“Learn Robotics Programming” is a practical, hands-on guide to building and coding your own smart robot. It walks you through the entire process, from choosing affordable parts—like a Raspberry Pi computer, motors, sensors, and cameras—to writing the code that brings your robot to life.
The book primarily relies on Python, along with a little bit of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, to help you build code that you can experiment with and expand on later.
Who Is This Book For?
You do not need a fancy workshop or a background in electronics to get started. Here is what you actually need:
- Basic Coding Knowledge: You should be comfortable writing simple code using loops, if-statements, and functions. You do not need to be an expert.
- No Electronics Experience Required: The book will teach you the basics of wiring, bolting things together, and even a little bit of soldering.
- Enthusiasm: The most important requirement is simply wanting to build a robot and learn as you go.
What You Will Learn
The book is broken down into a step-by-step journey across 19 chapters. Here is a summary of what you will cover:
- Getting Started (Chapters 1 to 5): You will learn the basics of how robots work, choose your parts, and set up your Raspberry Pi to communicate wirelessly. You will also learn how to safely back up your code.
- Building and Moving (Chapters 6 to 7): You will assemble the physical base of your robot, connect the power, and write the Python code needed to make the motors drive and turn.
- Adding Senses and Lights (Chapters 8 to 11): You will program distance sensors so your robot can avoid walls automatically. You will also add colorful lights, learn to control moving sensor heads with servo motors, and use wheel trackers (encoders) to make your robot drive in a perfectly straight line.
- Navigation and Vision (Chapters 12 to 14): You will introduce an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) to measure temperature, acceleration, and magnetic fields. Then, you will attach a camera and use computer vision to help your robot “see” and follow lines on the ground.
- Smart Control Features (Chapters 15 to 17): You will set up a voice assistant so you can talk to your robot. You will also use compass data for advanced navigation and build a control pad on your smartphone to drive the robot while watching its live camera feed.
- Next Steps (Chapters 18 to 19): Finally, you will learn how to connect with the wider robotics community, find competitions, and start planning your next big project.
