Looking at what's inside a robot

We can start by looking at a robot as a physical system. In Figure 2.1, we can see a simple hobby robot:

Figure 2.1 – An assembled hobby robot

Figure 2.2 shows it in its disassembled form:

Figure 2.2 – A hobby robot's components laid out

The component groups in Figure 2.2 include nine types of components:

1. The chassis or body forms the main structure of the robot; other parts are attached here.
2. A castor wheel balances this robot.
3. Two drive wheels. Other robots may use more wheels or legs here.
4. Motors are essential for the robot to move.
5. A motor controller bridges between a controller and connected motors.
6. A controller, here a Raspberry Pi, runs instructions, takes information from the sensors, and processes this information to drive outputs, such as motors, through the motor controller.
7. All robots must have power, usually one or more...