What is Get Into Robotics?

Get Into Robotics is a free curated robotics resources library by Akshet Patel. It collects open-source robot projects, ROS and ROS 2 tutorials, GitHub learning repositories, YouTube channels, university courses, books, and robot simulators so beginners and experienced roboticists can find high-quality learning material in one place.

Who is Get Into Robotics for?

The library is for students, hobbyists, researchers, and engineers who want to learn robotics or deepen their ROS / ROS 2 skills. Sections are organised by resource type so both absolute beginners and advanced practitioners can jump to projects, courses, books, or simulators.

What is the best way to start learning ROS 2?

Start with beginner ROS 2 Humble tutorials, then practise in a simulator like Gazebo or Webots. Get Into Robotics groups ROS 2 playlists, university materials, and simulator links so you can follow that path without hunting across the web. See the full path in the Start learning ROS 2 guide.

What is the difference between ROS and ROS 2?

ROS (Robot Operating System) is the classic robotics middleware still used in many university courses and legacy stacks. ROS 2 is the modern successor with better real-time support, security, and multi-robot networking. New learners should usually start with ROS 2 Humble unless a specific course still requires classic ROS.

Which robot simulator should beginners try first?

Beginners commonly start with Gazebo (Open Robotics) or Webots because both integrate well with ROS 2 learning workflows and have strong documentation. NVIDIA Isaac Sim and MuJoCo are better once you need advanced perception, reinforcement learning, or GPU-heavy simulation.

Which open-source robotics projects are featured?

Featured projects include Duckietown, TortoiseBot, NASA JPL Open Source Rover, Autoware, F1TENTH, andino, Mini Pupper, OpenPodCar, ROSbloX, and the Open Motion Planning Library (OMPL), among others.

Are the books and courses on Get Into Robotics free?

Browsing the curated lists on getintorobotics.com is free. Many linked university courses and several robotics books are free to access, but individual third-party courses, books, or tools may have their own licences or pricing.

Is Get Into Robotics free to use?

Yes. The curated resource lists on getintorobotics.com are free to browse. Individual third-party courses, books, or tools may have their own licences or pricing.

How are resources selected?

Resources are curated by Akshet Patel for educational usefulness, open access where possible, and relevance to learning robotics, ROS, and ROS 2. The library prefers well-known university materials, active open-source projects, and widely used simulators over affiliate or paywalled filler.

Guide · Updated 2026-07-28

Best open-source robotics projects for beginners

Beginner-friendly open-source robots and platforms: Duckietown, TortoiseBot, Mini Pupper, NASA rover, and more.

By Akshet Patel

Quick answer

Beginners should start with well-documented educational platforms such as Duckietown, TortoiseBot, or andino, then progress to richer builds like Mini Pupper or the NASA JPL Open Source Rover.

How we ranked these

Priority goes to clear documentation, active communities, manageable hardware cost bands, and a path into ROS or ROS 2—not novelty demos with no learning ladder.

Starter shortlist

Duckietown — education ecosystem for autonomy and AI robotics with courses and simulation options.
TortoiseBot — learner-friendly, cost-conscious ROS mobile robot for first hardware loops.
andino — open diff-drive platform aimed at education and low-cost applications.
Mini Pupper — quadruped learning path with ROS and vision-oriented docs.
NASA JPL Open Source Rover — ambitious build-it yourself rover once you want a longer mechanical project.

What to do next

Pick one platform and complete its “hello world” bring-up guide.
Pair it with the ROS 2 learning path if the stack is ROS 2-based.
Explore the full catalogue on open-source projects.