
Is there an existing “Stack” for getting into robotics? - randomnumber314
I&#x27;ve tinkered with arduinos and stepper motors&#x2F;stepper controllers. I built a CNC mill. But I&#x27;m hoping there are components that I can plug together and just focus on the software side using existing hardware modules.
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jonkiddy
I'm a web developer who got the bug to get into robotics about four years ago
as a hobby. I ended up joining a FIRST [1] robotics team as a programming
mentor and I've learned a lot [2].

[1] FIRST
[http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc](http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8319J1BEHwM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8319J1BEHwM)

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randomnumber314
Thanks! Is FIRST for youth only?

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8_hours_ago
Yes, but many school teams are welcoming to adult volunteers. I'd highly
recommend it!

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NinoScript
What about something like a TurtleBot[1] and ROS[2]?

[1] [http://www.turtlebot.com](http://www.turtlebot.com)

[2] [http://www.ros.org](http://www.ros.org)

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randomnumber314
Thanks! Ros looks interesting. Turtle bot appears to be the open-source roomba
with a shelf on it.

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cbames89
ROS is a good platform for writing software. There are ~50 hardware platforms
that support it. Unfortunately robotics is still built to a purpose, and
usually a bit too expensive for a typical hobbyist platform. Our latest robot
here at Duke was built with modularity in mind and still cost well over 100k.

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esac
ROS, ROS, ROS all our robots are on ROS and you get visualization and
simulation tools, 90% of the things you'll ever need come from apt-get (ubuntu
make everything easier) but the real deal is Gazebo and stage for simulation
and the wiki is full of tutorials

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gregatragenet3
I wanted to get into robotics as a way to get up to speed on neural nets and
reinforcement learning. I found the Lego EV3 kits to have a good mix of
sensors motors and supporting parts. The EV3 bricks run Linux, there's a
distribution for them called ev3dev, and they'll even run ipython notebooks.

I'm now looking at getting a BrickPy for it as the EV3 brick doesn't do FP, so
not good for NN's.

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asfarley
I would skip your search for the "right stack" and think about working on
real, profitable applications. Develop whatever needs to be developed to solve
a real problem. Most things calling themselves 'robotics stacks' nowdays are
overblown and add more complication than they're worth.

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asimuvPR
Depends on what you want to build. A popular hobby stack is built around the
Arduino. It will allow you to plug in a fair amount of parts.

Figure out what you want to build first. Then send me an email and I'll try
and guide you in tve right direction.

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reitanqild
Piggybacking on this: anyone has good ideas/sources for mechanical parts like
gears and stuff?

My hobbyist alternatives right now are lego or pulling stuff apart.

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mikedh
mcmaster.com for everything, sdp-si.com for gears/timing belts etc, vxb.com
for cheapo but decent bearings

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jotux
My rule of thumb is McMaster for big stuff, sdp-si for little stuff.

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Tomte
Lego Mindstorms. You can program them in "real" programming languages if you
want to.

