Hi!
I’ve actually already built my own robot!
I know, you already seem to have gotten a lot of informations, but if you are a bit daring you could try building something similar to my Zephyr robot!
It’s completely 3D-Printed (and also otherwise self-made), even the omniwheels I use for motion, and the code includes everything necessary to set it up, including the electronic schematics and libraries for controlling it.
(Though you really don’t have to do something quite as complex at first)
If you have no experience with electronics soldering, then, as many have said already, I’d go with an Arduino. It’s basically the same chip I use for my robot, but it has a lot of nice libraries, so you’re gonna like it!
For programming then also obviously, the including Arduino programming environment is a good option, though if you want more control over the code later on, you can use “eclipse for C++” together with an AVR-Plugin to program the Arduino directly in C or C++
For a small robot you won’t need many chips. A normal Arduino Uno will serve you well, with enough pins for motors, sensors and maybe some output, and the Serial Interface is always really handy!
I hope that helps you out a bit ^^
Thanks for the help. I currently have Esclipse for C++, but I don’t know how to get coding. I’ve tried creating projects and such but nothing seems to work. Do you have any experience or know how to help me out? I know the basics of programming and have a bit of knowledge of functions, loops and if statements, but could learn more. I think I’d rather program this myself than use Arduino, but will look into this before making a decision as many have advised to do this.
Thanks again.
Eclipse for C++ by itself won’t do for programming a robot.
You’ll need to install this plugin for it, and maybe install the nececary compilers for AVR. I recommend doing it on a linux system if possible, but you should be able to set things up on windows too.
Actually, for Windows there is a nice IDE from Atmel that you should be able to use, Atmel Studio, which probably is even better suited!
You’ll also need the hardware.
If you have a normal Arduino then you are ready to go! The eclipse plugin has a preset for the Arduino to program it, and it won’t override the bootloader so you’ll be safe to play around! I am not sure about Atmel Studio, but I am confident that the community has a solution ^^
For programming microcontrollers in C or C++, a lot of things behave the same way. If’s, whiles, for loops and everything.
There is, however, one main difference in how you communicate to the outside world: With so-called registers.
Registers are fixed-position memory slots that do something very specific. For example, the “PORTA” register controls the input or output mode of certain pins.
I’d recommend googling around and reading up a bit on what they do, but they are very simple to understand.
Oh, and I’d also recommend a good understanding of the binary operators ^(xor), &(and), |(or), ~(not) and <<(left-shift), they can get handy.
If you want to get some sourcecode examples, feel free to delve into mine, though I would rather recommend searching up some tutorials. (My code really needs documentation X3)
For extra information:
The chip you are using with the Arduino is an ATMega328-P, an 8-Bit AVR processor, running at 16Mhz
The compiler used for it is AVR-Gcc
Just some extra bits if you want to search up something ^^
Hi It seems a bit odd to me that everyone talks about arduino and no one talks about Parallax.
The Parallax people do a good job at promoting robotics and anything microcontroller related.
I’m not in any way associated with Parallax but I’ve been using their microcontrollers for several years now.
Check out their forum using this link http://forums.parallax.com/
If any Parallax forum guys are listening to this 3D printing Talk forum, Please say something.
Robotics is a fun and educational endevour.
Have fun.
If you want a 3D Printed Robot, I highly recommend the EEZYbotARM:
It’s based on the very popular MeArm and aimed for the first timer, so you can use the plentiful sources for it to build your own robotic arm 
I recommend buying legitimate servo motors from a hobbystore and not eBay, because there’s a lot of fake motors that could be too underpowered.
And go for the metallic ones such as a real MG90s because plastic ones like SG90 can break inside.
Regards,
Dennis
It all depends on what kind of robot you want to do. A car? A humanoid? A drone?
How do you want to control it?
What features do you want to have?
If you are new, I advise that you start with the Arduino, it’s easy to program, their community is very helpful, and you learn a lot along the way.
If you want a robot that can do more complicated things, like object detection/vision processing, or machine learning, you need more than a microcontroller. If so, I advise you get a Raspberry Pi. The Pi costs around $35, and the Pi zero costs $5(If you can find one in stock, that is). Raspberry Pi’s are very capable devices. Another alternative is the Beagleboard.
Building a robot is actually very easy and fun. I think that everyone should try doing it. Good luck with your project!
You don’t have to go through PCB production either, you can use a breadboard. Easy to use.
A humanoid robot might not be the best way to go as a starter robot.
If you just want the optical look then yes, however if you want it to actually move you will have to work with various sensors like gyros and accelerometers to make sure that it doesn’t topple over, or can at least detect when it fell over.
Have a look at this open source 3D printed Humanoid Robot. All build designs, STL files, and walkthrough available for free:
I’m building one now…
Szikka