Free e-book: Build, Program a Self-Driving Robot
A free 209-page PDF that walks you through assembling, mapping and programming a LiDAR robot - with a simulation chapter so you can start without any hardware.
The Maker’s Pet video course now has a companion e-book: Build, Program a Self-Driving Robot, 209 pages, free to download. It follows the same build as the videos, but in a form you can skim, search and keep open on a second screen while you work.
No robotics experience needed, and you do not need the hardware to start – chapter 6 runs the whole robot in simulation on your PC.
What is inside
- Assemble the robot
- Set up the software on a Windows PC
- Upload the firmware and bring up the robot
- Map your place by driving the robot
- Let the robot explore and self-drive
- Practice in simulation (no robot needed)
- Program your robot
- Using an Ubuntu PC instead
Plus four appendices: running Ubuntu in a virtual machine, troubleshooting and FAQ, a quick command reference, and 3D printing the robot parts.
What you need
The book is written around the Arduino/ROS 2 Self-Driving Robot 120mm Build Pack – an ESP32, a LiDAR, two encoder motors and a driver board. If you would rather watch first, the video course covers the same ground, and the book’s illustrations are frames from those videos.
Questions, corrections and photos of your build are all welcome on the community forum.
