Nixvii
Hi all,
I was pointed in this direction by a facebook group "I Want To Customize My Johnny 5 Toy Robot!" and I'm looking to get started in Robotics. I did about 5 hours of research last night, watching videos, reading these forums / articles to understand the best place to start (e.g. Arduino vs EZ Robot).
For me, the choice was made due to programming constraints. I'm a .NET programmer and so think I'd enjoy programming in .NET for robotics. I do have a few questions that I hope the community can help me with.
My biggest issue with modern robotics (Cozmo etc) is that the "brain" is either a smartphone or a pc (basically cloud / remote). I saw in the forums a few people have used micro pc's and DJ mentioned support for DIY Makers in the future for adding a "brain" to a robot rather than using cloud / remote. Could someone elaborate on this or provide an example of a good micro pc I could use?
I saw DJ's post on the forum splitting the brand into an educational brand and a DIY Makers brand which means both will have more focus going forward. This is great to see, both brands look like they're supported and loved. My question though is should I wait for the DIY Maker brand to go live before buying the dev kit? Will the price change, will there be a new version e.g. EZ-Bv5 etc once the DIY Makers site goes live?
I also am big on community and sharing so would like to participate, just wondering if I should wait for the split before joining in on discussions in the forum etc.
Solar panels. I want to eventually make my creations / minions self sustaining e.g. Seek sunlight when running out of power, much like our beloved Wall-E does. Is this possible with EZ Robot currently?
Looking forward to working with you all in the future,
Nixvii, Simon
@jstarne1 I live in California in the bay area. I actually plan to do smaller bots. I want to do the Cozmo like thing but actually have it run on its own and not be dependent on a smartphone.
Want I really want is to make companions like how Tori is in Gundam seed. Not super intelligent but enough. I checked out your security bot. Looks amazing! I can already see you put a lot of work into your crafting. You're certainly right. I will have to start small.
I recommend starting with a toy robot and mod it to your hearts content.
So you like this little guy?
Troi
Another Troi
Looks like a perfect 3D printing project. Cool looking bird/robot.
If you are on a budget you can just start with the IoTiny. https://www.robotshop.com/en/ez-b-iotiny-robot-controller.html
A lot of servos and third party peripherals work and you can get some cheap ones on ebay etc. Probably just want to check in before you buy that someone has tested or if there is an existing plugin.
Unfortunately you don't see a lot of second hand EZ-Robot components out there occasionally someone will sell something on here but very rare.