Learning Robotics Using Python

by Lentin Joseph

Overview

• Design, simulate, build and program an interactive autonomous mobile robot

• Program Robot Operating System using Python

• Get a grip on the hands-on guide to robotics for learning various robotics concepts and build an advanced robot from scratch

If you are an engineer, a researcher, or a hobbyist, and you are interested in robotics and want to build your own robot, this book is for you. Readers are assumed to be new to robotics but should have experience with Python.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783287543
Publisher:	Packt Publishing
Publication date:	05/27/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	330
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Lentin Joseph is an electronics engineer, robotics enthusiast, machine vision expert, embedded programmer, and the founder and CEO of Qbotics Labs (http://www.qboticslabs.com) in India. He got his bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering at the Federal Institute of Science and Technology (FISAT), Kerala. In his final year engineering project, he created a social robot, which can interact with people. The project was a huge success and got mentioned in visual and print media. The main feature of this robot was that it could communicate with people and reply intelligently. It also has some image-processing capabilities, such as face, motion, and color detection. The entire project was implemented using the Python programming language. His interest in robotics, image processing, and Python began this project.
After graduation, he worked at a start-up company based on robotics and image processing for 3 years. In the meantime, he learned famous robotic software platforms—such as Robot Operating system (ROS), V-REP, and Actin (a robotic simulation tool)—and image processing libraries, such as OpenCV, OpenNI, and PCL. He also knows about robot 3D designing, embedded programming on Arduino, and Stellaris Launchpad.
After 3 years of work experience, he started a new company called Qbotics Labs, which is mainly focused on research to build great products in domains such as wearable technology, robotics, machine vision, green technology, and online education. He maintains a personal website (http://www.lentinjoseph.com) and a technology blog called technolabsz (http://www.technolabsz.com). He publishes his works on his tech blog. He was a speaker at PyCon2013 India, and he spoke on the topic of learning robotics using Python.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Robotics
2. Mechanical Design of a Service Robot
3. Working with Robot Simulation Using ROS and Gazebo
4. Designing ChefBot Hardware
5. Working with Robotic Actuators and Wheel Encoders
6. Working with Robotic Sensors
7. Programming Vision Sensors Using Python and ROS
8. Working with Speech Recognition and Synthesis Using Python and ROS
9. Applying Artificial Intelligence to ChefBot Using Python
10. Integration of ChefBot Hardware and Interfacing it into ROS, Using Python
11. Designing a GUI for a Robot Using Qt and Python
12. The Calibration and Testing of ChefBot