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Robotics is definitely one of my favourite areas of Artificial Intelligence because it combines a lot of the cool features of AI into something physical that can be studied and played with. Yet, to a beginner, robotics can be an incredibly daunting field to get into. I still consider myself to be beginner at robotics, due to my limited electronics and mechanical knowledge. Yet there are still a lot of projects available to people with limited ability. This article will look at 3 different areas that should get you started in the field of robotics.

LEGO

Once you've got yourself a Mindstorms kit, you can immediately start building some neat robots. Granted, a lot of the initial robots you'll build will be more mechanical with very little AI, but you can easily expand on them with a little thought. Another way to create some cool robots is to buy the Vision Command add-on (see the Generation5 review) that adds a USB camera and 140+ pieces to your collection. The Vision Command comes with various recognition abilities such as colour and motion detection and the ability to partition the image into several regions.

Like I mentioned before, programming the camera is not limited to just the LEGO interface, since it is a standard Logitech QuickCam allowing you to program the camera for your own uses as well (see the Robotics section for more details). What does this mean for robotics beginners? LEGO is incredibly scalable: you can start off very simple, using the RCX programming environment that LEGO provides to create simple robots. You can then start to program with other languages such as NQC to create slightly more complex robots. You can then move on to using real programming languages that interface with the hardware through ActiveX and COM interfaces to create some really cool stuff!

Project Kits

There are a wide variety of kits ranging from simple, pre-soldered kits (again like the Elekit range), to more fiddly robotic kits (such as Stiquito or BEAM based robots), right up to the hardcore kits that require some serious tools and electrical wiring to put together. When buying a kit, you should be careful to pick some right for your ability since you risk wasting your money on something that is too easy or too hard for you to build.

If you are real beginner, you might want to look at a kit that doesn't require soldering just mechanical construction (electrics are pre-soldered). Most decent kits will come with an explanation as to how the electronics within the robot work. If you've had a little soldering experience, then try a simple BEAM (BEAM robots are biological-inspiring robots) project, or an Elekit-type robot that isn't pre-soldered.

Programmable Robots

My preference lies on the BOE-Bot because it allows a greater degree of customization. The BOE includes a breadboard allowing you to prototype different circuits. The BOE-Bot also comes with more pieces: IR transmitters and receivers, as well the photoresistors, LEDS, speakers and wires that come with the Growbot. The Growbot is apparently more expandable through the use of Parallax's AppMods. Additionally, the BOE-Bot requires no soldering, the Growbot requires all it's components to be soldered on.

The cool thing with both the robots is that programming takes place on your PC, you then download the program into the EEPROM and can untether the robot and let it roam about. Parallax also provide you with some neat debugging utilities to correct mistakes in your robot. On top of this, Parallax is constantly adding new products to its line-up, such as remote control cameras, LED screens, speakers and microphones and many other things. This allows you to expand on your robots as you become better and better at creating them.

Conclusion

Once the finances are taken care of, robotics is an excellent field to play about it since it has immediate, visual results. Enjoy!