Maker.io main logo

Robotics Products for Makers, Professionals, and Consumers

2021-03-23 | By Maker.io Staff

RobotShop and Pololu are amongst the better-known shops that specialize in robotics and robots in general. While Pololu focuses on the maker and hobbyist market, RobotShop also lists and sells many items for everyday users and businesses. This short article serves as a quick overview of robotics and the portfolios of RobotShop and Pololu and what they offer.

Jump into the Exciting Field of Robotics

Try to answer the following question for yourself: what is a robot after all? You can describe a robot as a device that receives input through sensors, decides what to do next with the help of a predetermined firmware program, and then carries out an action. By that definition, however, almost any machine, such as a car or a microwave oven, can be classified as a robot. Therefore, we typically also expect robots to have some form of autonomy, but that is not necessarily the case in practice.

In today’s world, robots are most commonly employed in factories and production, where they can carry out a wide variety of tasks such as manufacturing parts and transporting materials from a warehouse to an assembly line. Many of these worker robots carry out the same task hundreds of thousand times without being intelligent whatsoever. They only know that single task that they have to fulfill. But that doesn’t mean that robots can’t think at all. Some examples of rather intelligent robots that come to my mind are self-driving cars and the autopilot found in many commercial planes. Oftentimes, sci-fi movies also include intelligent robots and androids in one form or another, but in the real world, those are an exception.

Robotics Products for Makers, Professionals, and Consumers

Source: Stock-Photo, free for commercial use, no attribution required. https://pixabay.com/photos/robot-arm-technology-robot-arm-2791671/

So, as you can see, robotics is an incredibly broad field that includes many different applications and that will increasingly become more important in the future. If you’re just starting your journey in the world of robots, I recommend you take a look at a few interesting educational kits to get you started in practically no time!

Parts Required for Building a Custom Robot

As mentioned earlier, all robots typically contain the same three categories of components. Those are sensors, actuators, such as motors or servos, and some form of processing power. A robot requires sensors for observing the surrounding environment, and actuators to manipulate the environment or to move. The processing logic ties the components together. It allows users to control a robot manually, and it might also enable the robot to make decisions on its own, depending on the software. Besides these vital components, robots that move around typically also need a chassis with some form of wheels, tracks, or legs, and some hardware, such as screws and metal plates, to form the body.

RobotShop and Pololu sell practically everything that makers could need when building custom robots. What makes these shops especially interesting for customers looking to build robots is the large selection of wheels, tracks, bases, and chassis kits. Both shops also sell various hardware such as nuts, bolts, brackets, metal bars and rods, bearings, gears, couplers, chains, and much more. Anyone who has ever built a custom robot knows just how difficult it can be to find sturdy and affordable parts to construct a custom chassis.

Robot Kits and Pre-built Robots

Building a custom robot can be a cumbersome and time-consuming process. Therefore, buying a pre-made robot or a robot kit that only requires final assembly can be a timesaving alternative for people who are more interested in experimenting with software and programming robots rather than building them at home.

DigiKey offers a large selection of robotic kits, educational kits, and pre-assembled robots from Pololu and RobotShop. If you’re interested in buying one of these ready-to-use robots, head over to DigiKey and take a look at their extensive catalog. Here, you’ll find different robot kits and educational kits, such as mechanical arms, robot bases that can serve as the chassis of a custom robot, and drones.

RobotShop and Pololu Products at DigiKey

DigiKey offers select products from the portfolios of RobotShop and Pololu. From the Pololu catalog, DigiKey sells various parts designed by Pololu, such as robot bases, motor controllers, spare and replacement parts, and much more. From the RobotShop portfolio, DigiKey currently mainly offers kits and pre-built robots, smart servos from the Lynxmotion LSS Series, and UAV parts.

Ordering these parts from the DigiKey website can be a convenient way to do all the shopping in one place without the need to create multiple user accounts on various websites. Makers can shop for all the robot parts they need for their project, as well as all the electronic components without the need to leave the DigiKey store.

Summary

A robot is really only a machine that combines sensors to observe its surroundings, processing power, and actuators to move around and manipulate the environment. That definition is very broad, and we additionally expect modern robots to have some form of autonomy or intelligence. In practice, however, that’s often not the case. Many robots simply repeat a pre-programmed pattern or action over and over again.

Robotics Products for Makers, Professionals, and Consumers

Image Source: Stock image, free for commercial use, no attribution required. https://pixabay.com/photos/drone-uav-quadrocopter-hobby-sky-2724257/

If you plan to build a custom robot, you can find fantastic components in the Pololu and RobotShop sections of the DigiKey website. RobotShop offers products more aimed at consumers who want to buy a robot that works without the need for any adjustments or modifications. Pololu, on the other hand, seems to mainly target makers and educational institutions.

Both companies offer a respectable catalog of robot parts, kits, and hardware for makers, but Pololu also seems to list more electronic components besides what is required to build robots. Pololu, furthermore, designs and manufactures custom parts, such as wheels, motors, and robot kits. Placing your next order of robot parts directly at DigiKey can be a convenient way of receiving all required components for a project without having to register for an account on various websites.

TechForum

Have questions or comments? Continue the conversation on TechForum, DigiKey's online community and technical resource.

Visit TechForum