Autonomous Robot Help

[jag0097wtf]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum (this is my first post) and would like to ask for some help with a project that I have started (not sure if this is the right place to post this though).

Overview:

I want to make an autonomous robot that can move around by itself and detect and avoid obstacles (think iRobot or Roomba style).

Reason for doing this:

I am really interested in the field of robotics and thus want to get into it well. So I picked this project as it is very fun so I can not only make it but also learn from the experience, such as making circuits, coding, designing the actual robot, the mechanics and whatever else is required to make it tick. I am mostly a beginner. My experience with coding ghoes as far as basic Python (covering all the main techniques such as variables and functions to lists etc.) and a little HTML. As far as circuitry goes, i am comfortable building things like temperature sensors etc or a simple 555 timer or using a PIC chip (I use the circuit wizard software).

My Question:

Could you guys help by giving me ideas as to how I should do this. For example, what components I would need, example programs, websites where I can learn more etcetera etcetera. I don't expect this to be easy, and since I am doing this to learn, I am willing to learn new languages or using software etc. and electronic concepts.

I hope that is comprehensive enough!

[markus.dnd]

First thing that I would suggest is Arduino. If you are thinking about getting more out of uC then you can use arduino platform but program it with C. Later gives you more insight to what processor has, but also takes more time to learn (underestanding the internals of the microprocessor) I am not a big fan of PIC, but it is good thing.

 

Get some servos for locomotion. modify these to rotating (info in the web) and then something to get signals from world like ir rangefinder. And ofcourse you need battery. That would be good start from the hardware. IF you decide to go with arduino or avr programming, head out to arduino forums or avr-freaks forums to get start-up tips. That should do it.