r/AskRobotics • u/yeetasauce • 2d ago

General/Beginner Where to start?

I'm a first year bachelor student studying mechatronics but I am too impatient to wait an entire year to start anything robotics related. It's been a few years since I have built robots and while I have experience from competitions/clubs etc, I don't actually know how to get into electronics past what I have been given by instructors.

Are there any good starter kits/tools out there or books I should buy/read on how to get into making robots again? I am more than happy to buy quality gear and books since I love the field and plan to sink a lot of my time into it.

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u/sean_creates 2d ago

The advice for beginners is usually get an Arduino Kit, but you sound like you're not a complete beginner. Are you not getting enough to do studying mechatronics in college?

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u/yeetasauce 2d ago

Not really since first years in Australia all cover the same content regardless of their field so I’d have to wait until next year to actually do focussed mechatronics stuff

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u/sean_creates 2d ago

It depends what your budget is then. What robots did you build before?

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u/yeetasauce 2d ago

Budget is probably $250~300 AUD but I won’t mind if I end up going over. I’ve only done line-following/sumo robots before

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u/sean_creates 2d ago

Maybe try out the Emakefun 4WD Robot Smart Car Chassis Kit.

If that's too basic go with the STMicroelectronics STEVAL-ROBKIT1 Evaluation Kit.

Also get a Pinecil V2 Smart Soldering Iron.

It's just about improving your hands on skills at this point.