Last updated on March 28th, 2024 at 01:23 pm
The study of designing and developing robots is known as robotics. Robotics is our future. We are expecting robots to be used in minimal tasks shortly. If robotics interests you or you want to introduce your child to the world of robots then you should go through our recommended list of best books on robotics.
List of 11 Best Books on Robotics
Best for Kids – Awesome Robotics Projects for Kids
Awesome Robotics Projects for Kids by Bob Katovich is a bestseller on Robotics for kids. This book is ideally suited for kids 6 to 10 years of age. The book contains 20 original STEAM robots and circuits for children to design and build. Scribbler Bot, Solar Dancing Robot, Jumping Frog Robot, Gravity-Defying Robot, and Sweeping Robot are some of the most liked robots from this book.
Pros:
- The book contains amazing illustrations suitable for kids to observe and follow.
Cons:
- Gathering the supplies for the projects can be a huge task.
- Kids cannot do these projects on their own, they will need adult help and supervision throughout the project.
Best for Beginners – Robot Building for Beginners
Robot Building for Beginners is the best book on robotics for beginners. The author explains hardware like resistors, transistors, etc. with minute details. You will learn their functioning and application. Throughout the book, you will be focusing on building a single robot.
The robot is autonomous and battery-operated. Readers find this to be the perfect book to kickstart a robotics journey.
Pros:
- The book is filled with personal experiences and anecdotes from several people about robotics.
Cons:
- The size of the text is 8 pts which makes the text tedious to read, even with glasses.
Best Overall – Robotics, Vision, and Control
The book will not only teach you robotics but also computer vision along with their control. The author integrates the two quite smartly using the fundamental algorithms in MATLAB. Inertial navigation, differential drive robots, arm-robot kinematics, and dynamics, photometric visual servoing, series-elastic actuators, and operational-space control are just a few of the many advanced topics covered in this book.
In the end, you will learn to control your robots smartly with the help of smart vision.
Pros:
- The book contains over 1000 MATLAB and Simulink examples and over 400 figures.
Cons:
- In some instances, the author has taken for granted that you already know certain concepts and hence has decided to not elaborate on them.
Encyclopedia of Robotics – Springer Handbook of Robotics
It is ideal to call the Springer Handbook of Robotics by Bruno Siciliano and Oussama Khatib an encyclopedia of robotics. It touches on most of the vital topics in robotics. It gives enough stress to mathematics and programming behind robotics.
This book can be used by beginners as well as experienced individuals. The book is divided into 7 parts which include a total of 80 chapters. Each part is interconnected with the other based on the subject matter.
Pros:
- The book has three layered organizations – foundation, methodology and technology, and advanced applications.
Cons:
- Both the Kindle and Hardcover versions are very very expensive.
- The Paperback version is not available.
Best for Mechanics of Robot Control – Modern Robotics: Mechanics, Planning, and Control
If you want to learn the mechanics of robot control then this is the book to go for. Along with mechanics, you will also learn the planning and control of robots. The book acts as a textbook for freshman physics students. The series of video lectures provided along with the book serves as an excellent extra learning source.
Pros:
- The end of the-chapter exercises in this book are a great way of self-assessment.
Cons:
- The Paperback version of this book is not available. You can only get either a Kindle version or a Hardcover version.
Robotics using Raspberry Pi & Python – Learn Robotics Programming
This book is widely known for its context on building and controlling AI-enabled autonomous robots using Raspberry Pi and Python. This book is for people having at least a little experience in programming.
There is a dedicated chapter on Raspberry Pi that introduces you to the board and how to connect devices using it. The book is easy to navigate as it takes you step-by-step through the process of building various robots.
Pros:
- The contents of the book are completely organized and only take you stepwise towards your final working robot.
Cons:
- There is no specific section on what hardware or tools you will need to get through the book. This causes hindrance when you have started a project and you realize you don’t have the next piece of hardware required.
Best Practical guide on Robotics – Practical Robotics in C++
With the help of this book, you can build and program real autonomous robots by using the Raspberry Pi. It is the perfect practical guide for robotics. The book has advanced robotics concepts like autonomous motion, mapping, and path-planning algorithms. You will learn to use Lidar Data for building a map for your robot. No other book explains navigation in robotics better than this one.
Pros:
- The book is very up-to-date and you can easily apply the material in this book to other programming languages such as Python.
Cons:
- Several readers found that the author had not given a sufficient explanation of certain concepts.
Best for Robotics Software Development – Probabilistic Robotics
Your search for a book on software development in robotics and scientific research ends here. This is the book for you. It is ideal for applied statisticians and engineers who deal with real-world sensor data.
The author gives a ton of importance to the mathematical aspect of robotics. Most of the chapters are filled with detailed mathematical derivations.
Pros:
- The author has written most of the text from the point of view of a practitioner.
Cons:
- The book has very few real-world examples which are disliked by some readers.
Best Book for Advance Robot Projects – Intermediate Robot Building
This book by David Cook is an advanced-level book that focuses on robot projects. The author takes you through machines, microcontrollers, mechanics, and electronics of robot building. It is a do-along book.
So, at the end of the book, you will have a well-functioning, explorer-style robot. The robot uses an infrared sensor to detect obstacles in its path.
Pros:
- The book is a step-by-step guide for robot building that is easy to explore and navigate.
Cons:
- The book picks off where its prequel ends. So if you have not read its prequel then you might find some unrelated jargon in the book.
Best for Building Autonomous Robots – Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots
Do you want to build autonomous robots? Then you should consider buying Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots. The book covers the fundamentals of mobile robotics, spanning the mechanical, motor, sensory, perceptual, and cognitive layers that the field comprises.
It uses concepts from kinematics, control theory, signal analysis, computer vision, information theory, artificial intelligence, and probability theory to build a robust and functioning robot.
Pros:
- The book moves from low-level concepts to high-level concepts so that the readers have a clear understanding.
Cons:
- The book is not suitable for beginners but only for college-level students.
Best Visual Guide – Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future
You just found an ideal book on robotics for kids aged 6 to 11 years. We believe this book serves as an excellent visual guide. The illustrated pictures make following the instructions a cup of tea. The book also explains concepts like development, housing, actuators, effectors, sensors, controllers, etc in a very easy-to-understand language.
Pros:
- The book has 20 projects that you can build with your child.
Cons:
- The book is completely monochrome which makes reading boring for children.
Best Books On Robotics – Conclusion
Robotics is an up-and-coming field. Being a beginner can be daunting but worry not we suggest you start with Robot Building for Beginners by David Cook which, according to us, is the best book for beginners.
But if you have a little bit of experience then you should definitely go with Robotics, Vision, and Control by Peter Corke. We assure you will learn a lot more than you already know.
