How to Get Started in Machine Learning and Robotics

"It's very easy to get intimidated," says Hamayal Choudhry, the robotics engineer who co-created the smartARM, a robotic hand prosthetic that uses a camera to analyze and manipulate objects. "You have this idea for a project, then think, I don't know a thing about this." Here's how Choudhry and his partner Samin Khan, who programmed the smartARM's machine learning algorithm, used code libraries, college assignments, and sponsored hackathons to find and execute a meaningful project at age 20. The smartARM works by integrating the two fields of machine learning and mechatronics (robotics). A camera in the palm detects objects, and an algorithm analyzes the video feed (this is called computer vision) and tells the robotic hand how to manipulate the objects.