[guest (OP)]

Hi there! []
I am a beginner at the field of robotics (barely started). And I would like to buy some equiptment or kits that would help me with my ideas.
Could anyone recommend any good kits (and not too expensive either)? If not, how about giving me some advise on starting from scratch (buying all the parts and stuff)?

Thank You in advance. []

[memasa]

I know nothing about robotics, but maybe there's some sort of a robotics association near you!

[Ultima]

Lego Mindstorms is one of the best kits I've ever used, you can download a nice C language to use with them called NQC (not quite C) it's far better than the kiddies toy programming tools that Lego give you. Come to think of it depending on what you are interested in, using software robots is a good way to learn about control systems etc. so things like robocode are good fun and dont cost anything.

If you want to do everything for real, you are gunna need some sort of programmable micro controller. One of the cheapest and most functional around are PIC chips. You can get a PIC programming kit to work with USB/Serial on your computer quite cheap. I made my PIC programming stuff from a kit I soldered together, only cost about £20 and it came with a testing chip. You normally get the assembly dev software free with PIC chips and have to pay a bit extra for C or Pascal; however you can get unofficial versions of these languages through various open source projects.

Lego Mindstorms: http://mindstorms.lego.com/eng/default.asp
NQC (for Lego stuff): http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/nqc/
Robocode: http://robocode.sourceforge.net/
RobotBattle(like Robocode): http://robotbattle.com/ This has just been made a freebee again []
PIC chip homepage (I think): http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=64
Nice PIC links and info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIC_microcontroller

wOw the world spins?

[goofkid]

I've heard that there's a new kind of kit called "Vex robotics" and it looks pretty good to me.  [] Google it.

Goofkid

[Razor]

My ex-friend was really good with electronics,i may try to get some information of him some time.

p.s Im really interested in animation and game designing + i have flash MX 2004 Professional as well,it's just that every time i try to start a project i never end up finishing it![V][V]
God Damn my lazyness,damn it to hell!![!][!]
Wait,never say Gods name in vain[^][^]

"Caution: Cape does not enable user to fly."
-Batman costume warning label

[goofkid]

Originally posted by Razor

My ex-friend was really good with electronics,i may try to get some information of him some time.

p.s Im really interested in animation and game designing + i have flash MX 2004 Professional as well,it's just that every time i try to start a project i never end up finishing it![V][V]
God Damn my lazyness,damn it to hell!![!][!]
Wait,never say Gods name in vain[^][^]

Yep, i feel you []. I have the same problem. I either get too lazy, or get fed with all the problems i come up with. ....too many questions and too less knoledge....."sigh"

Goofkid

[Razor]

Yeah im sick and tired of having to search the internet to find out what's this?, what's that?, what does this do?, what is that for?...etc.[!][!]
Too many things to learn.


"Caution: Cape does not enable user to fly."
-Batman costume warning label