Learning resources for robotics

[R.C.]

Look at other successful teams' bots and you can learn alot : 233,254/968,330,1114, and the list goes on and on.

[Joe G.]

http://www.amazon.com/Kickin-Bot-Ill...72198&sr= 8-1

I know its geared towards combat robots, but aside from a few chapters, most of the principles apply. It has a few oddities (for example, 6wd is considered exotic in the combat robot world), and a few areas that are obviously just irrelevant (pros and cons of internal combustion engines, weapons, etc.) but it goes into depth in most of the areas that a FIRSTer needs to know about. Obviously, you should look at many, many FIRST robots to see what is differant from FIRST robots and combat robots, but they are based on the same mechanical and (to a extent) electrical principals, and this book is the best I have found that puts it all in one place.

For areas not covered in it, Chiefdelphi can be incredible. I remember, during my first build season, going through CD much the way the Captain learned about earth in Wall-e. See a post about andymark, ???, Search it. Whats a dog shift? Search it. The answers buried here are quite vast.

[ttldomination]

Well, there are many books, but for the upcoming FTC kits, there are great resource books available on Amazon. These books will help a lot with programming the NXT system and have some functional ideas, such as arms, which are really fun to learn and to build.

This book is great for beginners. Especially programming
It the Unofficial NXT Inventor's guide.

http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-LEG...77320&sr= 8-2

and this next book is a tad bit advanced. I'd prefer going through the first book, and then moving on to this book.

http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-MINDSTORM...d_bxgy_b_img_b .

That was for FTC.

For FRC, our freshman, are taught by older members. So it would be beneficial to seek out companies, people, and teams who are willing to help.