John Vial
@johnvial.bsky.social
Small Robotics Tips For Beginners | get started at http://startcreatingrobots.com | PhD In Robotics
Just a quick reminder that you can search for files on linux command line with the find command.
I.e.
find /opt/ros/jazzy -name "pinhole_camera_model.hpp"
If you're looking for a lost header file by name.
I.e.
find /opt/ros/jazzy -name "pinhole_camera_model.hpp"
If you're looking for a lost header file by name.
May 23, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Just a quick reminder that you can search for files on linux command line with the find command.
I.e.
find /opt/ros/jazzy -name "pinhole_camera_model.hpp"
If you're looking for a lost header file by name.
I.e.
find /opt/ros/jazzy -name "pinhole_camera_model.hpp"
If you're looking for a lost header file by name.
If you always get things done *on time* does that mean you will get *more* things done?
For robots (and people) the answer is no.
For robots (and people) the answer is no.
May 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM
If you always get things done *on time* does that mean you will get *more* things done?
For robots (and people) the answer is no.
For robots (and people) the answer is no.
Docker isn't slow, at least on Linux.
Don't believe me, well here is proof:
Go and run this benchmark test and come back:
Don't believe me, well here is proof:
Go and run this benchmark test and come back:
May 20, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Docker isn't slow, at least on Linux.
Don't believe me, well here is proof:
Go and run this benchmark test and come back:
Don't believe me, well here is proof:
Go and run this benchmark test and come back:
What's the perfect job for an AI coding agent? Especially when robotics is involved?
The job needs to be easily verifiable that it's finished, and an ultimately boring task for a developer.
The job needs to be easily verifiable that it's finished, and an ultimately boring task for a developer.
May 6, 2025 at 9:22 AM
What's the perfect job for an AI coding agent? Especially when robotics is involved?
The job needs to be easily verifiable that it's finished, and an ultimately boring task for a developer.
The job needs to be easily verifiable that it's finished, and an ultimately boring task for a developer.
In the midst of all your crazy deadlines and angst about change, just remember:
This is the best, most exciting time to be alive yet. Why?
This is the best, most exciting time to be alive yet. Why?
May 5, 2025 at 1:05 AM
In the midst of all your crazy deadlines and angst about change, just remember:
This is the best, most exciting time to be alive yet. Why?
This is the best, most exciting time to be alive yet. Why?
Imagine a fully autonomous, remote operation. Where you could put on a VR headset and operate a maintenance robot from 1000's of kms away.
April 29, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Imagine a fully autonomous, remote operation. Where you could put on a VR headset and operate a maintenance robot from 1000's of kms away.
So what is a kinematic plugin? And why did it cause me so much pain?
For humans the idea of hand-eye coordination is pretty straight forward, but what if you want a robot to be able to see something and then move its arm to the correct position?
For humans the idea of hand-eye coordination is pretty straight forward, but what if you want a robot to be able to see something and then move its arm to the correct position?
April 15, 2025 at 12:00 AM
So what is a kinematic plugin? And why did it cause me so much pain?
For humans the idea of hand-eye coordination is pretty straight forward, but what if you want a robot to be able to see something and then move its arm to the correct position?
For humans the idea of hand-eye coordination is pretty straight forward, but what if you want a robot to be able to see something and then move its arm to the correct position?
Neural networks feel like magic! But there is a dark side to it too.
I've been playing with the Nvidia Groot N1 manipulation model on my small robot arm.
I've been playing with the Nvidia Groot N1 manipulation model on my small robot arm.
April 14, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Neural networks feel like magic! But there is a dark side to it too.
I've been playing with the Nvidia Groot N1 manipulation model on my small robot arm.
I've been playing with the Nvidia Groot N1 manipulation model on my small robot arm.
Don't throw away old code.
More and more people are "vibe coding" with LLM's, and its great to see so many people enjoying development. But be careful just throwing away code and starting again.
More and more people are "vibe coding" with LLM's, and its great to see so many people enjoying development. But be careful just throwing away code and starting again.
April 12, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Don't throw away old code.
More and more people are "vibe coding" with LLM's, and its great to see so many people enjoying development. But be careful just throwing away code and starting again.
More and more people are "vibe coding" with LLM's, and its great to see so many people enjoying development. But be careful just throwing away code and starting again.
How can you protect your robot from cyber-security threats?
If you rolled your own OS, you'll be on your own in figuring out what your risks are and how to secure it.
If you rolled your own OS, you'll be on your own in figuring out what your risks are and how to secure it.
April 11, 2025 at 12:00 AM
How can you protect your robot from cyber-security threats?
If you rolled your own OS, you'll be on your own in figuring out what your risks are and how to secure it.
If you rolled your own OS, you'll be on your own in figuring out what your risks are and how to secure it.
On the 31st of May, 2025 the 1st version of the Robotics Operating System goes End Of Life.
Here are 3 things I wish I'd known about earlier that would have saved me time in my upgrade.
Here are 3 things I wish I'd known about earlier that would have saved me time in my upgrade.
April 7, 2025 at 3:18 AM
On the 31st of May, 2025 the 1st version of the Robotics Operating System goes End Of Life.
Here are 3 things I wish I'd known about earlier that would have saved me time in my upgrade.
Here are 3 things I wish I'd known about earlier that would have saved me time in my upgrade.
What is robotics?
3 quick examples of modern robotics and the first question I ask any aspiring roboticist.
3 quick examples of modern robotics and the first question I ask any aspiring roboticist.
March 28, 2025 at 2:11 AM
What is robotics?
3 quick examples of modern robotics and the first question I ask any aspiring roboticist.
3 quick examples of modern robotics and the first question I ask any aspiring roboticist.
Robotics seems daunting, but you don't need a PhD to do it anymore. Beginners just need this instead ...
It's not a physical robot, or a Bachelors or Masters degree.
It's not a physical robot, or a Bachelors or Masters degree.
March 27, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Robotics seems daunting, but you don't need a PhD to do it anymore. Beginners just need this instead ...
It's not a physical robot, or a Bachelors or Masters degree.
It's not a physical robot, or a Bachelors or Masters degree.
How You Can Bankroll The AI Revolution? With A Perspective From The Last Time This Sort Of Thing Happened
Nathan Kirchner recently posted on LinkedIn, wondering about what is with the focus on LLM's doing things in one go, and how anyone will actually make money from this anyway.
Nathan Kirchner recently posted on LinkedIn, wondering about what is with the focus on LLM's doing things in one go, and how anyone will actually make money from this anyway.
March 27, 2025 at 2:09 AM
How You Can Bankroll The AI Revolution? With A Perspective From The Last Time This Sort Of Thing Happened
Nathan Kirchner recently posted on LinkedIn, wondering about what is with the focus on LLM's doing things in one go, and how anyone will actually make money from this anyway.
Nathan Kirchner recently posted on LinkedIn, wondering about what is with the focus on LLM's doing things in one go, and how anyone will actually make money from this anyway.
What I learnt about robotics from listening to my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) Professor getting Purple belts ready for their Brown belt.
March 26, 2025 at 12:00 AM
What I learnt about robotics from listening to my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) Professor getting Purple belts ready for their Brown belt.
3 Unexpected ways learning robotics makes your life better:
Every AI new just looks like a new feature for your bot.
Whenever you get lost you'll think of the SLAM algorithm and smile.
You start imagining that life would better with linear actuators for arms.
Every AI new just looks like a new feature for your bot.
Whenever you get lost you'll think of the SLAM algorithm and smile.
You start imagining that life would better with linear actuators for arms.
March 25, 2025 at 12:00 AM
3 Unexpected ways learning robotics makes your life better:
Every AI new just looks like a new feature for your bot.
Whenever you get lost you'll think of the SLAM algorithm and smile.
You start imagining that life would better with linear actuators for arms.
Every AI new just looks like a new feature for your bot.
Whenever you get lost you'll think of the SLAM algorithm and smile.
You start imagining that life would better with linear actuators for arms.
3 important lessons I’m trying to stamp into my brain (from over 15 years doing robotics):
1. Anyone can learn a new robotics framework, and much faster than you expect.
2. The maths of robotics may never change, but systems will be built that mean we no longer need to use it.
1. Anyone can learn a new robotics framework, and much faster than you expect.
2. The maths of robotics may never change, but systems will be built that mean we no longer need to use it.
March 24, 2025 at 2:09 AM
3 important lessons I’m trying to stamp into my brain (from over 15 years doing robotics):
1. Anyone can learn a new robotics framework, and much faster than you expect.
2. The maths of robotics may never change, but systems will be built that mean we no longer need to use it.
1. Anyone can learn a new robotics framework, and much faster than you expect.
2. The maths of robotics may never change, but systems will be built that mean we no longer need to use it.
I'm so excited by the robotics foundation models coming out, but by gosh, they use a crazy amount of GPU.
I'm trying to fine-tune a Pi0 model on my so-100 duck dataset, and the training run needed 33.2 GB of GPU RAM.
I'm trying to fine-tune a Pi0 model on my so-100 duck dataset, and the training run needed 33.2 GB of GPU RAM.
March 21, 2025 at 3:20 AM
I'm so excited by the robotics foundation models coming out, but by gosh, they use a crazy amount of GPU.
I'm trying to fine-tune a Pi0 model on my so-100 duck dataset, and the training run needed 33.2 GB of GPU RAM.
I'm trying to fine-tune a Pi0 model on my so-100 duck dataset, and the training run needed 33.2 GB of GPU RAM.
Less than a week to go until the free Bots and Bevs event at AARP and hosted with Robotics Australia Group.
Come and hear Bethany Low talk about her experiences over 12 years of optimising products.
It should be a great opportunity to meet with other robotics ppl in Perth
Come and hear Bethany Low talk about her experiences over 12 years of optimising products.
It should be a great opportunity to meet with other robotics ppl in Perth
March 21, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Less than a week to go until the free Bots and Bevs event at AARP and hosted with Robotics Australia Group.
Come and hear Bethany Low talk about her experiences over 12 years of optimising products.
It should be a great opportunity to meet with other robotics ppl in Perth
Come and hear Bethany Low talk about her experiences over 12 years of optimising products.
It should be a great opportunity to meet with other robotics ppl in Perth
Why Roboticist Should Use AI And How To Avoid A Vibe Coded Mess
March 20, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Why Roboticist Should Use AI And How To Avoid A Vibe Coded Mess
The outdated way to become a roboticist :
• Do robotics projects during high school
• Spend 4 years at University doing an Engineering degree to learn the basic maths, engineering and programming necessary for robotics.
• Do robotics projects during high school
• Spend 4 years at University doing an Engineering degree to learn the basic maths, engineering and programming necessary for robotics.
March 18, 2025 at 12:00 AM
The outdated way to become a roboticist :
• Do robotics projects during high school
• Spend 4 years at University doing an Engineering degree to learn the basic maths, engineering and programming necessary for robotics.
• Do robotics projects during high school
• Spend 4 years at University doing an Engineering degree to learn the basic maths, engineering and programming necessary for robotics.
3 false beliefs most people have about robotics:
Humanoid robots are going to take your job.
If you didn't learn robotics in school, you'll never learn it.
There's no point learning engineering skills, AI will just do it instead.
Humanoid robots are going to take your job.
If you didn't learn robotics in school, you'll never learn it.
There's no point learning engineering skills, AI will just do it instead.
March 17, 2025 at 1:06 AM
3 false beliefs most people have about robotics:
Humanoid robots are going to take your job.
If you didn't learn robotics in school, you'll never learn it.
There's no point learning engineering skills, AI will just do it instead.
Humanoid robots are going to take your job.
If you didn't learn robotics in school, you'll never learn it.
There's no point learning engineering skills, AI will just do it instead.
If you’re building robots, you’ll probably need to use URDF (unified robot description format) to describe it.
The problem is that it’s very verbose and repetitive, so most robots will use a markup called xacro to simplify it
The problem is that it’s very verbose and repetitive, so most robots will use a markup called xacro to simplify it
March 13, 2025 at 2:31 PM
If you’re building robots, you’ll probably need to use URDF (unified robot description format) to describe it.
The problem is that it’s very verbose and repetitive, so most robots will use a markup called xacro to simplify it
The problem is that it’s very verbose and repetitive, so most robots will use a markup called xacro to simplify it
3 Reasons To Use the Robotics Operating System Instead Of Vibe Coding Your Robots Control With AI
AI is rapidly making lots of coding tasks much much easier.
And some people believe that we don't need open source libraries anymore
AI is rapidly making lots of coding tasks much much easier.
And some people believe that we don't need open source libraries anymore
March 11, 2025 at 6:30 AM
3 Reasons To Use the Robotics Operating System Instead Of Vibe Coding Your Robots Control With AI
AI is rapidly making lots of coding tasks much much easier.
And some people believe that we don't need open source libraries anymore
AI is rapidly making lots of coding tasks much much easier.
And some people believe that we don't need open source libraries anymore
One of the most incredible breakthroughs in robotics last year came from the pi-0 model.
It's a foundation model for robot actions.
It's a foundation model for robot actions.
March 6, 2025 at 2:26 AM
One of the most incredible breakthroughs in robotics last year came from the pi-0 model.
It's a foundation model for robot actions.
It's a foundation model for robot actions.