Robotics : Roadmap to learn it

What is robotics?

Robotics is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and science that includes mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, information technology, computer science, and more. Robotics deals with the design, construction, operation, and use of robots and computer systems for robot control, sensory feedback, and information processing.

These technologies are used to create machines that can replace humans and mimic human behavior. Robots can be used in many different situations and purposes, but today many are used in hazardous environments (such as bomb detection and deactivation), in manufacturing processes, or where humans cannot survive (space, underwater, high temperatures, etc.). Robots can be of any shape, but some have a human-like appearance. This is intended to help robots accept certain replicating behaviors that humans typically perform. Such robots attempt to mimic walking, lifting, speaking, perceiving, or other human activities. Many of today’s robots are inspired by nature, contributing to the field of bio-inspired robotics.

While the concept of creating machines that operate autonomously dates back to antiquity, research into how robots work and what they can be used for has increased significantly since the turn of the 20th century. Many robots are made to perform tasks that are dangerous to humans, such as defusing bombs, finding survivors in unstable ruins, and exploring mines and shipwrecks. The emergence of nanorobots, tiny robots that can be injected into the human body, could revolutionize medicine and human health. Robotics is the branch of engineering that deals with the conception, design, manufacture and operation of robots. This field overlaps with electronics, computer science, artificial intelligence, mechatronics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology.

Robotics is a method used by engineers to do difficult or repetitive tasks after developing a system and a programme to control it.

Robotics has various subfields, including modelling, machine vision, control, and artificial intelligence.

It depends on your area of interest and how one field is related to the others.

The goals of each robotics discipline are diverse, yet when they are all combined, a single result is produced.

Control:

The mechanical and electrical components of robotics provide the basis for this section. It features sensors, actuators, servo motors, and more.

It relies on the system’s feedback and mostly uses physical system moments.

The system’s brain is the section called AI. It is coded completely.

AI :

The system’s brain is the section called AI. It contains all of the robot’s coding and programming. Here, in this section, the equation and all of the feedback are calculated. All of the robot’s internal mechanisms are involved in this.

Machine vision :

It is distinct from the previous two sections. As the name implies, it is a technique for how things will change based on ongoing feedback given to the AI by means of vision technology.

The field of robotics is broad and expansive. You must pay attention from one point and work your way to the next in order to comprehend this part.

What is the most effective way to begin studying robotics?

Since I frequently get this query, I’ll go ahead and do my best to offer a road map that can help someone get started in robotics or advance in it. Each of the road map’s four tiers focuses on one of four major ideas. Your inner robotic genes are holistically developed as each thought interacts with the others.

For beginners

● Learn to code: Begin learning at least one useful programming language. Good Arduino IDE. Python is fantastic. C/C++ will be excellent. Python would be my recommendation. There are a number of causes behind this, which will become clearer as you read the road map.

Start constructing simple electronic circuits to learn electronics. It might be as easy as turning on an LED. Then turn on more LEDs. Create an easy traffic signal. Put switches in place. Learn the fundamental principles underlying the operation of transistors, series and parallel circuits, resistors, and voltage. Investigate servo motors and sensors as well!

● Study fundamental assembly: We like creating things and making toys as children. Follow suit here. Learn how to construct some simple constructions out of fibre, wood, acrylic, or plastic.

● Sync with a microcontroller: You should try and test the aforementioned ideas on a simple microcontroller after becoming familiar with them. You want your circuit to “respond,” after all. Going with Arduino is the most common option for novices and hobbyists. Arduino has significantly streamlined the coding process.

● Learn Object-Oriented Programming: It’s crucial to know how to code well in order to succeed in robotics. The earlier you develop your object-oriented programming (OOP) muscles, the more you’ll appreciate it later. It’s not just Python that uses OOP. However, you can easily implement these and practice in Python. You can write functional, modular, and efficient codes by using OOP, which teaches you about classes, methods, inheritance, etc.

As you transition from being a young roboticist to an adolescent, it’s critical that you understand how the field is expressed in writing, reading, and spoken by others in the field. To that end, you should learn physics, probability, and linear algebra. Physics, probability, and linear algebra are heavily utilized in this robotics language. Yes, you may not have enjoyed these classes in high school or college, but if you’re serious about robotics, you must take them. Without having a working knowledge of matrices, you cannot perform computer vision. Without understanding physics, path planning is impossible. You need to understand probability in order to use artificial intelligence or machine learning.

A lot of newcomers to robotics get perplexed (I was too!) when they are told they need to learn this new operating system that looks alien and has a penguin somewhere next to it. The Linux operating system is what I’m referring to. Anyone who wants to learn more about robotics must become familiar with Linux. On Linux platforms, it is very simple and effective to distribute a large number of libraries, packages, and software programs created for robotics. Ubuntu is a popular Linux operating system.

● Embedded systems: We need to implement these on a device that is smaller than our laptop now that you have improved your knowledge of coding, circuitry, theoretical concepts, and Linux. Try the above concepts on a minicomputer like the Raspberry Pi or BeagleBone, along with concepts from the warmup level. Write some code to sense, move, and detect objects, then attach some sensors, servos, and a camera to one of these minicomputers.

Conclusion

Today most robots work for humans in industries, factories, warehouses and laboratories. Robots are useful in many ways. For example, businesses need to be efficient to keep up with industry competition, thus boosting the economy. The use of robots therefore helps business owners to be competitive as robots can do the job at a greater speed than humans. Robots can build and assemble cars. But robots can’t do all the work. Robotic tasks today include research and industrial support. Finally, as technology improves, new opportunities to use robots will emerge, bringing new hopes and new possibilities.

As in the roadmap I mentioned about coding it is important for you to have technical knowledge as well for which you can take up multiple courses based on your interest.The courses provided by Tutort Academy are the one’s that I find are the best.So I would recommend you to check their website for multiple options of course and choose accordingly.