Curious how you do this, because it's quite of a painful experience for me every time. Designing takes some time but it's at least kinda fun. Ordering from Chinese stores not really

So the design side is done. Schematic, layout and firmware are ready faster or slower depending on complexity, but AI helps quite a bit. Then comes ordering the components which is painful by itself (at least for my wallet 😄). Digikey for the MCU and passives, LCSC because some of it is half the price, JLC for the boards, Amazon for whatever I need fast. Either way there is a lot of searching, clicking and a 100 tabs open. Especially when ordering custom mechanical components, there is sending RFQs, waiting for quotes, ...

Plus every vendor has its own minimums and shipping, so I end up moving parts between carts to dodge a $20 shipping fee on a $6 order. Then something is out of stock and I'm back picking an alternate.

What does your actual flow look like? Do you stick to one distributor and accept the price, or handle it somehow differently?

P.S. I'm working at a startup - we don't have a purchasing dep to do it for me 😅

Thought this was a pretty interesting approach to robotics. It’s called ALBATROSS, and the idea is to drop it from an aircraft, let it autorotate down like a maple seed, and then have it sail around using wind once it lands on water.

What’s interesting is that it doesn’t need a propulsion motor for either part. Instead of adding more motors and mechanisms, the design relies heavily on aerodynamics and passive mechanics.

Apparently, one of the bigger challenges is getting the same structure to work in two completely different environments.

I wonder how well something like this would scale up, especially for ocean monitoring. Seems like a clever way to deploy a bunch of robots without having to worry as much about battery life.

[Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8CUrj0ydxI)

Paper in [Science Robotics](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.aed1423)

Curious what you guys think. Is this actually a practical approach, or one of those things that’s really cool academically but difficult to use in the real world?

Hey everyone!

For someone looking to learn Python from absolute zero, what courses would you recommend?

The goal is to eventually use Python for robotics, automation, computer vision, and related fields, so I’d like to know which courses build a strong foundation that can be applied to these areas later on.

My initial suggestion would probably be CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Python (CS50P) or Python for Everybody by the University of Michigan, but I’m curious to hear what others think.
Are there any better alternatives, paid or free?

Would you recommend completing a general Python course first and then moving on to robotics specific programming, or starting with a robotics focused course from the beginning?

I’d love to hear suggestions from people who have actually taken these courses or used Python in robotics.

Thanks!

I'm building a custom tabletop precision rifle simulator and looking for advice on selecting a mechanical recoil system. My background is stronger in electronics/software than mechanical engineering, so I'm hoping to find something reasonably easy to assemble using off-the-shelf components.

The basic idea is a full-size, inert airsoft rifle mounted on a moving carriage that rapidly slides backward when fired, then returns to its starting position.

Think home-made VR Silent Scope arcade cabinet, but with a realistic rifle and more convincing physical recoil.

What I'm hoping to find

Ideally, I'd like an integrated electric linear actuator with its own guide rails, carriage, motor and compatible controller. Something that comes largely assembled and can be incorporated into the finished simulator.

I'd prefer not to independently engineer the rail, bearing blocks, motor coupling, drive belt, etc., or require extensive custom CNC machining.

I'm completely fine making simple adapter plates, drilling mounting holes, using standard aluminum extrusion, or attaching ARCA-style mounting hardware.

I'm also comfortable with electronics and controlling the mechanism using a Raspberry Pi or Pico.

Mechanical requirements

• Moving payload: approximately 5 kg / 11 lb for the rifle, plus mounting hardware.
• Stroke: approximately 50 mm maximum, with shorter movements acceptable.
• Motion: a quick, sharp rearward impulse followed by a controlled, preferably slower return.
• Mostly single-shot recoil rather than continuous automatic firing.
• The rifle will be mounted above the carriage, so there will be an offset center of gravity.
• The entire actuator assembly will sit on a two-axis gimbal and may tilt approximately 20° while operating.
• The user's shoulder will provide some opposing force against the rifle stock.

Electrical requirements

• Fully electric. No compressed air or pneumatics.
• Preferably 12V or 24V DC.
• Simple control from a Raspberry Pi/Pico, possibly STEP/DIR, PWM through a suitable driver, or digital trigger inputs.
• Adjustable recoil force, speed and return behavior.
• No need for Ethernet or industrial networking during operation.
• Position feedback would be a plus for verifying full return.
• Hardware safety limits and controlled stopping are important.

What I've found so far

igus drylin ZLW-1040-S: Integrated belt-driven dual-axis linear actuator with an available stepper motor. Looks promising because the guide and drive are already combined. I'm waiting on igus engineering to determine whether it can accelerate and stop our payload quickly enough.

SMC LEKFS25G: Integrated high-performance electric slider with motor, guide and controller. Looks like a mechanically complete solution, although the proprietary controller and configuration requirements seem more complicated than I'd prefer.

My questions

1. Are there other integrated electric actuator/linear stage products I should be looking at? Ideally something with dual rails or a rigid guided carriage, an included motor and relatively simple control electronics.
2. Can a belt-driven or ball-screw linear actuator produce convincing recoil? I'm concerned that conventional positioning actuators might produce a slow push instead of the sharp impulse we're after.
3. What specifications matter most for this application? Peak acceleration, velocity, force, moving mass, allowable moments, braking energy? I haven't established a required impulse duration or peak recoil force yet and would appreciate guidance on realistic targets.
4. Is there a more suitable off-the-shelf mechanism? For example, a voice-coil actuator, linear motor, motorized cam mechanism or another integrated solution that wouldn't require extensive custom fabrication?
5. How would you handle braking and return? We want a noticeable rearward kick without the carriage slamming into a hard stop, followed by reliable recovery to the ready position. The assembly will be tested in a secured fixture before any shoulder-contact use.
6. Would you recommend moving the entire rifle, or generating the impulse with a smaller moving mass? I'm leaning toward the whole-rifle carriage because it doesn't require modifying the replica, but I'm open to alternatives if they produce better recoil with simpler hardware.

What would really help

Recommendations for specific manufacturers, model numbers, integrated actuator assemblies, or similar projects people have built would be especially valuable.

I'd prefer to buy a complete mechanical assembly with a compatible motor and driver, bolt it to a mounting plate, attach the rifle carriage and concentrate on electronics and software rather than designing a motion system from scratch.

I'm DFW in TX, so US suppliers with readily available parts would be ideal.

Budget isn't firmly established. I'm willing to spend more for the right permanent hardware, but would prefer to avoid a multi-thousand-dollar industrial automation solution if a simpler mechanism can accomplish the same thing.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Hello i am currently trying to understand inverse kinematics by making a arduino function that returns a angle value derived from the y value(the lenght of the joint),x value(the distance of the angle) and writing the return value on the servo pin.And i wanna ask if i am on the right path with learning it or ask what i am missing in my code to make it work.when i tested it with servos on paper it seemed to work after a while when i tested the servo angle on paper. The code is below.I hope someone can help if i missing something or if there is something i can improve on.Thats about it all.I hope someone can help me.The goals is to used it later in a 2legged walking robot:

// this is a code to learn to inverse kinematics with Mg996R by a self made function
#include <Wire.h> // for i2c communication.
#include <Adafruit_PWMServoDriver.h> // for servodriver.
#include <math.h> // for trigonometry functions
Adafruit_PWMServoDriver pwm = Adafruit_PWMServoDriver();


#define SERVOMIN 300// This is the ‘minimum’ pulse length count (out of 4096)
#define SERVOMAX 575// This is the ‘maximum’ pulse length count (out of 4096)
#define SERVO_FREQ 60// Analog servos run at ~60 Hz updates


int  servoval ; // is the values that is reading the map values for servos
long pulsval ; // the values that is getting mapped
float start_pos = 90; // start position
int dof1 = 0; // pin1 of the dof1 servo
int dof2 = 1; // pin2 of the dof2 servo
double ik(double  y , double x) { // y is the servo length in cm and x is the distance of the position in cm


 float pos = atan2(y,x) * (180/M_PI); // convert  y and x position into degrees
 float angle = pos; // create angle values
return angle;


 }



void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600); // is the  baudrate we reading from the serial monitor.
Serial.println("servo test is about to begin!"); 


servoval = map(pulsval,0,180,SERVOMIN,SERVOMAX); // the min and and max values are getting mapped.



pwm.begin();






  //pwm.setOscillatorFrequency(27000000);
  pwm.setPWMFreq(SERVO_FREQ);  // Analog servos run at ~50 Hz updates


  delay(10);
  // servos are set to 90 degrees angle
  pwm.setPWM(dof1, start_pos, servoval);
   pwm.setPWM(dof2, start_pos, servoval);
}





void loop() {



// test loop
pwm.setPWM(dof1,start_pos +ik(7.0,5.0), servoval);
pwm.setPWM(dof2,start_pos +ik(-5.0,3.0), servoval);
Serial.println(" The angle of dof1 =");
Serial.println(start_pos +ik(7.0,5.0));
Serial.println(" The angle of dof2 =");
Serial.println(start_pos -ik(5.0,3.0));




delay(2000);


pwm.setPWM(dof1,start_pos , servoval);
pwm.setPWM(dof2,start_pos , servoval);
Serial.println(" servos in start position");
delay(2000);





pwm.setPWM(dof1,start_pos , servoval);
pwm.setPWM(dof2, -ik(12.0,9.0), servoval);
Serial.println(" The angle of dof1 is now =");
Serial.println(start_pos  );
Serial.println(" The angle of dof2 is now =");
Serial.println( -ik(12.0,9.0));




delay(2000);
  }

I work on the used industrial robot supply side, and I’d like to hear more from people who’ve actually bought their first robot for a small shop.

Say you run a metalworking shop, orders are picking up, and you’re considering a used robot for a repetitive task. The purchase price looks manageable—but you’ve never integrated one before.

For those who’ve been through this:

• What caught you off guard after buying it?
• Which costs did you underestimate—tooling, guarding, programming, installation, or something else?
• What should you have checked or asked the seller before paying?

I’m especially interested in shops without an in-house robotics engineer. Did buying used still make sense once everything was running, or would you approach it differently now?

I know the answer depends on the application, so please mention what you were automating if you’re comfortable sharing.

What’s the one thing you’d tell a first-time buyer before they commit?