Build Your Own Robot: Using Python, CRICKIT, and Raspberry PI

✍ Scribed by Marwan Alsabbagh

• Publisher: Manning Publications
• Year: 2024
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 250
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

A DIY guide to bringing your first robot to life with cheap and basic components.

Build Your Own Robot introduces you to the exciting world of robotics in a way that’s fun and affordable! You’ll build your own real robot with easy-to-find hardware and free open source software. Plus, all the components you need can be assembled with simple tools like a screwdriver.

In Build Your Own Robot you’ll learn how to:
• Use cameras to capture photos and let your robot see
• Add cameras and basic computer vision
• Coordinate DC motors to move your robot
• Write a web app to control your robot
• Set up controls for joysticks
• Read QR codes to find and identify objects

This book shows you how anyone can start building their own robot—no special soldering or electronic skills required. All you need is some basic Python know-how to get started. From scratch, you’ll go hands-on with DC motors, touch sensors, custom shell scripting, joystick controls, and even face detection for your robot friend.

About the technology
You can build your own robot! With this book, you’ll use readily-available hardware and author Marwan Alsabbagh’s clear step-by-step instructions to create a robot that moves, manipulates objects, and responds to its environment. Along the way, you’ll learn some serious skills like computer vision, networking, and the basics of robotics programming.

About the book

Build Your Own Robot is a project-based guide that takes you from spinning your first DC motor to programming a mobile robot that you can control from your phone or computer. You’ll write simple Python code to help your new friend spin, move, and find its way. You’ll even teach it to track faces and fetch snacks. Plus, a helpful hardware purchasing guide makes it easy to find exactly what you need to get started!

What's inside
• Coordinate DC motors to move your robot
• Write a web app to control your robot
• Adding cameras and basic computer vision
• Read QR codes to find and identify objects

About the reader
Examples use simple Python code. No special skills or expensive tools required.

About the author
Marwan Alsabbagh is a seasoned software developer, who has studied mathematics and computer science at McGill University.

✦ Table of Contents

Build Your Own Robot
brief contents
contents
preface
acknowledgments
about this book
Who should read this book?
How this book is organized: A roadmap
About the code
liveBook discussion forum
Software/Hardware requirements
about the author
about the cover illustration
1 What is a robot?
1.1 Why robots are amazing
1.2 Our approach to making robots
1.2.1 Learning from failures
1.2.2 What will you gain?
1.2.3 Prototyping
1.2.4 Teaching
1.2.5 Production ready
1.2.6 Limitations
1.3 What are robots made of?
1.3.1 The robot building blocks
1.3.2 Servos and DC motors on a Raspberry Pi
1.3.3 Hardware stack
1.3.4 Python and Linux
1.3.5 Software stack
Summary
2 Getting started
2.1 Introducing our robotic hardware
2.1.1 Raspberry Pi
2.1.2 Adafruit CRICKIT HAT
2.2 Configuring the software for our robots
2.3 Changing Neopixel colors
2.4 Checking the touch sensor state
2.5 Controlling DC motors
2.6 Controlling motors with the touch sensor
Summary
3 Driving the robot
3.1 What’s a robot chassis kit?
3.2 Hardware stack
3.3 Software stack
3.4 Writing a move forward function
3.5 Using environment variables for configuration
3.6 Controlling the speed and duration of movements
3.7 Moving backward
3.8 Turning right
3.9 Moving left and spinning in either direction
3.10 Refactoring by finding common logic
3.11 Refactoring by using functools
Summary
4 Creating a robot shell
4.1 What’s a REPL or shell?
4.2 Benefits of a REPL
4.3 Hardware stack
4.4 Software stack
4.5 Creating the robot shell
4.6 Handling command arguments
4.7 Adding a speed argument
4.8 Running robot shell scripts
Summary
5 Controlling robots remotely
5.1 Hardware stack
5.2 Software stack
5.3 Robot testing tips
5.4 Controlling robots over SSH
5.4.1 Creating the server-side script
5.4.2 Running the script remotely
5.4.3 Creating the client-side script
5.5 Creating web services for robots
5.5.1 Creating our first web service
5.5.2 Creating web services to perform robot movements
5.6 Calling web services from Python
5.6.1 Using the read–evaluate–print loop to call web services
5.6.2 Creating a basic web service client
5.6.3 Creating a web service client with persistent connections
5.6.4 Measuring client performance
Summary
6 Creating robot web apps
6.1 Hardware stack
6.2 Software stack
6.3 Moving robots forward and backward over the web
6.3.1 Creating a basic web application
6.3.2 Detecting failed requests
6.3.3 Moving robots forward with web apps
6.4 Creating a full-movement web app
6.4.1 Creating the full-movement application
6.4.2 Web interface design
6.4.3 Measuring application performance in the browser
6.4.4 Web hardware devices
Summary
7 Joystick-controlled robots
7.1 Hardware stack
7.2 Software stack
7.3 Joystick events
7.4 Reading joystick events using Pygame
7.4.1 Detecting events in Pygame
7.4.2 Detecting joystick events
7.5 Reading Linux joystick events
7.5.1 Exploring the Linux input subsystem
7.5.2 Unpacking joystick events
7.5.3 Mapping joystick events
7.5.4 Working with axis events
7.6 Measuring the rate of joystick events
7.6.1 Calculating the event rate
7.6.2 Calculating the level rate
7.7 Moving robots with joysticks
7.7.1 Creating the joystick client
Summary
8 Keyboard-controlled camera
8.1 Hardware stack
8.2 Software stack
8.3 Capturing images using OpenCV
8.3.1 Exploring the OpenCV library
8.3.2 Drawing shapes and displaying text with OpenCV
8.3.3 Taking snapshots with OpenCV
8.4 Moving a camera with servos
8.4.1 Exploring the servo motors with the CRICKIT library
8.4.2 Performing a pan-and-tilt sweep
8.4.3 Controlling servos and the camera together
Summary
9 Face-following camera
9.1 Hardware stack
9.2 Software stack
9.3 Detecting faces in an image
9.3.1 Exploring face detection
9.3.2 Marking detected faces
9.4 Detecting faces in live video
9.4.1 Measuring face detection performance
9.4.2 Reducing the number of pixels to process
9.4.3 Optimizing face detection performance
9.4.4 Showing detected faces in live video
9.5 Creating a face-following robot
9.5.1 Zoning the face detection
9.5.2 Moving motors to follow faces
Summary
10 Robotic QR code finder
10.1 Hardware stack
10.2 Software stack
10.3 Detecting QR codes in an image
10.3.1 Exploring QR codes
10.3.2 Marking detected QR codes
10.4 Streaming live video to multiple applications
10.4.1 Saving the video stream to a ramdisk
10.4.2 Watching the filesystem for changes
10.4.3 Streaming to a graphical application
10.4.4 Detecting QR codes in a video stream
10.4.5 Streaming to a web browser
10.5 Moving the robot to a target QR code
10.5.1 Find the QR code
Summary
11 Building a snack-pushing robot
11.1 Hardware stack
11.2 Software stack
11.3 Finding and pushing snacks
11.3.1 Reading the list of snacks
11.3.2 Pushing snacks
11.4 Creating the snack-pushing application
11.4.1 Selecting snacks with the application
11.4.2 Styling the web application
11.4.3 Adding the live video stream to the application
Summary
appendix A Hardware purchasing guide
A.1 Raspberry Pi components
A.2 Motors, chassis kits, and joystick controllers
A.3 Power and cabling
A.4 Optional purchases
appendix B Configuring the Raspberry Pi
B.1 Setting up the Raspberry Pi
B.2 Setting up the Adafruit CRICKIT HAT
B.3 Activating the Python virtual environment
appendix C Robot assembly guide
C.1 Building a mobile robot
C.2 Building a servo camera robot
C.3 Building a pusher robot
C.4 Creating a track for the pusher robot
appendix D Mocking the CRICKIT library
D.1 Installing the mock CRICKIT library
index
Symbols
Numerics
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Build Your Own Robot - back

✦ Subjects

Linux; Robotics; Python; Hardware; Web Applications; Raspberry Pi; Adafruit; DC Motors