Learning Robotics Using Python Paperback – May 27, 2015

Interesting Book

The title of this book is misleading. Yes, there is python in the book and the examples are written in python, but the book is really about how to take existing technology and build an advanced robot at a price most hobbyists could probably afford. Most of us build a line follower, a light avoider, a robot that bounces off walls and then randomly turns etc, but moving to that next step of building a robot that knows where it is and can find its way back (SLAM algorithm) is something else most builders never get to since it is a hard nut to crack. He gives a blue print for an advanced robot which can be built for well under a $1000 and uses ROS (robot operating system), PCL, a Kinect, IMU, ultrasonic sensor ARM processor etc.He takes all the pieces that are out there and shows you how to integrate them all into an advanced robot. It wasn't what I expected from the book but I was pleasantly surprised since it was exactly what I need to get myself to that advanced robot I really want to build.Warning, that the directions may be out of date (it is predicated on an older version of ROS) and you will need to use the internet and/or other resources to do all of the things he documents. It is still worth every penny

Good ROS book but it suffers from the same issue as all the rest: it depends too much on specific hardware (that will only work on small robots) and is not generic enough to apply more broadly. Still the best of the books I’ve found and worth reading if you’re a ROS beginner.

I wanted to rate this as 3.5 stars, but Amazon seems to restrict the stars to whole numbers. Now to the review.The author obviously knows the subject but I found it difficult to follow all the steps when in particular section. For instance, using Gazebo for robotic simulation, the author shifts between the turtlebot and chefbot without clear and precise directions. There are also missing steps in the process, where I had to figure out how to get to an end goal. This is frustrating and will surely turn-off many readers. It kind of reminded me of some my old engineering undergrad texts where the author left you high and try with a statement like "It is left to the reader to complete the derivation..."The editing also needs improvement. The grammar is stifled and it appears that English is a second language to the author. If not, the author really should get a much better copy editor.I would consider this book to be appropriate for intermediate or advanced robotic enthusiasts; definitely not for beginners.I am building a turtlebot clone and I did find this book helpful in that endeavor.

Very good book to learn how to build or simulate your own robot. Don’t expect to find a complete recipe to achieve robot building, but many hints and resources pointers.Little negative point ? Some mistakes in the text (kinematics formulas for example)...Overall a good book.

Great reference for the latest pythonic tools available to the roboticist. I wanted to use python for my projects and this handy book is a great introduction for robot software.

The book arrived in good condition

Not a clear progression from basic concepts to advanced concepts. Seems all over the place.