Robotics consistently captures the world’s imagination, and Manchester Robotics aims to democratise access to robotics education with Puzzlebot—a “lab in a robot” for learning and prototyping.

At the heart of Puzzlebot is the Hacker Board, a powerful computational node that supports Starter Kit components like motors and sensors, while also interfacing with external devices such as laptops, smartphones, NVIDIA Jetson Nano, and Raspberry Pi.

What sets the Hacker Board apart is its ability to handle multiple advanced add-ons, including actuators and sensors like sonar, LiDAR, and cameras. This allows users to progress through their entire robotics learning journey on a single platform—from beginner tutorials to professional prototyping.

Designed with off-the-shelf components, Puzzlebot is affordable and adaptable. For those who prefer to build their own hardware, the Hacker Board is available as a stand-alone option, or as part of the Puzzlebot Hacker Edition, which includes essential components for quick setup.

The Puzzlebot Hacker Edition includes all the essential components to quickly access robotics capabilities, offering a user-friendly platform for integrating advanced add-ons.

Puzzlebot Hacker Edition offers two main configurations:

Standalone Configuration:

The Hacker Board is directly programmed by the user.

Manchester Robotics provides libraries for communication with computing units, sensors, and actuators.

Additional peripherals (e.g., screen, sonar, LiDAR) can be attached.

Basic control libraries are included.

External-Control Configuration:

The robot is controlled via an external computing unit over WiFi.

Communication libraries and firmware are provided by Manchester Robotics.

The user can test using a web interface or simulate with MATLAB or LabVIEW, both of which come with built-in libraries and simulators, requiring no additional software.

Puzzlebot Hacker Edition can seamlessly connect to external computing units for enhanced functionality.

Adding a camera and an NVIDIA Jetson Nano to the Puzzlebot Hacker Edition with Encoders we transform it in a PuzzleBot Jetson Edition.

Puzzlebot Jetson Edition allows users to implement low-level, real-time algorithms in Hacker Board and high-level AI & Computer Vision algorithms in NVIDIA Jetson Nano.

The Hacker Kit and NVIDIA Jetson Nano are connected via serial communication.