Kaivan Karimi – Dir. of Global Strategy, Microcontroller Group, at Freescale

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Kaivan Karimi – Dir. of Global Strategy, Microcontroller Group, at Freescale

Featured Engineer

Interview with Frits Lyneborg

Frits Lyneborg

Frits Lyneborg - Founder of letsmakerobots.com

Can you give us a little background about yourself? How did you get into electronics?

I was just surfing the Internet 5-6 years ago. I never thought I’d EVER do anything with “chips”, I thought it was for clever Chinese engineers only.

Then, after purchasing other silly items I did not need, I stumbled across a chip that supposedly could be programmed.. in Basic.. from the computer.

It was the PICAXE 28, and it came with a board. That board had the option for a motor driver.

I had the brilliant idea, that I could make a little thing that would drive around and by itself avoid the walls. So I made that, and I was feeling the almighty rush of creative possibilities. A pure wow-moment: I could build anything!!

So, I decided to make a robot: http://letsmakerobots.com/node/25

At that time it was hard to source parts, and I did not know what to look for, so I made everything myself. With lots of hot glue and soldering.

Tell us about Let’s Make Robots. Why did you decide to start it?

When I had made my first robot, I thought it was awesome, and I had the idea that there had to be a big community of other people like me. I started looking for that very community, but I only found forums where people had a tendency to brag about how complicated their projects were. Everyone wrote a lot that I did not understand, and about all the things that did not really interest me; Schematics, planning, complexity.

I just thought it was fun.

I decided to make my own community for people with a slight less technical approach. I was looking for friends for whom the drive was the fun part, not striving for complexity, not preaching about planning and things I did not understand.

What is your favorite part about having a community electronics website?

Since the letsmakerobots.com part came to life, I have become friends with LOADS of nerds.

It’s awesome to always have someone to make a Google hangout with, and someone who sincerely appreciates it if I have made a robot.

We are not a distant crowd, though we most often have never met in real life. We are genuine friends, and nothing beats that.

The very best thing, however, is the few times we have had real life meet up. I cannot even begin to explain how great a feeling it is to meet like minded from around the world: It has always been like meeting an old friend, someone you trust and just know is a good guy – and someone who even shares the same area of interest.

It appears very apparent that people who build robots are really nice people. Like really nice!

Many times I have witnessed, and participated in “happenings” of someone sending parcels to someone else with parts to give away. Not because they could not use them, but because they knew that someone else could also use them.

We literally send gifts to each other by mail, because we like each other – it’s far beyond robot building, it’s friends with a hobby to share. On a global level.

What is your favorite project on the site?

Uh, I can of course not mention any in particular. I can mention, however, a robot with the sole purpose of going viral, and I managed. I made it to spread the word about the site – Google it, it’s called the “Yellow Drum Machine.”

When I made it, YouTube was small, Google video was “the thing”, so I published it there. At a point I made 3 different videos, and in one week, they were number 1, 4, and 6 most seen videos on Google video.

Later I re-posted some on YouTube, and at least one of them has had a small revival, with over 1 million views.

I mention this, because I know that this robot for many has in some ways laid ground for what the community is all about; The fun little and very homemade robot, made with love and passion for the crazy and creative.. or something like that ;)

What tools are your favorites?

Software; Anything. Hardware; Hot glue. Lot’s of hot glue. And free sticks of the kind you get when you buy paint.

What was the trickiest bug you have ever fixed?

I hope to fix the tricky bug of releasing the next version of the website any time soon. It is very tricky because it is made with the community, and the site is rather large and complex, even though we try to make it appear simple.

I have found a very good friend in the community, who is very skilled. He would not like his name mentioned, but please, can you give him a shout, he needs all the respect he can get for his tremendous work, and I’ll pass this article on to him. Respect, HFG! ;D

What is on your bookshelf?

I never read any books, sorry. I have some manuals, but I try not to read them.

Do you have any experiential stories you’d like to share?

Hmm.. I did make a thing to detect ghosts once, and realized that my workshop is haunted.

What are you currently working on?

I do not have any time to make robots, because I run the community. With 6-7,000 visitors every day, even on the Wednesday I would like to do something else, I can’t, what with my dealing with sponsors to keep the site free from ads, managing the hosting, and dealing with the different problems and concerns of the members.

I try to be everywhere, and it does take a lot of time.

Is there anything you’d like to say to young people to encourage them to pursue electronics?

I have one word, or one link, rather: letsmakerobots.com/start

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