Imagine how easy it would be to learn skating, if only it doesn’t hurt everytime you fall. Unfortunately, we, humans, don’t have that option. Robots, however, can now “learn” their skills on a simulation platform without being afraid of crashing into a wall. Yes, “it learns“! This is possible with the reinforcement learning algorithms provided by OpenAI Gym and the ROS Development Studio.
You probably know the Sphero robot. It is a small robot with the shape of a ball. In case that you have one, you must know that it is possible to control it using ROS, by installing in your computer the Sphero ROS packages developed by Melonee Wise and connecting to the robot using the bluetooth of the computer.
If you haven’t already introduced a robot into your workshop, or if you are in the process of introducing such a device, you may be wondering … what is the best place to start? What is easy and what is hard to automate? Perhaps there are hundreds — or even thousands — of applications in your workshop. What should be automated first? Here is how we evaluate an application.
Being a member of FIRST Team 3504, The Girls of Steel, has been an amazing experience: I have built robots with my teammates, gone to international competitions, and have had great time. We recently competed with our latest robot, E.V.E., and my friends and family have been asking “How does it work?”. This comic explains it all – I hope you enjoy it! (You can download a PDF of the full comic here.)
January 18, 2021
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