News
The useful part of these two weeks doesn't come from humanoids: it comes from open hardware that records data with your hand, open weights that run on a gaming GPU, and a LeRobot release that breaks your project if you skip the changelog.
ReadThree ways in. Check what each one takes for granted before you jump, that is what saves you the frustration.
Basic
Basic
Parts: from 27 €
You end up with
Your first working robot, moving on its own and not crashing into things.
I assume
Nothing. No soldering, no programming. Just the will and a free afternoon.
Intermediate
Intermediate
Parts: from 60 €
You end up with
Several motors at once, an external supply and drivers in between with nothing overheating.
I assume
That you have wired an Arduino, can flash a sketch and own a multimeter.
Advanced
Advanced
Parts: depends on the project
You end up with
Projects where what fails is no longer the wiring, it is the design judgement.
I assume
That you solder without fear, read a datasheet and know why you once killed a board.
Nothing published at this level yet.
Ping me by RSSThe question everyone asks before getting into this. These numbers come from each guide bill of materials, added part by part. They are approximate shop ranges, not fixed prices.
| Project | Level | Time | Parts | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obstacle-avoiding robot with Arduino | Basic guide | Basic | One afternoon (2-3 h) | 6 | 27 to 47 € |
| Robotic arm with ESP32 and servos | Intermediate guide | Intermediate | One weekend (6-8 h) | 10 | 60 to 97 € |
Tools are separate and I do not count them in the project price: screwdriver, pliers and, from intermediate level on, a multimeter and a soldering iron. You buy them once and they last you for everything.
Before the code comes what you buy, how it connects and why that connection holds. If the build is badly thought out, the best software in the world will not save it.
Every news entry links the paper, the release or the original post. If I could not verify something, I say so instead of padding. If it is a lab demo, I do not call it a product.
The firmware in these projects is short and repetitive, so I hand you the exact prompt and what to check before flashing it. Your time is worth more spent on the current budget.
Voltages, LiPo, motors that pinch, heat. I never hide a risk to keep a guide looking tidy.
What I would ask myself before spending the first euro.
Not to start. The first robot firmware is about 20 lines and I give you the prompt so the AI writes it. What you do need to understand is the hardware: which pin gives current, which one asks for it, and what goes in between. That is what every guide explains.
Not for the first project. It all goes together with dupont cables and screws, you can build and unbuild it without burning anything. From intermediate level on a soldering iron is worth it, because you start fixing connections that carry real current.
It is worked out in the table on this same page, added up from each guide real bill of materials. The first robot lands in the price range of a dinner out. Tools are separate and you buy them once.
Arduino Uno for the first project: it runs at 5V, it survives beginner mistakes and it has examples everywhere. ESP32 when you need wifi, more pins or several PWM signals at once. On this site the obstacle-avoiding robot runs on Arduino and the 4-axis arm on ESP32, and each guide explains why that board and not the other.
Because it is the easy part. The software in a home robot is a loop that reads a sensor, decides and sends an order. What really decides whether the project works is the hardware: the current budget, the right driver and the wiring. That is where it makes sense to spend your head, and that is where I come in.
The guides use real parts with approximate shop prices and the wiring explained piece by piece, never an invented pin or part number. The news always cites the primary source and ships once a week. The guides, on the other hand, ship when they are verified, not on a calendar.
If you came to build, go in through the level route. If you came to keep up, subscribe and the weekly entry reaches you.
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