Python Robotics Projects for School: Combine Programming and Robotics

Robotics is an exciting and interdisciplinary field that combines engineering, science and technology. It involves designing, building and programming robots that can perform various tasks and applications. Robotics is also a great way to learn coding skills, especially with Python, one of the most popular and versatile programming languages in the world.

Python is a high-level, interpreted and general-purpose language that has a simple and readable syntax. It supports multiple paradigms such as object-oriented, procedural and functional programming. It also has a rich set of libraries and modules that can help you with robotics, such as roboticstoolbox-python, which provides tools for representing the kinematics and dynamics of serial-link manipulators, or Student Robotics, which offers a framework for programming robots in Python.

In this blog post, we will explore some of the best Python robotics projects for school that you can try out to combine programming and robotics. These projects will help you to learn the basics of robotics, such as sensors, actuators, control systems, motion planning, localization and mapping. They will also challenge you to apply your Python skills to solve real-world problems and create innovative solutions.

Project 1: Line Follower Robot

A line follower robot is a simple yet fun project that involves making a robot that can follow a predefined path on the floor. The robot uses sensors to detect the contrast between the line and the background and adjusts its speed and direction accordingly.

To make a line follower robot, you will need:

• A robot chassis with wheels and motors
• An Arduino board and a motor driver shield
• A battery pack and wires
• A line sensor module or an array of infrared sensors
• A laptop with Python and Arduino IDE installed

The steps are:

1. Assemble the robot chassis with the wheels and motors.
2. Connect the Arduino board to the motor driver shield and the battery pack.
3. Connect the line sensor module or the infrared sensors to the Arduino board using wires.
4. Write a Python script that communicates with the Arduino board via serial port and sends commands to control the motors based on the sensor readings.
5. Write an Arduino sketch that reads the sensor values and sends them to the Python script via serial port.
6. Upload the Arduino sketch to the board using the Arduino IDE.
7. Run the Python script on your laptop and place the robot on the line path.
8. Watch your robot follow the line!

Project 2: Face Detection Robot

A face detection robot is a project that involves making a robot that can detect and track human faces using a camera and computer vision techniques. The robot uses a servo motor to rotate the camera and follows the movement of the face.

To make a face detection robot, you will need:

• A robot chassis with wheels and motors
• A Raspberry Pi board and a motor driver hat
• A battery pack and wires
• A camera module or a USB webcam
• A servo motor and a bracket
• A laptop with Python and OpenCV installed

The steps are:

1. Assemble the robot chassis with the wheels and motors.
2. Connect the Raspberry Pi board to the motor driver hat and the battery pack.
3. Connect the camera module or the USB webcam to the Raspberry Pi board using wires or USB port.
4. Connect the servo motor to the Raspberry Pi board using wires and mount it on the bracket.
5. Attach the camera to the servo motor using screws or tape.
6. Write a Python script that uses OpenCV to capture images from the camera and detect faces using Haar cascade classifiers.
7. Write a Python script that communicates with the Raspberry Pi board via SSH or VNC and sends commands to control the motors and servo based on the face detection results.
8. Run both Python scripts on your laptop and place the robot in front of a person’s face.
9. Watch your robot detect and track faces!

Project 3: Maze Solver Robot

A maze solver robot is a project that involves making a robot that can navigate through a maze using sensors and algorithms. The robot uses ultrasonic sensors to measure distances from walls and obstacles and applies logic to find its way out.

To make a maze solver robot, you will need:

• A robot chassis with wheels and motors
• A micro:bit board and a motor driver board
• A battery pack and wires
• Two ultrasonic sensors and two brackets
• A laptop with Python and Mu editor installed

The steps are:

1. Assemble the robot chassis with the wheels and motors.
2. Connect the micro:bit board to the motor driver board and the battery pack.
3. Connect the ultrasonic sensors to the micro:bit board using wires and mount them on the brackets.
4. Attach the brackets to the front and side of the robot chassis using screws or tape.
5. Write a Python script that uses the micro:bit library to read the ultrasonic sensor values and control the motors using PWM signals.
6. Write a Python script that implements a maze solving algorithm, such as the left-hand rule or the right-hand rule, and sends commands to the micro:bit board via radio or serial port.
7. Upload the Python script to the micro:bit board using the Mu editor.
8. Run the Python script on your laptop and place the robot in a maze.
9. Watch your robot solve the maze!

Project 4: Hexapod Robot

A hexapod robot is a project that involves making a robot that can walk on six legs using servos and inverse kinematics. The robot uses a joystick or a keyboard to control its direction and speed.

To make a hexapod robot, you will need:

• A hexapod robot kit with servos and brackets
• A Raspberry Pi board and a servo driver hat
• A battery pack and wires
• A joystick or a keyboard
• A laptop with Python and pygame installed

The steps are:

1. Assemble the hexapod robot kit with the servos and brackets according to the instructions.
2. Connect the Raspberry Pi board to the servo driver hat and the battery pack.
3. Connect the servos to the servo driver hat using wires.
4. Connect the joystick or the keyboard to the Raspberry Pi board using USB port or Bluetooth.
5. Write a Python script that uses pygame to read inputs from the joystick or the keyboard and map them to direction and speed values.
6. Write a Python script that uses inverse kinematics to calculate the angles of each servo for each leg based on the direction and speed values.
7. Write a Python script that communicates with the Raspberry Pi board via SSH or VNC and sends commands to control the servos using PWM signals.
8. Run all Python scripts on your laptop and hold or place the hexapod robot on a flat surface.
9. Watch your robot walk!

Project 5: Gesture Controlled Robot

A gesture controlled robot is a project that involves making a robot that can be controlled by hand gestures using an accelerometer and machine learning. The robot uses a neural network to classify gestures and perform actions accordingly.

To make a gesture controlled robot, you will need:

• A robot chassis with wheels and motors
• An Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense board and a motor driver shield
• A battery pack and wires
• A laptop with Python, TensorFlow Lite, Arduino IDE and Edge Impulse installed

The steps are:

1. Assemble the robot chassis with the wheels and motors.
2. Connect the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense board to the motor driver shield and the battery pack.
3. Use Edge Impulse to create a machine learning model that can recognize gestures such as left, right, forward, backward, stop, etc., using data from the accelerometer on the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense board.
4. Export the model as an Arduino library and include it in your Arduino sketch.
5. Write an Arduino sketch that reads data from the accelerometer, feeds it to the model, gets predictions, and controls the motors based on them.
6. Upload the Arduino sketch to the board using the Arduino IDE.
7. Hold or wear the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense board on your hand and make gestures in front of it.
8. Watch your robot respond to your gestures!

Conclusion

In this blog post, we have seen some of the best Python robotics projects for school that you can try out to combine programming and robotics. These projects will help you to learn new skills, have fun, and create amazing robots. Please also look at our Ai School project here.

We hope you enjoyed this blog post and found it useful. If you have any questions or feedback, please let us know in the comments below.

Happy coding! 🐍🤖