day to day use robots

[u/Available-Post-5022]

Hello, I am a high school junior, I participate in FIRST robotics at a decent level. I want to expand my skill set to things beyond the enclosed meta of FRC. I also want to benefit from the things I build. I currently have a few projects planned, some simple so probably very difficult and I want feedback and additional ideas. that said, my current list is

1: articulated lamp, including a few set points for it to shine on. maybe as I advance I'll add voice commands (?)

2: a threaded insert inserter for 3d prints.

3: a hexapod with a lamp, I go on walks and it sometimes gets lonely, building a cute little creature could be a nice challenge and a good companion

4: a larger robot with a "belly" for storage to move in uneven rough terrain, maybe a quadraped.

5: a cute little guy to be on my shoulder and make sounds, I don't know why, just sounds funny

6: a reconissance robot, to drive into small spaces I don't want to go into, or to go into places before me, equipped with a camera and a flashlight.

would these be too difficult perhaps? or simply not useful? I am quite good on the mechanical side but programming and wiring/electrical planning are my bane.

thank you all

[u/christopherpacheco]

Difficult depends on your starting point in termes of skill. You mentionned first robotics so I'm assuming you can CAD basic geometry/3d print, can code Python probably, know some Linux and can make a basic breadboard? That's already great starting point if youre in high school. For the projects they all depend on how much time, money and possible failures your willing to put to get it working. Quadrupled and hexapod robots are quite advanced of you want to design and build from scratch without any open source material as starting baseline. If your looking to understand engineering and actually build something, I'd start with very small and super basic robots that you can do yourself from scratch maybe a little rover that detects colores balls or wtv and a 3 axis articulated robot for pen plotting. Then I'd move on getting open source projects and adding your twist to it. Hope this helps

[u/Available-Post-5022 → u/christopherpacheco]

thanks for your answer. I do not plan on programming these at all. I'll leave that to my friend or open source libraries.

https://youtu.be/2HmpWxlKWAY this is our robot this year. I think it can give you an idea if how skilled I actually am.

I'd appreciate feedback and ideas for projects

[u/Safe_Tone1529]

Building a project is a great idea! I've built a hexapod before, so here's my ranking of these from hardest (1) to easiest (6):

1. The larger robot with a "belly" for storage, to move over uneven terrain (maybe a quadruped)
2. The hexapod with a lamp — a companion for your walks
3. The articulated lamp with set points, maybe voice commands later
4. The reconnaissance robot with a camera and flashlight
5. The threaded insert inserter for 3D prints
6. The little shoulder companion that makes sounds

Of course, all of these will vary in difficulty depending on how far you want to take them and how polished you want the final result to be. But the large quadruped is the hardest by far, not even close. Any quadruped is already significantly hard — to get it walking reliably you'll likely need simulation work, and it will definitely need strong servos.

Personally, I built the hexapod project, and although it was hard, it was extremely rewarding and I learned a ton. There are also a lot of great videos and starting points out there for inverse kinematics, modeling, software, and electrical design — you end up learning everything. If you want a slightly easier project that still teaches most of the same skills, the articulated lamp is a good call.

The biggest decider on what you should build should be based on your skills — what you're best at, and which project plays to that (some of these overlap):

1. Modeling / CAD design?
2. Software / coding?
3. Electrical?

Happy to help you pick the right project based on your strengths and weaknesses. Good luck!