Top 7 Projects in Robotics For Beginners and Intermediates

Today, Robotics is one of the best technologies which deals with the design, working, and applications of computer systems for their control and information processing, and in many industries robots are used. This technology also deals with automated machines and is very useful in manufacturing products. Robots make all production purposes work very easy.  So people show lots of interest in Robotics and use them in manufacturing units, like automotive production, food production, farming, etc.

In this article, we are talking about the 7 best robotic projects which all the beginner and intermediate level students can consider building:

1. Line Follower

Line Follower Robot is one of the first robotics projects that students choose. The Line Follower Robot is a robot that follows a specific way indicated by a line. This line is usually a black line having some particular width on a light (white) colored surface or a white line on a black surface. Line follower robots are used in many areas of production industries, delivery services, etc To make this there need some electronics components:

• Microcontrollers: It is used for operating the whole robot, it is used as a processor of the robot, We use Arduino for this microcontroller. There are many Arduino available in the market. For this project, we can use the basic one, which is Arduino Nano.
• Infrared (IR) Sensors Module: IR sensor is an electronic device that detects infrared radiation. We use IR Sensor Module as the line detecting sensor for this project. Each module consists of an IR LED and a Photodiode, LED, etc. Here we need 4 to 6 sets of IR sensor modules.
• Motor Driver IC: This is used to drive the motors of the robot. It receives information from Arduino and the Arduino gives that information based on the IR Sensors. Here the IC we used is L293D. This driver IC can be workable within the range of 4.5 volts to 36 volts. There are two pins for voltage, one is used to circulate voltage for the working of the L293D and the 2nd one is used to circulate the voltage to the motors.
• DC Motors: It is used for rotating the wheels. Here we need DC motors which can be operated between 5 volts to 36 volts depending on the performance of the robots. We need to choose the motor according to RPM. Typically the RPM used is between 100-150 rpm.
• Chassis: It is used for making the robot’s body. It can be made of wood, plastic, or Aluminium, etc, all materials depend on the build quality of the robot. And it must be made with accurate dimensions with other components.
• Connecting Wires: It is used for connecting the circuit with the components.
• Power Supply: It is used to power up the motor driver IC and the Arduino. The voltages needed are 6 volts to 12 volts for the motor driver and 5 volts for Arduino.
• Bread Board: It is needed to make the circuits and the connections between the Arduino, Motor driver, and the IR modules. It depends on the requirement, if someone can make the circuit board by themself with a PCB board then it’s not needed.
• Switches: It is used to turn on and turn the power supply.
• Laptop or Desktop: Used to run the Arduino IDE to upload the code in the Arduino Board.

2. Pick and Place Robot

This robot is one of the technologies used in many industries mainly in manufacturing which is designed to perform pick and place operations that is pick up an object and place it in the desired location. It is designed to eliminate human error and human intervention to get more precise work. They are faster, accurate, and can get the work done in seconds compared to humans. Also, increases the safety of the working environment and actually never gets tired. They are used in various areas like bottle filling, packing industry, used to detect and destroy bombs, etc. To make this there need some electronics components:

• Chassis: It is the main body of the robot on which the robot is based. This part consists of several things like a cylinder or a sphere, joints, and links.
• Gripping Arm: It is the body connected to the last joint of the rover which is used for the purpose of gripping objects. It is like a human arm.
• DC Motors: Same as the previous. They are the drivers of the robot. It’s used for rotating the wheels. We need to choose the motor according to RPM. Typically the RPM is used in between 100-150 rpm. And for drive the motors we use L293D Motor driver like previous.
• IR Sensor, Touch Sensors: They are used to sense the internal as well as the external state to make sure the robot operates smoothly. Sensors involve touch sensors for use to detect the objects and IR sensor for used to detects the obstacles.,
• Controller: It is used to control the motors based on the sensor feedback and thus control the motion of each and every joint and the movement of the arm.
• And some common components used in the previous projects, like wires, switches, breadboard, laptop or desktop, power supply, etc.

3. Smart Cleaning Robot

This robot is used to clean the floor, or any flat surface with brush or cleaning cloths attached to it, also it may consist of a vacuum system, which attracts the dust and store it in a pot. The robot can be controlled by mobile or wirelessly, also by using switches. This robot is used in big production companies to clean their entire area, also nowadays this is used in households. To make this there need some electronics components:

• Chassis: It is the body of the robot which consists of several things like a brush, wheels, circuits, etc.
• 8051 Microcontrollers: It is used for operating the whole robot, it is used as a processor of the robot, We use Arduino for this microcontroller.
• Small Motors: It is used to clean the dust, in this motor, the brushes are attached, and while the motors rotate, the brushes also rotate and clean the floor. For small projects, we use two motors but for big projects, there may be more motors. If we use a vacuum system then one more thing is used for it, that is, a water pump motor.
• DC Motors: Same as the previous. They are the drivers of the robot. It is used to move the robot. We need to choose the motor according to RPM. Typically the RPM is used in between 100-150 rpm. And for drive the motors we use L293D Motor driver like previous.
• IR Sensor, Ultrasonic, LDR Sensors: They are used to sense the state of the surroundings to make sure the robot operates smoothly. Sensors involve an LDR and IR sensor for used to detects the obstacles, Ultrasonic sensor is used for cleaning.
• Controller: It is used to control the motors based on sensor feedback. We can control the robot wirelessly as well as automatically controlling.
• And some common components used in the previous projects, like wires, switches, breadboard, laptop or desktop, power supply, etc these are the same thing used for all the projects.

4. Obstacle Avoiding Robot

This is the same as a line follower robot, the only difference is that the line follower robot moves by following a line but this robot moves by avoiding obstacles. This robot is the initial stage of making an auto-driving car. It can be used in many fields like household work like automatic vacuum cleaning, also used in dangerous environments, where human penetration could be fatal. To make this there need some electronics components:

• Chassis: It is the body of the robot which consists of several things like circuits, wheels, Arduino, sensors, etc
• Ultrasonic Sensor: The sensor is used for the movement of the robot. Ultrasonic sensor releases a sonic wave and it reflects by any objects then it receives by another sensor (works like a microphone). After receiving, the microcontroller gives the command to move in another direction. This is how the robot works. We can use IR and Proximity sensors also with the ultrasonic sensor for better accuracy.
• 8051 microcontrollers: It is used for operating the whole robot, It gives the command to the motors by receiving the data from the sensor and control the movement of the robot. We use Arduino for this microcontroller.
• And rest of the components are common as previous projects, like motors, wires, switches, breadboard, laptop or desktop, power supply, etc.

5. Soccer Playing Robot

This is a very exciting robotics project. This is also kind of the same as a previously defined robot. This robot is a mixup of the line follower and the obstacle-avoiding robot. This robot is used for playing football in many robotics tournaments. To make this we need the same component as the previous but something different.

• Chassis: In this case, a good hard chassis is required because in the tournaments the robots are collided with other robots so to make the hard build there need a good chassis.
• Wheels: Two pieces of the good quality wheel, and the caster wheel for moving freely in the directions.
• DC motors: Two powerful motors are needed for better performance. Like 12 volts 150 to 200 rpm motors are enough.  And one small motor for press the ball in different directions.
• L293D Motor Driver IC: Used to drive the motors.
• Catchers: It is used to grab the ball. It can be made of plastic, but it is better to make it with good material. It also can be bought from the market.
• And rest of the components are common as previous projects, like wires, switches, breadboard, laptop or desktop, power supply, etc.

6. Gesture Control Robot

This robot is a hand gesture-controlled robot. This robot is controlled by the moving hand. This robot is similar to previously defined robots with some differences. This robot has two things one is a transmitter circuit and the second one is a receiver circuit. This robot can be used in shops and hotels to assists customers, homes also are the contact-less delivery system. Let’s see the components used to make this.

• 8051 microcontrollers: It is used for operating the whole robot, It gives the command to the motors by receiving the data from the sensor and control the movement of the robot. We use Arduino for this microcontroller
• Accelerometer and Gyroscope sensor: These two are the main components used here. The hand gestures are converted into electrical signals by the sensor module, here we use the MPU6050 sensor module which consists of a 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis Gyroscope.
• 433Mhz RF Transmitter: The signals that come from the MPU6050 sensor module are received by this transmitter. RF Transmitter is a PCB, used to transmit radio waves and modulate that wave to data.
• Chassis: This is the body of the robot, which can be made of any material like plastic, aluminum, wood, etc.
• Wheels: Two pieces of the good quality wheel, and the caster wheel for moving freely in the directions.
• DC motors: Two motors of average performance. Like 9 to 12 volts and 100 to 150 rpm motors are enough. These motors move in a different direction using the Arduino.
• L293D Motor Driver IC: Used to drive the motors.
• And rest of the components are common as previous projects, like wires, switches, breadboard, laptop or desktop, power supply, etc.

7. Drone or Quadcopter

At last, we can make a drone in a simple way with minimal components. Because to make a perfect drone costs a huge amount. This is a filing object controlled by Arduino and remote or mobiles. The drone is a very useful robot in many areas, like the military, the Delivery of some products, food, etc, also in Photography. Let’s see the components to make a drone.

• Drone Body: This is the main body of the drone, it can be made with very lightweight plastic or wood. Also, this is easily available in the market. It must be lightweight other the weight of the whole body of the drone will increases.
• Motors: In this case, the motors are used to rotate the propellers. It produces thrust in the opposite direction for fly up the drone. The number of propellers must be the same as the number of motors.
• Propellers: This is made of plastic or any metal like aluminum and can be bought from all the electronic goods market.
• Speed Controller: This is an electronic device that controls the speed of the motor. It also acts as a dynamic brake. This speed controller helps the user (who drives the drone) to measure the height of the drone
• Signal Transmitter: It is a transmitter that communicates to the drone from the remote controller. There is a specific frequency for specific tasks for controlling the drone, like moving left-right, speed up-down the propellers, etc. Drones require at least 4 propellers for effective operation, so four different frequency channel is required for transmitting the signal.
• Camera Sensor: The camera is an optional component for the low-budget project. But It can be fitted. It is used to capturing the photo or video from the sky.
• Protectors: This is the protector which protects the propellers and the drone body if any accidents occur.
• And rest of the components are common as previous projects, like wires, switches, breadboard, laptop or desktop, power supply, etc.

So these are some project ideas which can be made at the home easily!!