Suggestions for further skills – 3D printing, soldering, PCB, and CNC
As you build more robots, you will want to create more elaborate or customized systems.
To build a competition-grade robot, you will need more hardware building skills.
Design skills
We've used block diagrams and simple drawings throughout this book. However, to become more serious about robot building, you'll want to design parts or check that bought parts will integrate with your robot. You will want to create cases, chassis, sensor mounts, brackets, wheel types, and any number of parts, for which Computer-Aided Design (CAD) is key.
2D design for illustration and diagrams
For 2D design and illustration, I recommend Inkscape (https://inkscape.org/). Inkscape is more artistic than CAD-oriented, but it is handy if you wish to make logos and other designs. It is quite complicated, so I recommend a book such as Inkscape Beginner's Guide, Bethany Hiitola, Packt Publishing, to get...
