Robot Adventures in python- PDF for free

What Are Robot Adventures?

Robot adventures are like telling a story, but instead of using words, you use lines of code to make a robot come to life! Imagine being able to control a little machine with your instructions. It’s like being a wizard, casting spells with the magic of Python.

Why Choose Python for Robot Adventures?

Python is a fantastic language for making robots work. It’s simple and clear, just like a recipe. You can easily read and write it. Plus, Python has lots of libraries that help you control robots. Libraries are like toolboxes full of helpful gadgets. Instead of building everything from scratch, you get to use cool tools to make your robot do amazing things!

Getting Started: Setting Up Your Python Environment

To begin your robot adventures, you need to set up your computer to run Python. Download Python from the official website and install it. Once you have Python, you can write code using a text editor like VS Code or even IDLE, which comes with Python. It’s like setting up your workshop before you start creating.

Basics of Robot Programming

Before you jump into making your robot race like The Flash, it’s important to learn some basics of programming. Here’s a simple idea: every command you give to the robot is like giving your dog a trick to perform. “Sit” tells it what to do, just like you’ll tell your robot with commands.

Here are some key concepts:

1. Variables: Think of these as boxes where you store information. You might have a box named speed that holds how fast your robot should go.
2. Loops: These are like those never-ending tracks at a fair. You tell the robot to repeat something until you decide to stop.
3. Functions: Functions are like special spells. You can create a spell to make your robot spin, and every time you want to use it, just call the spell name.

Building Your First Robot Program

Now that you know the basics, let’s build something fun! Here’s a simple example of a program that makes your robot move forward, turn, and then stop.

# Let's define some functions for our robot

def move_forward():

    print("The robot is moving forward!")

def turn_right():

    print("The robot is turning right!")

def stop():

    print("The robot has stopped!")

# Now, let's make our robot go on an adventure

move_forward()

turn_right()

stop()

When you run this code, your robot will pretend to move forward, turn, and stop. It’s like watching a small play come to life!

Adding Sensors: Making Your Robot Smarter

What if you want your robot to avoid obstacles? That’s where sensors come in! Sensors act like eyes and ears for your robot. They help it see what’s around. For example, if your robot has a distance sensor, it can check how far away a wall is.

Here’s a quick example using a fake sensor:

def check_distance():

    return 10  # pretend the distance is 10 units

if check_distance() < 5:

    stop()

else:

    move_forward()

This code checks the distance. If something is too close, the robot stops. If not, it keeps moving. Smart, right?

Making It Fun: Adding Sounds and Lights

Who says coding has to be boring? You can add sounds and lights to your robot! It’s like giving your robot a personality. You could make it beep when it’s happy and flash lights when it’s in trouble.

Example of adding a sound:

def happy_sound():

    print("Beep beep! I'm happy!")

happy_sound()

move_forward()

Now, your robot not only moves but also cheers for itself!

Your Robot Adventure Awaits!

Robot adventures in Python are not just about coding; they’re about creativity and fun. You get to build, program, and see your ideas come to life. With each little project, you’ll grow more confident in your coding skills and create robots that can do fantastical things. Ready to start your adventure? Let’s code!

About the Book

This book will show how inexpensive mobile robots such as the EyeBot robot can be built by attaching a Raspberry Pi controller and camera to a model car or other simple mechanical drive system. We will also introduce the EyeSim simulation system, which is freely available and can simulate a variety of running robots, swimming/diving robots, and even walking robots in a very realistic way. Our focus on algorithm development ensures that all software projects can be run on real robot hardware as well as on the simulation system. In other words, we do not use unrealistic simulation assumptions that would never work in the real world.

The University of Western Australia has found that when students use Eye Sim as a robotics supplement, their rate of learning and understanding of robotics concepts increases significantly. All software used in this book (including all sample programs) can be downloaded from the links below; there are native applications for MacOS, Windows, Linux, and Raspberry Pi.

In this publication, we discuss several radically different mobile robots, ranging from small, basic running robots, to autonomous submarines and legged robots, to driverless cars. The Robotics and Automation Laboratory at the University of Western Australia has developed the EyeBot family (see Figure 1.1), a diverse group of mobile robots, including wheeled, tracked, legged, flying, and underwater robots [Bräunl 2008]. Each robot is equipped with a camera as the main sensor and a touchscreen LCD as the user interface.

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