Resources
The textbooks, GitHub repos, YouTube channels, and tools I keep recommending. Organized by goal so you can skip straight to the path you care about — build a UAV, design a PCB, learn ROS, master computer vision, pick the right textbooks. Save it, print it, share it.
Build a UAV or Drone
#uav-dronesFrom your first FPV quad to autonomous outdoor flight.
Start with the simulator, then build a small frame, then layer autonomy on top. Skipping simulation always cost me money later.
The open-source flight stack used by hobbyists, researchers, and several commercial drone makers.
Start here. The SITL simulator + Gazebo combo lets you crash in software for free.
The most patient teacher on the internet for FPV quadcopter tuning, soldering, and Betaflight.
If you only watch one channel before building, watch this one.
The other big open-source autopilot. Covers fixed-wing, multirotor, ground rovers, and boats.
Excellent FPV builds, walkthroughs, and reviews; great for newer pilots picking parts.
Step-by-step path to a software-in-the-loop drone you can fly without a hardware risk.
The textbook on UAV theory and practice. Companion code in MATLAB and Python; the chapters on guidance and path-following are gold.
Build a Robot Arm
#robot-armKinematics, trajectory planning, and the actual mechanical truth of getting an end-effector where you want it.
The math is solvable; the mechanical play is not. Pick rigid joints and build forward.
Free, rigorous textbook with paired Coursera courses on rigid-body motion, kinematics, dynamics, and control of robot arms.
The single best resource I know for understanding what your IK solver is actually doing.
A genuinely-buildable open-source 6-DOF arm with full BOM, CAD, and firmware released by Annin Robotics.
Open-source motion planning framework for ROS 2 robot arms; handles IK, collision avoidance, and trajectory execution.
Walks you through full mechatronic builds week by week; great intuition for stiffness and motor sizing.
Open-source Python library for kinematics, dynamics, and trajectory generation — used in his textbook and MOOC.
Design Your First PCB
#first-pcbFrom schematic to a manufactured 2- or 4-layer board you can solder.
KiCad is free, professional, and what I use in classes. Buy good tweezers before the second board.
Free, open-source PCB design suite. The only schematic tool you need to start.
Tutorials on KiCad, Altium, signal integrity, audio DSP, and STM32 from a working hardware engineer.
If a video on Phil's Lab covers your problem, watch it before searching for anything else.
Deep-dive PCB design and signal-integrity content. The Altium tutorials are worth the price of a coffee.
Read this before your first tape-out. Knowing the minimum trace/space and via sizes saves a re-spin.
Official IDE + HAL for STM32 devices. Pair with the F4/G4/H7 reference manuals when you need real answers.
The reference text for grounding, shielding, and EMC. Read once, refer to forever.
Learn ROS / Robotics Stack
#rosGet a robot publishing topics, planning paths, and reacting to sensor data within a week.
Official ROS 2 (Jazzy) documentation. Start with the beginner tutorials; do not skip the lifecycle nodes section.
Josh Newans' end-to-end mobile-robot series. He builds a small differential-drive robot and teaches everything in between.
The clearest practical ROS 2 series available, free.
ML & Computer Vision for Robotics
#ml-cvDetect, track, classify, and reason about what your robot sees.
Most "AI for robotics" failures are bad data, not bad models. Build your dataset pipeline first.
Official tutorials from "what is a tensor" to vision transformers. Pair with fast.ai for intuition.
Fast track to object detection on edge devices. Pretrained weights cover most common classes.
The canonical reference for camera geometry, SfM, and SLAM math.
Control Systems & Embedded
#controls-embeddedPID, state space, real-time loops, and getting them to run on a microcontroller that boots in under a second.
The clearest explanations of classical and modern control on YouTube; PID, frequency response, state space.
University-of-Washington level lectures on linear algebra, dynamics, control, and data-driven engineering.
Free textbook for feedback control with rigorous examples across robotics, biology, and circuits.
Interviews with embedded engineers; great for hearing how real teams ship firmware.
Free PDF on building real-time-OS based firmware. Worth reading even if you only ever use a superloop.
CAD & Mechanical Fabrication
#cad-fabSketch it, mate it, simulate it, print it, machine it, weld it.
Free training paths covering part modeling, assemblies, surfacing, and sheet metal.
Free for non-commercial use; great if you do not have a SolidWorks license.
The least-magical, most-rigorous documentation for FDM 3D printing. Even non-Prusa users benefit.
Specific, high-detail TIG and MIG welding instruction; great if you are picking up a torch the first time.
The reference your mechanical TA secretly keeps on their desk.
Math & Foundational Textbooks
#textbooksThe non-negotiables. Read in this order if you can.
Full video lectures by Gilbert Strang. Watch with the textbook.
Free PDF. Once you start solving real planning and control problems, this is the math you reach for.
The reference for Bayesian filtering, SLAM, and planning under uncertainty.
Tools I Actually Use
#toolsThe software I keep open every day.
PCB design.
Mechanical CAD.
Mechanical CAD with integrated CAM. Free for personal use.
Control modeling, trajectory generation, signal processing.
My slicer for FDM prints, even on non-Prusa machines.
Editor + AI pair. The combination has become indispensable.
Cross-platform build system for embedded targets. Saves hours over per-vendor toolchains.
Packet capture; essential when ROS networking misbehaves.
Channels & Communities Worth Following
#channelsThe signal feeds I actually look forward to.
Helpful for casual project sharing and beginner questions; better than its size suggests.
Curated robotics news and deep-dives with editorial standards.
Daily hardware project feed. Good for chasing rabbit holes and finding parts.
Dave Jones on electronics with no patience for snake oil; great test gear and PSU teardowns.
Where serious ROS questions get serious answers.
Pioneering Projects
Where the field is heading — humanoids, dexterous manipulation, in-orbit power. Worth knowing about even when they are far above student scope.
Tesla's humanoid platform — interesting mostly for the actuation, factory, and BOM choices.
Bipedal humanoid focused on commercial logistics workflows.
General-purpose humanoid with a hand-dexterity focus.
The benchmark for legged-robot dynamics and balance control.
In-orbit demonstration of wireless power beaming. The aerospace mechatronics dream.
Canadian launch and propulsion startup.