Six Months In: What We've Learned and What's Coming Next
We've covered a lot of ground in 26 weeks. Here's a recap of the journey so far, answers to the most common reader questions, and a preview of what's coming in the next six months.
Six months ago, we published our first tutorial with a simple promise: a new robotics guide every Monday, written for beginners, with no jargon and no gatekeeping. Twenty-six weeks later, we’re still here — and we’ve covered a lot of ground.
What We’ve Covered
Looking back at the past six months, we’ve built a solid foundation:
- Hardware basics: microcontrollers vs microprocessors, motor drivers, power systems, 3D printing
- Communication: CAN bus, I2C, SPI, wireless protocols
- Sensing: ultrasonic sensors, IMUs, LiDAR, 2D and 3D cameras
- Software: ROS2, reinforcement learning frameworks, simulation with Gazebo
- Control: PID controllers, kinematics, SLAM, the Nav2 navigation stack
That’s a lot! If you’ve been following along from the beginning, you now have the foundation to build a genuinely capable autonomous robot.
The Most Common Questions
“I’m completely new — where do I start?” Start with Week 1 and work forward. The series is designed to build on itself. Don’t skip ahead.
“Do I need to buy all the hardware?” No. You can read and understand the concepts without any hardware. When you’re ready to build, each tutorial lists exactly what you need.
“Which microcontroller should I buy first?” An Arduino Uno. It’s the most documented, most supported, and most beginner-friendly option. Once you’re comfortable, branch out.
“How long does it take to build a robot?” A simple line-following robot: a weekend. A robot that navigates autonomously with a map: several months of part-time work. Set realistic expectations and enjoy the process.
What’s Coming Next
The next six months will go deeper into advanced topics:
- Advanced SLAM: mapping large environments, loop closure
- Robot learning: imitation learning, sim-to-real transfer
- Computer vision: semantic segmentation, 6-DOF pose estimation
- Multi-robot systems: coordination, communication, swarm robotics
- Mechanical design: actuators, gearboxes, compliant mechanisms
- Real robot builds: step-by-step guides for complete robot projects
Thank you for reading. See you next Monday!