i wish to make something. it should be more accessible than ever and the next thing but only the tech giants seem to capture most of the conversation.
Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
1–10 of 106 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
#2If you want to make something, have a look at https://huggingface.co/lerobot
For hardware check: https://github.com/TheRobotStudio/SO-ARM100
There will be a world wide hackathon in two weeks time, no better way to get started and get to know some people: https://huggingface.co/LeRobot-worldwide-hackathon
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
#3Start by deciding its purpose. The form will follow the purpose. If you know electrical engineering, you won't make as many mistakes as I have. If you know mechanical engineering, you won't take as long to design the components as it took me. If you're a competent programmer, you won't be as slow integrating the hardware into a cohesive whole as I am. If you've read The Design of Everyday Things, you're ahead of the curve in terms of making it accessible.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
#4A good starting point is learning to use ROS https://ros.org/. Once you learn ROS you can interact with/use a wide variety of robots. Robotics is a fairly multidisciplinary field though, so it really depends on what area of robotics you are interested in.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
#5I'm not joking, but some of those Lego robotics kits can work just fine for getting your feet wet. Yes, even if they are made for kids.
When I started out, it was with microcontrollers, breadboards, sensors, actuators. And even though it was in college, I do wish I had just played around with more high-level stuff first.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
#6Robotics is more accessible than ever. The tech is here to build almost anything you want. Dream big! We can now buy cameras for a couple dollars, microphone arrays, sensors, motors and drivers. 3D printers are everywhere, stock components also available.
Or 'manage your expectations', download ROS and build another mediocre turtle bot powered by some Nvidia Teraflop chip (if they allow you to boot their sdk), and spend a year learning "abstractions" defined by other people for other projects.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
#7I'm not joking, but some of those Lego robotics kits can work just fine for getting your feet wet. Yes, even if they are made for kids. When I started out, it was with microcontrollers, breadboards, sensors, actuators. And even though it was in college, I do wish I had just played around with more high-level stuff first.
The lego mindstorms kits were great for this. Nice and modular for the hardware, but still real enough to teach you lessons like sometimes identical motors don't work the same way.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
#8Depending on your goals, micromouse could be a good starting point as well. Look up to veritasium video if you want to get inspired.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
#9Has anybody tried Crunch Lab's HackPack? It seems it could be quite well suited for this purpose -- they claim to make it straight forward to go beyond the kit, and they've certainly taken some of the right steps in that direction.
Re: Ask HN: How do I learn robotics in 2025?
#10Do this course https://github.com/henki-robotics/robotics_essentials_ros2
Totally free, don't need to buy anything just a computer.
I've been designing electrical hardware for robots for the last 4 years for a big corporation and I can tell you, the fun and money is in the software but having another skill is awesome. Robotics is a place where multiple fields converge and if you find a good team they will help you to grow.
Embedded is the adjacent field after you complete the course. Maybe something like zephyr project.
If you want to get you feet wet with mechanical. Buy a A1 mini and play with onshape (www.onshape.com) to design your first pieces, supports for the motors or the board, try create you own gripper.
As for the electrical engineering, is the one with most pitfalls and the most expensive. A wrong voltage will release the magical smoke and is another 30$ for a board. Tread carefully. Start with the RP2040 or the RP2350, they are cheap and well documented. This skill will evolve hand by hand with the embedded coding. Start small. Learn about H-bridge and brushed motors before doing the jump to the bigboys and FOC control with brushless. Get a cheap soldering iron. If you can, a clone of the JBC C245 tips. Is the most versatile and you can find stuff in alie xpress for 45 or 50$ and would be similar to the tools you will find in the field without breaking the bank.
Search for ROS meetups. I could point you to some depending where in the world you are.
And above all, it will be a long journey. Don't dispear, do at your own time but don't forget the objective.