Book Image

Robotics at Home with Raspberry Pi Pico

By : Danny Staple
Book Image

Robotics at Home with Raspberry Pi Pico

By: Danny Staple

Overview of this book

The field of robotics is expanding, and this is the perfect time to learn how to create robots at home for different purposes. This book will help you take your first steps in planning, building, and programming a robot with Raspberry Pi Pico, an impressive controller bursting with I/O capabilities. After a quick tour of Pico, you’ll begin designing a robot chassis in 3D CAD. With easy-to-follow instructions, shopping lists, and plans, you’ll start building the robot. Further, you’ll add simple sensors and outputs to extend the robot, reinforce your design skills, and build your knowledge in programming with CircuitPython. You’ll also learn about interactions with electronics, standard robotics algorithms, and the discipline and process for building robots. Moving forward, you’ll learn how to add more complicated sensors and robotic behaviors, with increasing complexity levels, giving you hands-on experience. You’ll learn about Raspberry Pi Pico’s excellent features, such as PIO, adding capabilities such as avoiding walls, detecting movement, and compass headings. You’ll combine these with Bluetooth BLE for seeing sensor data and remotely controlling your robot with a smartphone. Finally, you’ll program the robot to find its location in an arena. By the end of this book, you’ll have built a robot at home, and be well equipped to build more with different levels of complexity.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)
1
Part 1: The Basics – Preparing for Robotics with Raspberry Pi Pico
7
Part 2: Interfacing Raspberry Pi Pico with Simple Sensors and Outputs
12
Part 3: Adding More Robotic Behaviors to Raspberry Pi Pico

Exercises

You can follow these exercises to improve and practice your FreeCAD skills and improve the robot model.

The next screenshot shows a suggestion to add a little embellishment to this robot. This exercise is highly recommended.

Figure 3.33 – Detail on the front of the chassis

The previous screenshot shows a drawing to the left with dimensions to cut some angled detail into the front chassis. Note that measurements have been used instead of angles, which should keep it simple to manufacture later. The right shows a 3D view of this.

The robot looks quite plain with a rectangular chassis. Adding some cuts on the chassis would add detail, and we can build upon it later for sensor positioning. Use the preceding screenshot for dimensions. Aim to cut the ChassisPlate body with a new sketch, as modifying the ChassisOutline sketch is not recommended.

Some other optional reader exercises are the following:

  • Consider adding wheels to the...