im trying to run a ir sensor past a sanded and spray painted acrylic tube(its still translucent when a light source is behind it).
will it still detect obstacles outside of the pipe?

Care about home security? Check out this blog post 👉 https://cronmotion.com/.../property-security-and...…Here you will learn the benefits and risks of a good security system in private property.

Don't hesitate to leave a critique if there's something on your mind 🤔

https://preview.redd.it/72d5gvtl25wd1.jpg?width=564&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da79da2374e86300b3281f29a8ed6bcbbf98c945

A project I currently have in mind is to build a robot arm to pass me things or things. I want to build this for 3 reasons:

1. It'll be both fun and cool.
2. Because why not
3. One of my friends said I wouldn't and I want to prove him wrong.

I have ran into a problem though, I don't know what type of motors to use so I'm asking a bunch of strangers on the Internet, I need them to be precise but also be able to hold enough weight to be useful. Due to this my question is what motors should I use?

Hi guys I am senior Electrical and Communication Engineering student and my graduation project is Autonomous car with V2I for Parking. The Project have 2 Raspberry pi one for the Autonomous car and the second for the V2I part In the V2I part I want the camera detect the avaliable spots and send the nearest avaliable spot to the Autonomous car and the car go to this spot and park there. The problem is how the car will know the path to this avaliable spot?

What advantages would visual slam have over tradiitional lidar based slam? Or in general, why would visual odometry be more beneficial?* If it is so, in the first place, idk really)

Hi, I’ve just joined the robotics team here in my high school (I’m Mexican sorry about my poor English) and the teacher in charge gave me as homework to make this “mechanical arm” and explain to him how it works, any tips or videos you recommend to understand it? (I’m new in this field)

He gave me this as reference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzsw-3sJ-I8&list=PL_cMk9BBkH7GV8-029xwOVr4KmiXojqDw&index=4

Many degrees of freedom (DoFs) in the human body are redundant, a result of evolution. However, they do influence certain movements and behaviors.

So, when designing a humanoid robot (or a dexterous robot hand), do we need to consider all these DoFs?

The mainstream answer seems to be “no,” but what do you think?

A human hand has 24 degrees of freedom. Tesla built a 22 DoF hand. Has anyone built the full 24 before?

I was able to find a couple of 18 degree hands, and even a 20, but no 24 so far.

Is there a leaderboard? What's the record for the highest DoF hand ever made?

Hi everyone, I’m working on a basic stepper motor project using an A4988 driver and an ESP32-C3 (you can see the schematic attached). I’ve written code for stepping the motor, but when I plug the stepper motor into the A4988’s output pins (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B), the motor doesn’t move. Here’s what I’ve tried:

• Wiring: I've wired the motor correctly (double-checked with a multimeter to identify the coils). I’ve also confirmed power connections to the motor and driver.
• Code: The Arduino code is generating step pulses on pin 21 (STEP pin) and I’m toggling the DIR pin for direction. The EN pin is set to low to enable the motor. The step pulse is 50 microseconds.
• Power: The driver is powered from 3.3V logic, and motor power is supplied through VBB, so I don’t think it’s a power issue.
• Testing: I’m also using pin 8 (MIRROR_PIN) to mirror the step pulse, and this toggles correctly based on the code. Still, the motor doesn’t budge.

I suspect either the pulse timing or the driver settings might be wrong, but I can’t figure it out. Has anyone run into something similar? I’m also attaching the relevant part of my schematic and code for reference.

Any help or advice would be appreciated!

https://preview.redd.it/vc84t217kwvd1.png?width=886&format=png&auto=webp&s=0b965c6599dc7c29cd334c6c334441ecf4522536

https://preview.redd.it/tl143417kwvd1.png?width=789&format=png&auto=webp&s=ba0701ae5dde98a33924083b19552c0d07a8ff4c

https://preview.redd.it/m2dq9317kwvd1.png?width=1018&format=png&auto=webp&s=5e3fa7468849702fc1d1b4d02b38058e480eced6

#include <Arduino.h>

// Pin Definitions for A4988 Stepper Driver
#define STEPPER_STEP_PIN 21
#define STEPPER_DIR_PIN 20
#define STEPPER_EN_PIN 9
#define OUTPUT_PIN 3
#define MIRROR_PIN 8  // Define pin 8

const unsigned long STEP_INTERVAL = 1000;  // 1ms between steps

unsigned long lastStepTime = 0;

void setup() {
  pinMode(STEPPER_STEP_PIN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(STEPPER_DIR_PIN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(STEPPER_EN_PIN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(OUTPUT_PIN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(MIRROR_PIN, OUTPUT);  // Pin 8 configured as output

  digitalWrite(STEPPER_DIR_PIN, HIGH);  // Set direction (HIGH for clockwise, LOW for counterclockwise)
  digitalWrite(STEPPER_EN_PIN, LOW);    // Enable the stepper driver
  digitalWrite(OUTPUT_PIN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(MIRROR_PIN, LOW);  // Initialize pin 8 to LOW
}

void loop() {
  unsigned long currentTime = millis();

  // Step the motor at regular intervals
  if (currentTime - lastStepTime >= STEP_INTERVAL) {
    lastStepTime = currentTime;

    digitalWrite(STEPPER_STEP_PIN, HIGH);
    digitalWrite(MIRROR_PIN, HIGH);  // Set pin 8 HIGH
    delayMicroseconds(50);  // A4988 requires minimum 1μs pulse
    digitalWrite(STEPPER_STEP_PIN, LOW);
    digitalWrite(MIRROR_PIN, LOW);  // Set pin 8 LOW
  }
}

Hi everyone, hope you are doing well!

What do you guys think of a platform for robotics where all the widely used modules for robotics are available for quick integration just like AWS? Would you use it if there was one?

Thanks.

View Poll

Hello,

Currently trying to code reverse Jacobian for a seven degree robotic arm. I was wondering if there are more singularities than just the shoulder, wrist, etc. ones that are commonly mentioned. During calibration with the controller, the robotic arm is planned to go completely straight. Would that cause a singularity? and if so, what would happen if I tried to move the arm out of the position?

Does anyone have any experience with Sumos robots? I have a month to design one and I have doubts about the shape it should have, as well as the sensors. For the moment we have this design in mind, although I am not convinced.

https://preview.redd.it/uuluqyzvltvd1.png?width=404&format=png&auto=webp&s=f466fd70f2bd3f3188b0b13d8fb990c38419183d

I've been applying wildly as of late and I've only gotten a reply back from one company. Idk if its a problem with my resume or the fact that I don't write a cover letter or something (gonna start at this point) but nothings coming back. Moreover, there are SO MANY different requirements that vary a lot. Computer vision will have its own really specific requirement, Controls will have its own so will AI/ML etc... but robotics encompasses all these fields and if I only apply to one field, I'm not getting anywhere so now I'm applying to all the fields but I can't learn enough or well enough to do something if they call me back for an interview. It's insane and I don't know how to keep up with this BS. I don't have the time or the mental ability to study computer vision, ai/ml, localization, mapping, calibration, sensor fusion, embedded systems, cloud, simulation and all the other BS. Any advice?

What software do you use to draw the wiring diagram of a Drone for example, a software that has BLDC motors and ESCs? any suggestions?

So I posted in here easier this week. I asked “How hard would it be for someone to build an automated pneumatic machine for someone who has no engineering background?”

I received a lot of great feedback. I’ve decided I’m going to embark on this journey. I assume this is going to be a multi-year process with tons of iterations.

I own a small perfume company and we are direct to consumer brand. We have been batch manufacturing our products in-house, which is the standard way most manufacturers produce their products. But I am going to move toward the principles of “Lean manufacturing” commonly known as the Toyota Way. They are one of the best manufacturers in the world.

I’m doing this because I think it’s necessary for us in terms of it being more efficient and cost effective long term.

This machine will be built on the principles of “one piece flow” and “make to order”

The end goal (many years from now) is to have a fully automated machine that when an order is placed it triggers our machines to automatically label, fill, crimp, collar and cap the bottle. Then these products that were made to order are pushed onto a conveyor built for the human packer to pack these goods into a shipping box.

This will allow us to greatly reduce storage costs and inventory management costs since we are converting raw materials into finished goods in near real time AFTER the order is placed. Now, I know most of you reading this are thinking this seems counterproductive. How is that possible? Why not make a large batch instead and have inventory on hand? Well…as I document this process I’ll explain more and show how inefficient that is.

So here is the first step. We start small and on the most time consuming step of the manufacturing stage which is filling. We are going to improve this first and then continue to make continuous improvements week after week.

What we have here in this picture, is I’ve taken the parts from a semi-automatic pneumatic filling machine we have. I kept all the necessary parts and removed all the structural parts that are not functional to what actually causes the “filling”

The entire filling machine cost me $3,000 from the company I bought from.

The components that are actually needed to produce the filling are a: (1) vacuum generator (1) one way flow control valve and some accessories such as a plastic tubing, (1) on/off valve, one push in fittings and a pneumatic muffler. The total cost of all components from Festo is $112.38

So I am going to recreate the filling system first. And instead of paying $2k for it, it’s only going got cost $112.38.

Right now we have one dedicated pneumatic filler. Why? Because it’s expensive! But it’s a pain in the asses because the tubes must be flushed with ethanol between each fragrance. We have 75 fragrances so there is a lot of ethanol wasted due to having to flush it. Also there is a holding tank where the machine holds excess perfume that needs to be washed between fragrances. This all needs to be cleaned so they can be reused for the next liquid (ie fragrance) The inefficiencies are in the time involved with performing each changeover and the cost of the ethanol. VERT timely and VERY expensive. The machine itself self is compact and does not take up much space.

If successful, at recreating the filling function then we will now be able to have a dedicated filling station for all 75 fragrances at the cost of $8.5k (75 x $112.38) instead of the cost of $150k (75 x $2,000) AND eliminate changeovers and ethanol rinsing. A MASSIVE 17x savings. That’s business side of things! And these savings will be passed down to the customer.

Attached is picture of the components from the original pneumatic filling machine. Very simple!

Let me know your thoughts. Excited to start this journey!

Hello everyone, I am wondering how can I use a kflop board and its extension Kanalog to control a 6 DOF robotic arm? I am building a robotic arm as a graduation project for my university and wanted to use the Kflop as the main controller of the robotic arm. I've tried to read the documentations of the boards to try it but didn't get any results also tried to check the dynomotion forums to see if someone ran in this issue but was very limited. Thank you in advance!

To clarify my question, are modern roboticists tending towards aluminum or steel for general fabrication right now when prototyping and designing systems? (also bolted vs welded)

Not sure this is a good forum or a specific enough question but ya. Aluminum is cheap, light, pretty strong, and inherently corrosion resistant without coating. Steel corrodes, is a bit more expensive, is stronger, is heavy. In structural stuff, steel is goto because weight is less of a concern. In Aero, aluminum is the goto because of the weight to strength ratio.

I know robotics is a broad field and specific bots will have specific requirements that will drive material selection. But often robotics exists in a critical intersection of wanting to be light to be agile, while still wanting strength/ rigidity to maintain accuracy/ precision of movements.

Hey guys, throwing a really wide net here. My little cousin is interested in robots. He is 12. Not sure if its just toy robots or the real thing. In any case, can you guys help me get an understanding of whats available? If I wanted to get him something that a bit more than a toy but maybe not the really complex thing, what would be a good place to start? Who are the good companies that make that kind of thing? He showed me Ganker EX by GJS Robots, but it does not seem legit. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I'm trying to find out how to connect the shaft of a gearbox to a 3d-printed arm, but since the shaft is 20mm in diameter, options for flange couplings and collars are sparse and expensive. I'm on a robotics team and we are frankly out of options. Our shaft has a key notch if that helps. Any insight would be appreciated.

Hi mates, I’m a professional robot designer (design: appearance, Chassis, interaction and CMF), and I’m already working on some well known humanoids (very humble!) Even tho this area is very subjective and far from what we know as “robotics”, yet I’m happy to help and give advises if need. So please tag me and reach out in case there was something relevant.

Cheers

So i want to build a automatic robo to pick fruits,veggies i dont know how should i start with it and neither i am getting any ideas on web nor i am this smart. Please if anyone with knowledge can bless me would be great help or even link some tutorials.

IMU

After the initial calibration, the accelerometer shows a fixed acceleration value on all axes. However, the rotation works well.