Field guide

What can you actually do with one of these things?

The fun starts after the unboxing. Here are six useful directions to take a programmable robot, from teaching an arm by demonstration to building a ROS navigation platform.

Before you start

Pick the project before the robot.

A walking robot, a robot arm and a wheeled ROS platform are very different hobbies wearing the same label. Start with the thing you want to build, then check the software and hardware it needs.

Six concrete starting points

Six useful places to start.

SO-ARM101

Teach a robot arm by demonstration

What you get: Leader/follower control: leader, follower; LeRobot integration: Yes.

Watch out for: You still need to teach or program the task. This is not a tiny butler that already knows where the mugs live.

ROBOTIS TurtleBot3

Build a ROS navigation platform

What you get: Navigation and mapping: SLAM, Navigation, Autonomous driving, Simulation; ROS targets: Humble, Jazzy.

Watch out for: Robot, SBC, sensors, firmware and ROS distribution all need to line up. 'Supports ROS 2' is only the start.

Arduino Alvik

Learn embedded sensing and movement

What you get: Example projects: line following, hand-distance following; languages: MicroPython, C++.

Watch out for: Check the project and language you care about before buying. Classroom friendliness is more than a spec sheet.

Petoi Bittle X

Program a small walking robot locally

What you get: Languages: Petoi Coding Blocks, Python, C++; base voice network required: No.

Watch out for: Local voice does not mean every optional AI or sensor extension works offline.

MicroDuck

Experiment with learned locomotion

What you get: Built-in trained moves: 7; onboard policy loop: 50 Hz.

Watch out for: Built-in moves are the starting point. Training your own behaviour is the more interesting, and more involved, part.

Reachy Mini

Build around a desktop robot SDK

What you get: SDK: v1.9.0; variants: Lite and Wireless.

Watch out for: Choose the project first, then check that its dependencies match your variant and SDK version.

Best beginner rule: choose one small win.

Get a robot to navigate one room, repeat one arm movement or respond to one local command. A small working project teaches you more than an afternoon spent collecting impressive demo videos.

Related field guide

When the capability depends on a version matrix.

SDK, firmware and ROS support can depend on exact versions. Check the compatibility guide before updating everything on a Friday night and discovering that your robot has developed strong opinions about dependency management.

Read the software compatibility field guide →