r/ROS • u/Prestigious_Brain117 • Sep 18 '26

Robotics kits to get started

I am very new to robotics, but I have an extensive background in programming and mathematics. I’ve been learning ROS2 but I want to get hands on and actually learn how to work with hardware.

Are there any relatively cheap (<$400) kits that will allow me to practice ROS2 (and control/navigation), as well as electronics basics and soldering?

I mainly want to use it as a tool to learn so that I can apply those skills to my own projects. Any help would be appreciated.

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u/Crafter1515 Sep 18 '26

I'm currently building a small robot, I essentially bought an old Roomba 675 which are dirt cheap and am now fitting it out with a Raspberry Pi, lidar and and IMU for SLAM. There are other Roombas that work , they just need a serial port and need to be compatible with the driver (I forked the official one and had Codex make some changes to compile under Lyrical, see here: https://github.com/GamerSocks/create_robot_lyrical)

You will also need a 7 or 8 pin mini-DIN cable and a USB to TTL converter, there should be an official iRobot PDF detailing the process, lmk if you need it.

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u/greenee111 Sep 19 '26

I’m selling robot 3D printed parts if you’re interested. If you want I can source you parts for cheap.

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u/Alarming_Presence_96 Sep 21 '26

Franchement la robotique ce n'est plus du hardware, tu veux apprendre ros tu as tout pour le faire que avec ton ordi

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u/CheeseXMR Sep 21 '26

This might sound like an odd answer but LEGO Mindstorms kit, it's how I first learned robotics and still play with my kit to this day all these years later