Lessons in Making Laser Shooting Robots

Explore the journey of building laser-shooting robots for the DEFCONBOTS challenge in this 21-minute Hackaday Superconference talk. Delve into Alvaro Prieto's experiences, from simple beginnings to advanced creations, as he shares valuable lessons learned along the way. Discover practical tips for quick robot construction, including making test cuts on paper before final materials, supergluing pulley belts, and the importance of limit switches. Learn about the challenges of mounting commercial webcams, precision optics, and using friction drive. Gain insights on working with materials like OpenBeam and handling unexpected issues during the building process. Get inspired to tackle your own robotics projects and navigate potential obstacles, from TSA encounters to last-minute complications.

Intro
LESSONS IN MAKING LASER SHOOTING ROBOTS
WHY LASER SHOOTING ROBOTS?
LESSON MAKE TEST CUTS ON PAPER/CARDBOARD BEFORE TRYING TO CUT YOUR FINAL MATERIAL
LESSON YOU CAN SUPERGLUE PULLEY BELTS! (AND THEY MOSTLY STAY TOGETHER...)
LESSON LASER CUTTING IS FUN!
LESSON COMMERCIAL WEBCAMS AREN'T WELL SUITED FOR STABLE MOUNTING. THE BEST YOU GET IS A TRIPOD SCREW MOUNT
LESSON USE LIMIT SWITCHES!!!
LESSON SUPERGLUE AND EPOXY ARE YOUR FRIEND (PARTS DONT ALWAYS FIT AS EXPECTED...)
TOLERANCES ARE IMPORTANT WHEN USING FRICTION DRIVE...
LESSON PRECISION MOUNTING OPTICS IS HARD
LESSON OPENBEAM IS AWESOME!
LESSON THE TSA DOESN'T ALWAYS CARE IF YOU HAVE LASER SHOOTING ROBOTS IN YOUR LUGGAGE
LESSON SOMETHING WILL USUALLY GO WRONG