Beginner10 min read
What Is a Robot?
A plain-language introduction to what a robot actually is: a machine that senses the world, decides what to do and acts on it. And how that differs from an ordinary machine.
Robotics Fundamentals
Robotics, taught from first principles
Learn robotics visually, simply, from the ground up.
Every idea starts with plain language and a picture, from what a robot even is to how you program one with ROS 2, so the concepts stick, not just the jargon.
A robot sensing the world
Start here
A short path through the essentials, from what a robot is to writing your first ROS 2 program.
- Beginner12 min read
A Short History of Robotics
From the word “robot” in a 1921 play to today's warehouse fleets and walking machines. The milestones that shaped modern robotics and why each one mattered.
Robotics Fundamentals
- Beginner12 min read
The Families of Robots
Robots come in families defined by the job they do. Learn the main ways of classifying them: by mobility, by application, by autonomy. Plus why shape follows task.
Types of Robots
- Beginner12 min read
Sensors: How a Robot Perceives
A tour of the sensors a robot actually carries, what each one measures and the two rules that decide which sensor belongs on which robot.
Sensing & Perception
- Intermediate13 min read
What Is ROS?
ROS is not an operating system. Find out what it really is: a middleware, a build system and a huge ecosystem, plus the problem it exists to solve.
ROS Fundamentals
- Intermediate14 min read
Writing a Publisher and Subscriber
The first real ROS 2 program: two nodes, one topic. Timers, callbacks, QoS, entry points and the mistakes that stop the two from finding each other.
ROS 2 in Depth
The full curriculum
Every path and every lesson, in order. Available lessons link straight through; the rest show where the map is still being drawn.
Sensing & Perception13/13
- 1Sensors and Transducers
- 2Sensors: How a Robot Perceives
- 3Sensor Characteristics and Errors
- 4Inner vs. Outer Senses
- 5Position and Displacement Sensors
- 6Encoders: Measuring Rotation
- 7The IMU: Measuring Orientation
- 8Distance Sensors: Ultrasonic and IR
- 9LiDAR: Scanning the Room with Light
- 10Robot Vision: Cameras and Images
- 11Force, Torque and Tactile Sensors
- 12From Signal to Number
- 13Sensor Fusion
ROS 2 in Depth13/13
- 1Installing ROS 2 and the CLI
- 2Workspaces and Packages
- 3Writing a Publisher and Subscriber
- 4Custom Messages, Services and Actions
- 5Launch Files
- 6Coordinate Frames with tf2
- 7Describing a Robot with URDF
- 8The Robot Simulator Landscape
- 9Simulating Robots with Gazebo
- 10Visualizing with RViz
- 11ros2_control: Driving Real Hardware
- 12Autonomous Navigation with Nav2
- 13Arm Control with MoveIt 2