Looking at what's inside a robot
We can start by looking at a robot as a physical system. In Figure 2.1, we can see a simple hobby robot:
Figure 2.1 – An assembled hobby robot
Figure 2.2 shows it in its disassembled form:
Figure 2.2 – A hobby robot's components laid out
The component groups in Figure 2.2 include nine types of components:
- The chassis or body forms the main structure of the robot; other parts are attached here.
- A castor wheel balances this robot.
- Two drive wheels. Other robots may use more wheels or legs here.
- Motors are essential for the robot to move.
- A motor controller bridges between a controller and connected motors.
- A controller, here a Raspberry Pi, runs instructions, takes information from the sensors, and processes this information to drive outputs, such as motors, through the motor controller.
- All robots must have power, usually one or more...