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Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?

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Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?

#21

Post by bena »

PaulHoule wrote: post #2

I was going to recommend https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms but is is discontinued. In terms of easy of build and programming these were great. This kit is still available https://education.lego.com/en-us/products/lego-education-spi...

Spike Prime and Mindstorms use the same Hub just different colors.

Spike Prime has a large motor, 2 small motors, a distance sensor, color sensor, and force sensor.

The Mindstorms set had 4 small motors, a distance sensor, and color sensor.

Mindstorms retailed for about $400 as does Spike Prime currently.

Spike Prime is Mindstorms for all intents and purposes. You can even get either the Spike Prime or Mindstorms app and use it with either Hub.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?

#22

Post by anfractuosity »

trzy wrote: post #13

Modern robotics with deep learning/imitation learning is surprisingly accessible. The low-cost robot arm I used in this project is very easy to 3D print and assemble: https://github.com/trzy/robot-arm An iPhone app is used to teleoperate the arm and gather examples of an action. You then train the model and deploy it and the arm performs the actions based on current camera input and joint angle state.

A robot arm is fun, I assembled a 6 DoF one with metal parts and hobby servos that cost around £70 if I recall correctly.

I find it kind of interesting how because hobby servos are used, which don't have encoders on, when you turn it on and set the servo positions it jerks into life.

The problem I find with mine, is that all servos are the same, I think ideally the bottom servo needs more power. I need to try slightly higher voltage though too - I think I can use up to ~6V.

I controlled mine with a Python + a PCA9685 I2C PWM driver module - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B014KTSMLA/

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?

#23

Post by RyanOD »

glasss wrote: post #12

FIRST ( https://www.firstinspires.org/ ) is a more structured program intended to be organized through schools or similar communities (homeschooling groups, 4H, etc.). I have more experience with the bigger robots intended for high schoolers, but they have programs all the way down to kindergarten. Doing something similar at home is very possible, and if you are nearby an existing team or program they are usually mor…

+1 for FIRST. This is your path as it is structured and can also help your child build friendships with other kids interested in robotics.

Additionally, participants who stick with the program through high school learn every aspect of robotics - problem solving, design, fabrication, testing, coding, presentation, teamwork, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?

#24

Post by potatomaster2 »

Many of these comments are about robotics as it's taught now, focusing on code and cameras and algorithms and motion planning.

As someone who's built both BattleBots and Professional Robotics for work, BattleBots is a great way to get out of equations and hands on fabrication, manufacturing, testing, and scrappiness that is so hard to reach in mechanical and electrical engineering. And unlike FIRST or Lego robots, it's much more open ended and "guardrails off" engineering, which I found really freeing from the tyranny of academic-style competition robotics. You can still incorporate all the sensors and algorithm-stuff (many folks build their own motor controllers like "brushless-rage" or have sensors like Chomp), but if you just love seeing things move and love mechanical design, it's a great thing.

For BattleBots in particular, the easiest way to get into it is to find some guides online for a simple bot[1] with DC motors and a 3D printed body, and just enter it into a local combat robot competition! You'll learn the basics of a motor, speed controller, selecting wheels and other interfaces, as well as designing a chassis and fabricating it. At a competition you get the thrill of the fight, and afterwards you can sweep your robot scraps into a dustpan, make friends with other bot builders and go from there.

[1] A quick search on instructs Les and I found this, though there are many more great robot tutorials: https://www.instructables.com/Naked-Singularity-Beetleweight... . Here is one that overviews all the basic steps in a BattleBots https://www.instructables.com/How-to-design-and-build-a-comb...

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?

#25

Post by Dnguyen »

This was how I started with my son, who was also 10. Have him learned Scratch from MIT, learn how logic is constructed in a program Then I got him a couple of Snap Circuit kit. I know you said no kit, but this is just to learn basic circuit and electricity flow. Then we used a Raspberry Pi to learn Python. Once he's comfortable with Python a bit, I set up an environment to program micro controller, specifically the ESP32. I flash Micro Python on there and we started to program some LED string lights. Then control motors with H-Bridges. After that, it's onto robotics and anything we can get our hands on. I repurpose a baseball pitching machine to launch pickleball, with bluetooth connectivity to boot! All with an ESP 32, I can control the speed and rotation of the ball, which the original machine only had one speed and no rotation. It took my son about 2 years to get from zero to building robots. Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?

#27

Post by pryelluw »

Since you are a starting out from zero a sumo robot would be a good choice. It is a well known quantity at this point with lots of parts, simple rules, and very focused on the battle aspect. You can build two at once and program them against each other.

I’d do a web search for “sumobot arduino” and go from there.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?

#29

Post by awahab92 »

get a - roomba create 3 for 400 - arm built of dynamixel servos for 200 - camera for 100-500 (stereoscopic will set you back but its worth it) - nvidia jetson nano orin nx (500)

for about 2k, you can make a robot that can clean your house and is probably smarter than a dog/cat

Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?

#30

Post by glasss »

RyanOD wrote: post #23
glasss wrote: post #12

FIRST ( https://www.firstinspires.org/ ) is a more structured program intended to be organized through schools or similar communities (homeschooling groups, 4H, etc.). I have more experience with the bigger robots intended for high schoolers, but they have programs all the way down to kindergarten. Doing something similar at home is very possible, and if you are nearby an existing team or program they are usually mor…

+1 for FIRST. This is your path as it is structured and can also help your child build friendships with other kids interested in robotics. Additionally, participants who stick with the program through high school learn every aspect of robotics - problem solving, design, fabrication, testing, coding, presentation, teamwork, etc.

That is a great point, the things I value most from my time in FIRST are the friendships, connections, and soft skills I built. The engineering is fun, but I definitely use my teamwork, leadership, research, and presentation experience more on a regular basis.

Additionally to the OP, if you want this to be something that you and your kid do together, you can volunteer as a mentor for the team if your schedules align. You can have a very large impact beyond just your kid by doing so.

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