6 easy robotics projects for beginners to kickstart your journey | Viam

6 easy robotics projects for beginners to kickstart your journey

The possibilities are endless for ways robots can improve our world—and your life! If you’re excited to build your own robot but feel daunted by getting started, we’ve got you.

Here are six beginner-friendly projects handpicked by our team that you can build right at home:

  1. Plant watering robot with a Raspberry Pi
  2. Use object detection to turn your lights on
  3. Create a mouse mover using a single servo component
  4. Foam dart launcher robot
  5. Build a person detection security robot for your desk
  6. Integrate Viam with ChatGPT to create an AI companion robot

These projects cater to various interests, ranging from simple to a bit more complex, but each one is designed to be accessible and enjoyable for those just getting started in robotics.

1. Plant watering robot with a Raspberry Pi

Ever forget to water your plants? Not anymore! This simple robot lets you keep your plants happy and healthy from anywhere in the world.

Project summary

Difficulty level: Very easy
Viam components & services:

Shopping list:

Steps:

  1. Wire the physical components to the Raspberry Pi and battery.
  2. Create a new robot instance in the Viam platform and connect it to your hardware with viam-server.
  3. Set up the moisture sensor as a custom resource.
  4. Visually configure and test your motor and sensor components in the Viam app.
  5. Copy and test the controlling code, modify it as desired.
  6. Go on vacation. Your plant will stay watered.

See the full tutorial for this plant watering robot

Tips & insights from the creator

Sierra Guequierre, Developer Advocate, shares more about her experience building this robot:

What was your inspiration for this project?
A lot of people find houseplants give them joy but sometimes forget to water them. This is a really simple robot that solves that problem and frees you up a little time in your day.

What are some challenges you faced or interesting things you learned?
I was new to working with hardware and Viam, so I learned how to wire the hardware to connect the different components together. Figuring out the pin positions was a bit hard.

Do you have any tips for robotics beginners who want to build this robot?
You can adjust the amount of water to give your plants based on the moisture readings you get from the sensor component.

2. Use object detection to turn your lights on

This handy little robot uses your computer’s built-in webcam to detect the presence of a person and turn on a lamp when you sit down at your desk.

Project summary

Difficulty level: Very easy
Viam components & services:

Shopping list:

Instructions:

  1. Install viam-server and connect it to your robot.
  2. Configure the camera component.
  3. Set up the smart light bulb or smart plug.
  4. Write Python code to control your object detection.
  5. Test your robot by seeing if the bulb lights up when you're present!

See the full tutorial for this object detection light bulb robot

Tips & insights from the creator

Hazal Mestci, Developer Advocate, shares more about her experience building this robot:

What was your inspiration for this project?
I initially wanted to create a book light that automatically activated when I was reading.

What are some challenges you faced or interesting things you learned?
The object detection sometimes identified the book as a box or paper, so I changed my approach to activate the light when I'm in front of the camera.

What are some ideas for extending this robot or applying concepts to other robots?
You can extend this robot by incorporating a time tracker of some sort.

3. Create a mouse mover using a single servo component

This project lets you build a mouse mover using Viam, a Raspberry Pi, a servo, and an optical mouse.

Project summary

Difficulty level: Very easy
Viam components & services:

Shopping list:

Instructions:

  1. Install viam-server on the Raspberry Pi.
  2. Connect the servo to the Raspberry Pi.
  3. Configure the board and servo as components in the Viam app.
  4. Assemble the mouse mover.
  5. Control the robot with the code.

See the full tutorial for this mouse mover robot

4. Foam dart launcher robot

This project is great for building robots and having fun! Don’t forget to be careful and have fun!

Project summary

Difficulty level: Easy
Viam components & services:

Shopping list:

Instructions:

  1. Assemble your hardware.
  2. Configure the robot's components with the Viam app.
  3. See how to toggle GPIO pin states.
  4. Control the robot.

See the full tutorial for this foam dart launcher robot

5. Build a person detection security robot for your desk

This robot detects the person and sends you a text alert with their photo.

Project summary

Difficulty level: Easy
Viam components & services:

Shopping list:

Instructions:

  1. Create a new robot instance in the Viam app and connect it with viam-server.
  2. Configure and test your webcam camera component.
  3. Configure and test the Vision Service.
  4. Indicate whom to send a message to using yagmail.
  5. Copy and test the controlling code.

See the full tutorial for this person detection security robot

6. Integrate Viam with ChatGPT to create an AI companion robot

Inspired by popular fictional robots, this project shows you how to integrate ChatGPT with Viam to create an interactive companion robot.

Project summary

Difficulty level: Medium
Viam components & services:

Shopping list:

Instructions:

  1. Set up your rover by connecting the Raspberry Pi and installing viam-server.
  2. Set up the software.
  3. Using the Viam app, configure the servo component.
  4. Bring your companion robot to life!

See the full tutorial for this companion robot

Get started on building your own robot

We hope one of these beginner-friendly robotics projects sparked your interest and helps you enter the fascinating world of robots.