Thought this was a pretty interesting approach to robotics. It’s called ALBATROSS, and the idea is to drop it from an aircraft, let it autorotate down like a maple seed, and then have it sail around using wind once it lands on water.

What’s interesting is that it doesn’t need a propulsion motor for either part. Instead of adding more motors and mechanisms, the design relies heavily on aerodynamics and passive mechanics.

Apparently, one of the bigger challenges is getting the same structure to work in two completely different environments.

I wonder how well something like this would scale up, especially for ocean monitoring. Seems like a clever way to deploy a bunch of robots without having to worry as much about battery life.

[Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8CUrj0ydxI)

Paper in [Science Robotics](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.aed1423)

Curious what you guys think. Is this actually a practical approach, or one of those things that’s really cool academically but difficult to use in the real world?

Currently, I've come across 4 Hoverboard wheel motors. I'm in the planning stages right now for a project that I call "The Indy-Cart"! I'm trying to figure out how to develop a control box to manage acceleration and turning, that will fit on a shopping cart. Any recommendations?

I graduated with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and I’m considering an M.Sc. in Robotics/Autonomous Systems (focusing on computer vision, navigation, and ML/DL) with the goal of landing an algorithm engineering role. Given my ME background, how realistic and common is this transition? I know people who’ve made the leap, but I’d love to know whether this is viewed as a well-trodden path or an uphill pivot.

We operate a clothing factory where sewing lines, material racks and transport routes change frequently depending on the order.Which type of AMR navigation system is easier and less expensive to update? Can factory staff adjust maps and routes themselves, or is vendor support normally required?I would appreciate any experience from factories with similar layout changes.

ok so genuine question. ive been using claude code / cursor for software stuff for a while and its kinda crazy how much i can ship without being a “real” dev. now i want to try hardware, like small robots, sensors, maybe something with an esp32 to start

problem is i never studied any of this. no EE degree, never designed a pcb, i know what a resistor is and thats about it lol

so im curious, is anyone here already doing hardware mostly with AI? like letting it pick the parts, write the firmware, maybe even help with the pcb or the case? what tools are you using for it and does it actually work or does it fall apart once real wires and voltages are involved

also be honest, is it realistic to get into this without the background or am i gonna fry a bunch of boards and give up. id rather start now and learn by breaking stuff than wait a year doing courses first

any tips where to start would be apreciated, or projects that are good for a first build

I'm a complete newbie to robotics, so I am hoping that some wiser heads can offer some informed opinions on a hobby robotics project that I am considering. FYI, I am an experienced software developer with substantial commercial experience with mobile apps and web apps.

My project is about building a robotic arm that can move physical chess pieces on a standard chess board. I was looking at the Yahboom ROS2 Robotic Arm as a possible device.

The aim is to allow the robotic system to work with any chess board within a physical size (up to 46 cm width)

There would be a custom app running a smart phone/tablet that would dispatch instructions to the robotic arm. The custom app would integrate with one of the main chess platforms (lichess, chess.com) in terms of starting a game, sending/receiving moves, etc

In terms of robotic arm setup, I envisage something like:

• The robotic arm is placed at one side of the chess board
• The app would prompt the user to put their finger on the a1, h1, a8 and h8 chess squares to allow the robotic arm camera to map the chess board extent.
• Again prompted by the app, the user would place each piece type on the e4 square so that the robotic arm/camera can recognise and learn how to pick up each piece type
• The app would prompt the user for the location of where captured pieces would be placed.
• The app would prompt the user to put all the pieces on the board. The robotic arm would then move each piece to its starting position.

Is this pure fantasy?

Some immediate questions:

1. What length of robot arm would be required to move/pick up pieces on the far side of the board?
2. What software tech stack does the robotic arm use? Would I have to write software that would be deployed onto whatever device is driving the robotic arm, or does it have an API that can be called?

Building an autonomous lunar lander sim (C++ physics + NN controller).

I’m a self-taught developer getting into deep learning and physics. My current project is a lunar landing simulator in C++. A neural network controls the throttle. The plan is to start with vertical landing and grow it to full 3D control with attitude.

The part I’m stuck on is the point of it. I can’t test it on a real lander, so I can’t know whether I’ve covered the physics that matters. I also worry that if an engineer wanted to take it further, they’d have to rewrite the whole thing because I skipped something fundamental.

this question probably gets asked a lot, but anyways i started off wanting to do those fnaf animatronics because i thought they looked cool and i didn't think it would be that hard.. obviously i was wrong.

turns out this is WAYY more complicated than i thought and theres thing whole thing with robotics and coding and 3d models but anyways how do i get started in order to achieve this goal?

For a school project I am making a self balancing robot called WOBBLE. I would very much appreciate any feedback as it will help me to progress my learning. A few sentences per one or even any answers in general would be awesome! if you have any other ideas or things that I should know please tell me. You don't have to answer all of them just the ones that you have knowledge about. Thank you! btw I am reasonably new to robotics so keep that in mind.

1. Do you think an Esp32 is the best microcontroller for this kind of project?
2. What is your biggest tip when coding this robot?
3. Do you think that it is helpful to design and prototype the robot on a breadboard when testing?
4. What's the biggest challenge when creating a robot like this, and how do you overcome it?
5. How would you implement Bluetooth control to the robot? (Forward/Back/Left/Right) E.g Xbox/PlayStation controller
6. Do you think 3D printing is a very important part of this project? If so, why?
7. What is the most important advice that you would give regarding this project?
8. I've attached an image below of my current prototype (not functioning yet). Do you have anything that you would change or improve? (uses an esp32-s3-Wroom-1)
9. What do you think of the 3D shell so far?
10. Do you think that the theme/character is good or does it need improvement?

Images

Robot Scaffold

 3D model so far (Shell/outer casing)

 Prototype (Not yet working)

For a robot learning to tie shoelaces from human demonstrations, would you collect only successful attempts, or also attempts that almost work but come loose afterward?

Similar hand movements could leave the laces in very different states. What would you want to capture beyond hand motion—and how would you label where an attempt went wrong?

I am a software engineer 5+ year of experience, I am planing to pivot to robotics, I have good experience with Fullstack, GenAi , basic fine tuning , AWS, Terraform, done my bachelor’s in electronics & communication so I have basic understanding of electronics + micro controllers micro processors, I want to understand how much actual math I need to understand robotics topics instead of going through 100+hr of academic math course again, I want to cherry-pick important math topics & start with practical coding & hardware

Hey everyone! I work for a Japanese manufacturer specializing in custom wire harnesses and cable assemblies.

We’ve worked on harness designs for some very well-known robotics and humanoid robotics projects you see on the news, and honestly, I think we’re a bit of a hidden gem in Japanese robotics.

But here’s what I’m trying to understand: how do you (Engineers) actually want to hear from a potential maker?

I’m asking because I don’t want to be another person filling engineers’ inboxes with a generic sales pitch. I’d rather understand the problems teams face and if they are involved with procuring at all.

If you work in robotics engineering, hardware, electrical design, or procurement, especially in US and Germany, I’d really appreciate your honest perspective—even if the answer is “please just leave us alone.” 😅

Thanks!

Hey y'all, quick question about robotics careers. I currently work as a Machine Learning Engineer, primarily with geospatial and remote sensing data, is there a viable career pivot for me to robotics? I do a lot of the robotics math (particle filtering for multi-sensor tracking, computer vision adjacent stuff (radar, and some more exotic sensing types that are kind of relevant to robotics), and a little bit of edge deployment on satellites). Anyone have any advice for me?

Hi, I'm Wyatt, I'm from the US and I'm looking for an additional person to build things with. I've recently noticed that I enjoy learning about physics, all the way from classical to more complex things like QFT, I then started looking into programming and got an ardunio, and now I want to learn how to build things, from robots to particle detection systems. I'm looking for someone who is also newer and we can start building simple stuff into more complex stuff. I'd really like to even submit thing we build into maker flairs, and if we are a really good team, maybe start a lab, building things the world's needs. That's obviously WAYYYYYY up the road, but that's a plan I have. If this sounds like you please dm me.

Hi everyone!

I'm currently studying Mechanical Engineering, and I want to learn robotics from the ground up. My long term goal is to become a robotics engineer who can design and build complete robots, including the mechanical structure, electronics, embedded systems, software, and AI. I have some basic Python knowledge, but I'm still a beginner when it comes to robotics.

I've been looking at topics like Arduino/ESP32, Raspberry Pi, C++, ROS 2, robot kinematics, control systems, computer vision, and AI. However, I'm not sure what order I should learn them in, and I don't want to jump into advanced topics without understanding the fundamentals.

I'd really appreciate your advice on a few things:

1. Where should I start? What should an absolute beginner learn first, and in what order?
2. Courses: Are there any good practical courses on Udemy, YouTube, or other platforms that you would recommend?
3. Beginner projects: What projects would help me develop real robotics skills instead of just following tutorials?
4. Hardware: Should I start with Arduino/ESP32, Raspberry Pi, or simulation software? What basic components are worth buying first?
5. ROS 2: At what point should I start learning ROS 2?
6. Learning resources: Are there any books, websites, free courses, or project-based tutorials that helped you when you were starting out?

I'm particularly interested in eventually building a camera-guided robotic arm that can identify objects, pick them up, and place them somewhere else. I understand that this is an advanced project, so I'm happy to start with much simpler projects and work my way up.

If you were starting from zero today, how would you structure your first 6–12 months of learning?

I'd appreciate any advice, personal experiences, or roadmaps you can share. Thanks in advance!

While I'm a layman, I live in a city with a fast growing robot and drone inventory but it seems like either directly or indirectly he's the most recent common ancestor of a bunch of important technologies:

Stanley's lead engineer founded Google X/Google Brain, which underpins the entire current AI boom

SLAM, which is used a lot in autonomous navigation (not just for cars), had its breakout moment with the Grand Challenge. A blue Touareg with Red Bull livery appears as the first illustration in the SLAM Wikipedia page.

More broadly, the DARPA Grand Challenge inspired a number of other AI and robotics competitions, both from DARPA and elsewhere.

Note: Velodyne, an important LIDAR company, entered into the Grand Challenge but wasn't used by Stanley. It was used in the 2007 winner.

Hi everyone!

I'm Tom, originally from Ireland and now based in Sydney, Australia. I grew up on a dairy farm and have a background in business development and industrial operations.

I'm relatively new to robotics, but I've become fascinated by computer vision, robotic manipulation and physical AI.

I'm developing a project called Moobotics, and I'm hoping to connect with people who genuinely enjoy building robots.

The idea

Companies like Lely have demonstrated what's possible with robotic milking, but their systems typically involve dedicated robotic milking stations.

My idea is different: a retrofit robotic arm that travels along an existing dairy parlour, picks up the milking clusters and attaches the cups to cows.

The aim is to automate one of dairy farming's most repetitive jobs without requiring farmers to replace their existing milking infrastructure.

The technical challenge

The robot needs to identify and track moving teats in 3D, manipulate milking cups, respond safely to physical contact and verify successful attachment.

I'm currently exploring depth cameras, six-axis robotic arms, ROS 2 and compliant control.

The first milestone would be a working demonstration using an artificial udder, a depth camera and a robotic arm attaching a single cup.

Why I'm posting

My strengths are in agriculture, understanding the problem and building businesses. I'm looking to connect with people whose strengths are in robotics engineering.

Ideally, I'd love to find a technical co-founder or collaborators who enjoy tackling difficult physical problems and might be excited about building something together.

I'm prepared to invest my own time and resources into the prototype. I'm not expecting anyone to work for free.

I'm also very open to advice on communities, open-source projects or people working on similar manipulation challenges.

I've attached an AI-generated concept image to illustrate the idea, rather than a finished engineering design.

If this sounds interesting, I'd love to hear from you!

Tom

Every stereoscopic camera system I’ve seen places the cameras parallel to each other. Is it possible to have the cameras facing different angles to increase general fov while keeping some depth perception in their overlapping view?

I’m looking to design a project with several cameras around an object to provide 360 view. I’m wondering if the overlap between these cameras could be used for stereoscopic vision if possible.

Hi everyone!

I want to get into the robotics field. I do have technical experience as a analytics consultant(I have used Python and data science/analytics skills for projects) and have a Data Science masters and I'm looking for more software related roles. I did see Perception/Computer Vision, Simulation, and Physical AI are potential fields I could get into but I was wondering what everyone thinks?

What careers should I look into and what topics/concepts should I learn to prepare myself for these careers? Any advice?