Robotics
As a student, I never had official learning for robotics. My interest in these automated, crazy-looking machines makes me explore the field. For individuals aspiring to learn more about the field often find themselves stuck. Robotics in itself is a diverse field. For a fresher to get confused with where to start is natural.
Let us take an example, you want to build an autonomous butler robot to help you with day to day chores. Now, the question is where to start it from? Questions like- should I design my hardware? (You will have to learn CAD modelling for that). Or should I go with already available hardware? (simply import already made packages). Do I need to learn programming to write plugins for the robot brain to understand it’s sensor’s readings? But what programming language should I start with? Python? C? C++? (Stick with just one language and learn in-depth). Does that mean I should learn to program first? Hold on, how will I understand sensor’s readings? For that, I might need a dedicated understanding of how each sensor work. (sensor’s vary as per application needs). I think to visualize the world around, I will need a camera. But for that, I might have to understand the use of OpenCV module. Does that imply I will have to excel in computer vision first? (Simply learn basics, no need for expertise). But how will I command my robot to perform actions? Which controller should I use? how should I decide the processing demands for a robot’s brain? After all the robot is a set of motors and a few sensors combined. If I want to pick and place objects, I should have a good understanding of the mathematics behind to pick and place objects(start with kinematics and inverse kinematics of rigid body). Now, controlling parts of a robot will need an understanding of controls and systems for that hardware. But to navigate in environment freely I will need mapping and path planning. I have heard something known as ROS? What is it? How to use it? How will my robot become intelligent to understand environment? Do I have to understand neural networks and mysteries of AI intelligence for that? Wait!!! WHERE TO START?
The above paragraph shows a small excerpt of many questions arising in a newbie’s head. I am telling you, it’s normal to feel lost when you start to explore robotics. What matters in such a situation is to get started. I know you would say BUT FROM WHERE TO START? Relax, it’s okay. We will start small. I keep exploring research papers in the field stated above and many more related to robotics. As of now, my prime focus is on machine learning and computer vision. I will help you to understand the basics to get started. And as I said, the field is diverse, I will post things close to the fields I stated in the paragraph.
Keep Learning!
