar experience
        
       | ElectRabbit wrote:
       | You mastered the holy trinity of engineering: hw, sw and
       | mechanics.
        
       | maceakacer wrote:
       | nice, i chcked the github and its a very nice robot, also i
       | guessed you used a program that tracks objects or dots you put on
       | a camera recording (sry if im wrong i know nothing about
       | robotics) and the robots follows some pattern in it.
        
       | dtgriscom wrote:
       | I've been a software engineer for 40+ years now. I still remember
       | the one time I wrote firmware for a cable-driven robot hand. It's
       | such a rush to type a command on a keyboard, and something on the
       | bench next to you goes "wrrrrp!".
        
       | rezz wrote:
       | This might be the best thing I've read on HN all year. Thank you
       | for the inspiration.
        
       | a_t48 wrote:
       | This is neat. I've touched ESP32 programming a bit, but need to
       | go deeper.
        
       | neumann wrote:
       | Reminds me of the https://www.brachiograph.art/ . I tried to
       | replicate this, but found the position drifted and jittery....
       | Probably due to poor glueing technique...
        
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       (page generated 2024-12-13 23:00 UTC)