The Best Arduino Robot for Beginners The SMARS robot is a simple, 3D printed robot that can be controlled with an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or any other microcontroller. It's a great way to learn about robotics, electronics, and programming. 23 March 2025 4 minute read By Kevin McAleer Share this article on Table of Contents The Best Arduino Robot for BeginnersWhat is the SMARS Robot?SMARSGamePad ControllerGamePad ControllerWhy is the SMARS Robot the Best Arduino Robot for Beginners?Personal Journey with SMARS and RoboticsMy First PrinterMy First RobotUsing the GamePad with SMARS Tags: Arduino robotics micropython Difficulty: beginner Category: robots micropython pico arduino Code: https://www.github.com/kevinmcaleer/smars_gamepad Home Blog The best arduino robot for beginners The Best Arduino Robot for Beginners The SMARS robot is a simple, 3D printed robot that can be controlled with an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or any other microcontroller. It's a great way to learn about robotics, electronics, and programming. 23 March 2025 | 4 minute read | By Kevin McAleer | Share this article on Video For every project I create, I often make a corresponding YouTube video. Sometimes, there might be more than one video for a single project. You can find these videos in this section. Explore more through this this dedicated video. The Best Arduino Robot for Beginners My first 3D printed robot was the SMARS robot. This robot took me from blinking LEDs on an Arduino to building advanced AI robots, computer vision, ROS robots and more. It’s a great robot for beginners and advanced users alike. What is the SMARS Robot? The SMARS robot is a simple, 3D printed robot that can be controlled with an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or any other microcontroller. It’s a great way to learn about robotics, electronics, and programming. You can learn all about SMARS here: SMARS Learn Learn how to build SMARS robots, starting with the 3D Printing the model, Designing SMARS and Programming SMARS GamePad Controller I built a GamePad controller for controlling robots using a Raspberry Pi Pico WH. This allows you to control the robot and customise the controls to suit your needs. To buy the GamePad controller, visit the store here: There are also instructions on how to build the GamePad controller here: GamePad Controller Why is the SMARS Robot the Best Arduino Robot for Beginners? SMARS is the best Arduino robot for the following reasons: It’s easy to build: The SMARS robot is 3D printed, so you can build it yourself. This is a great way to learn about robotics and electronics. It’s affordable: The SMARS robot is affordable to build. You can 3D print the parts yourself, and the electronics are cheap and easy to find. It’s easy to program: The SMARS robot can be controlled with an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or any other microcontroller. This makes it easy to program and customise. It’s versatile: The SMARS robot can be customised in many ways. You can add sensors, cameras, and other components to make it do whatever you want. It’s fun: The SMARS robot is a fun project to work on. You can learn a lot about robotics, electronics, and programming while building and customising your robot. Personal Journey with SMARS and Robotics I started building robots once I had run through the usual introductory projects with Arduino. In December 2017 I bought a cheap (< $100) 3D Printer, an inet A8 clone, and started printing parts for the SMARS robot. My first robot was quite basic and used a cheap kit from eBay. My First Printer My First Robot I chose SMARS because there wasn’t many other options available at the time, and SMARS is quite unique in thats its designed to be built without needing any screws; it just slots together. SMARS has lots of mods available, and I’ve built a most of them. I’ve also designed a few of my own mods. I loved this robot design so much I created the SMARS Fan Website to share my mods and designs with others, as well as it being a place to bring the designs, code and how-tos together in once place. Using the GamePad with SMARS In this project I use a GamePad controller to control the SMARS robot. The GamePad controller is built using a Raspberry Pi Pico WH, and it communicates with the robot using a Bluetooth (BLE) connection. The gamePad is running the standard test_gamepad.py code from the GamePad Code repository https://www.github.com/kevinmcaleer/gamepad. The code for SMARS can be found in the link below: Code View Code Repository on GitHub - https://www.github.com/kevinmcaleer/smars_gamepad Liked this article? You might like these too. Arduino Plug and Make Kit Review Arduino Alvik Arduino launched a new robot aimed at beginners but certainly not limited to that audience. It’s their first robot that’s designed for MicroPytjon first. There is even a new Arduino Lab for MicroPython IDE so you can get writing code faster. Python and Arduino In the world of robotics and DIY electronics, Arduino and Python are two powerful tools that can be combined to create amazing projects. SMARS SMARS is the Screwless, Modular, Assemble-able, Robotic System. SMARS Lab upgrade with PyCharm I've started to try PyCharm for my Python development, and I have to say I'm impressed. I've been using Visual Studio Code for a while now, and I've been happy with it, but I wanted to try something new. PicoSMARS 2 A Raspberry Pi Pico W Powered SMARS Robot
The Best Arduino Robot for Beginners The SMARS robot is a simple, 3D printed robot that can be controlled with an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or any other microcontroller. It's a great way to learn about robotics, electronics, and programming. 23 March 2025 4 minute read By Kevin McAleer Share this article on Table of Contents The Best Arduino Robot for BeginnersWhat is the SMARS Robot?SMARSGamePad ControllerGamePad ControllerWhy is the SMARS Robot the Best Arduino Robot for Beginners?Personal Journey with SMARS and RoboticsMy First PrinterMy First RobotUsing the GamePad with SMARS Tags: Arduino robotics micropython Difficulty: beginner Category: robots micropython pico arduino Code: https://www.github.com/kevinmcaleer/smars_gamepad
The Best Arduino Robot for Beginners My first 3D printed robot was the SMARS robot. This robot took me from blinking LEDs on an Arduino to building advanced AI robots, computer vision, ROS robots and more. It’s a great robot for beginners and advanced users alike. What is the SMARS Robot? The SMARS robot is a simple, 3D printed robot that can be controlled with an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or any other microcontroller. It’s a great way to learn about robotics, electronics, and programming. You can learn all about SMARS here: SMARS Learn Learn how to build SMARS robots, starting with the 3D Printing the model, Designing SMARS and Programming SMARS GamePad Controller I built a GamePad controller for controlling robots using a Raspberry Pi Pico WH. This allows you to control the robot and customise the controls to suit your needs. To buy the GamePad controller, visit the store here: There are also instructions on how to build the GamePad controller here: GamePad Controller Why is the SMARS Robot the Best Arduino Robot for Beginners? SMARS is the best Arduino robot for the following reasons: It’s easy to build: The SMARS robot is 3D printed, so you can build it yourself. This is a great way to learn about robotics and electronics. It’s affordable: The SMARS robot is affordable to build. You can 3D print the parts yourself, and the electronics are cheap and easy to find. It’s easy to program: The SMARS robot can be controlled with an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or any other microcontroller. This makes it easy to program and customise. It’s versatile: The SMARS robot can be customised in many ways. You can add sensors, cameras, and other components to make it do whatever you want. It’s fun: The SMARS robot is a fun project to work on. You can learn a lot about robotics, electronics, and programming while building and customising your robot. Personal Journey with SMARS and Robotics I started building robots once I had run through the usual introductory projects with Arduino. In December 2017 I bought a cheap (< $100) 3D Printer, an inet A8 clone, and started printing parts for the SMARS robot. My first robot was quite basic and used a cheap kit from eBay. My First Printer My First Robot I chose SMARS because there wasn’t many other options available at the time, and SMARS is quite unique in thats its designed to be built without needing any screws; it just slots together. SMARS has lots of mods available, and I’ve built a most of them. I’ve also designed a few of my own mods. I loved this robot design so much I created the SMARS Fan Website to share my mods and designs with others, as well as it being a place to bring the designs, code and how-tos together in once place. Using the GamePad with SMARS In this project I use a GamePad controller to control the SMARS robot. The GamePad controller is built using a Raspberry Pi Pico WH, and it communicates with the robot using a Bluetooth (BLE) connection. The gamePad is running the standard test_gamepad.py code from the GamePad Code repository https://www.github.com/kevinmcaleer/gamepad. The code for SMARS can be found in the link below: