Milestone 2: mechanics and sensors
A maze solver on three Sharp distance sensors: read the sensor curve, find its blind spot, place the sensors around the chassis, and predict the path the robot logs before you run it.
Open it in the simulatorAll paths
Robotics capstone: your own machine
Pick a mobile robot or an arm and build it through seven milestones: a brief, sensors, closed-loop motion, control, safety, testing, and a demo and write-up for your portfolio.
0 of 7 done
What you will build
3 projects, built step by step
7 lessons in 3 chapters, about 7 hours on a simulated breadboard. Free, in your browser, every step checked by the simulator.
Milestone 4: autonomy or an operator
Decide who drives: code or a person. A four-servo arm on two joysticks shows the operator side, with rate control, a dead band, joint limits that code enforces, and a reading you predict before you push.
Open it in the simulatorMilestone 7: demo and write-up
Teach the record and playback arm a routine of your own, prove it survives a reset, predict its reading, then record your demo and write it up for your portfolio, with an honest look at the robotics technician path.
Open it in the simulatorThe map
Chapter by chapter
Each lesson opens when the one before it is done, and each chapter ends in a project.
Chapter 1
Plan and sense
Choose the machine, write its brief, and pick and place its sensors.
- Open350 XP
Milestone 1: pick a machine
Choose what you will build, a mobile robot or an arm, and write a one page brief for it. A robot vacuum shows what a brief has to pin down: what it does, what it senses and which behavior wins.
0 of 6 steps
- ProjectLocked800 XP
Milestone 2: mechanics and sensors
A maze solver on three Sharp distance sensors: read the sensor curve, find its blind spot, place the sensors around the chassis, and predict the path the robot logs before you run it.
0 of 7 steps
Chapter 2
Move and control
Closed-loop motion you can measure, and who drives: code or an operator.
- Locked350 XP
Milestone 3: motion control
Close the loop. A 2WD chassis counts wheel pulses, holds a speed with an integral controller on each wheel, keeps it when the battery sags, and drives an exact square by counting instead of timing.
0 of 6 steps
- ProjectLocked800 XP
Milestone 4: autonomy or an operator
Decide who drives: code or a person. A four-servo arm on two joysticks shows the operator side, with rate control, a dead band, joint limits that code enforces, and a reading you predict before you push.
0 of 7 steps
Chapter 3
Prove it
Make it safe by design, test it like a technician, then demo and write it up.
- Locked400 XP
Milestone 5: safety
A press guarded by a two-beam light curtain and an e-stop: interlocks checked before and during every move, a fault that latches until a person clears it, a fail-safe stop, and an honest line between a lesson and a safety device.
0 of 7 steps
- Locked400 XP
Milestone 6: testing
Test your machine’s remote like a technician: a written plan, the happy path, the output checked instead of the log, a soak test, a fault injected on purpose, and a real bug found and written up.
0 of 7 steps
- ProjectLocked740 XP
Milestone 7: demo and write-up
Teach the record and playback arm a routine of your own, prove it survives a reset, predict its reading, then record your demo and write it up for your portfolio, with an honest look at the robotics technician path.
0 of 7 steps
Syllabus
Every lesson in the course
All 7 lessons, in order, each with what it covers. Any of them opens in the editor right away.
Plan and sense
- Milestone 1: pick a machineChoose what you will build, a mobile robot or an arm, and write a one page brief for it. A robot vacuum shows what a brief has to pin down: what it does, what it senses and which behavior wins.
- Milestone 2: mechanics and sensorsA maze solver on three Sharp distance sensors: read the sensor curve, find its blind spot, place the sensors around the chassis, and predict the path the robot logs before you run it.
Move and control
- Milestone 3: motion controlClose the loop. A 2WD chassis counts wheel pulses, holds a speed with an integral controller on each wheel, keeps it when the battery sags, and drives an exact square by counting instead of timing.
- Milestone 4: autonomy or an operatorDecide who drives: code or a person. A four-servo arm on two joysticks shows the operator side, with rate control, a dead band, joint limits that code enforces, and a reading you predict before you push.
Prove it
- Milestone 5: safetyA press guarded by a two-beam light curtain and an e-stop: interlocks checked before and during every move, a fault that latches until a person clears it, a fail-safe stop, and an honest line between a lesson and a safety device.
- Milestone 6: testingTest your machine’s remote like a technician: a written plan, the happy path, the output checked instead of the log, a soak test, a fault injected on purpose, and a real bug found and written up.
- Milestone 7: demo and write-upTeach the record and playback arm a routine of your own, prove it survives a reset, predict its reading, then record your demo and write it up for your portfolio, with an honest look at the robotics technician path.
Keep going
The rest of your track
Robotics capstone: your own machine is part of the robotics track, a ladder of courses from zero to expert.
Robotics track
Motors, servos, sensors and PID control loops, then a rover, a claw machine and a balance bot, every lesson checked on a simulated board.
See every course on the trackKits
Build it on your bench too
Every lesson runs in the simulator with nothing to buy. When you want the real thing, these kits have the parts.
Find your kit
Pick the starter kit you own and run every lesson in its manual with the same parts on the same pins.
See every kitQuestions
About Robotics capstone: your own machine
Is Robotics capstone: your own machine free?
Yes. All 7 lessons of Robotics capstone: your own machine are free and run in your browser, with nothing to install and no parts to buy before you start.
Do I need any parts?
No. Every circuit is built on a simulated breadboard, and the simulator checks each step as you go. When you want to build it for real, the same parts and wiring work on a real bench.
How long does Robotics capstone: your own machine take?
About 7 hours: 7 lessons in 3 chapters, each one a few short steps. Your progress is kept, so you can stop after any lesson and pick up where you left off.
What will I build?
Each chapter ends in a project that puts it together: Milestone 2: mechanics and sensors, Milestone 4: autonomy or an operator and Milestone 7: demo and write-up.
Where do I start?
With "Milestone 1: pick a machine", and each lesson builds on the one before it. New to circuits? Electronics basics is the course that starts from zero.