Summary

This chapter covered several important topics. It started with some of the basics of robotics, for readers who needed a bit more background. We talked about common robot parts, such as sensors, computers, and motors/actuators. We discussed the subsumption architecture in more depth and showed how it helped the robot arbitrate between responding to different events and commands. 

The next section covered the software setup for running the robot, including the offboard development environment and the onboard Raspberry Pi 3 computer environments. We set up the ROS and installed the Python tools. 

The final section covered the hardware construction of the example robot, TinMan, with its tank-tread base and robot arm composed of servo motors. We showed how to wire the power supply up and connect all of the components to the Raspberry Pi 3 controller. We installed the ROS software that we will be using to control the robot.

In the next chapter, we will discuss how to go from a concept to a working plan for developing complex robot AI-based software using systems engineering practices such as use cases and storyboards.