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Blender for Robotics Engineers – Beginner Course

Course Goal

At the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Create simple robot parts
  • Import CAD models
  • Export DAE/GLB/STL
  • Build Gazebo environments
  • Create terrains
  • Optimize meshes
  • Apply textures
  • Create camera training scenes for YOLO

Module 1 - Blender Basics (1 Day)

Lesson 1.1 - Interface

Learn:

  • Viewport
  • Outliner
  • Properties panel
  • Scene hierarchy

Exercise:

  • Create cube
  • Move cube
  • Delete cube
  • Save project

Lesson 1.2 - Navigation

Learn:

  • Rotate View (Middle Mouse)
  • Pan (Shift + Middle Mouse)
  • Zoom (Mouse Wheel)
  • Front View (Numpad 1)
  • Side View (Numpad 3)
  • Top View (Numpad 7)

Exercise:

  • Create 5 cubes
  • Navigate around the scene
  • Focus on an object

Module 2 - Basic Modeling (2 Days)

Lesson 2.1 - Transformations

Learn:

  • Move (G)
  • Rotate (R)
  • Scale (S)

Exercise:

  • Box
  • Cylinder
  • Cone

Lesson 2.2 - Edit Mode

Learn:

  • Vertices
  • Edges
  • Faces

Shortcuts:

  • Tab
  • 1 Vertex
  • 2 Edge
  • 3 Face

Exercise:

  • Simple drone arm
  • Simple wall
  • Simple table

Lesson 2.3 - Extrude

Shortcut:

  • E

Exercise:

  • Building
  • Road
  • Landing pad

Module 3 - Robotics Assets (2 Days)

Lesson 3.1 - Import Existing Models

Import:

  • STL
  • OBJ
  • GLB

Lesson 3.2 - Fix Scale

Rule:

  • 1 Blender Unit = 1 Meter

Exercise:

  • 1m cube
  • 2m wall

Lesson 3.3 - Origin and Pivot

Learn:

  • Set Origin
  • Apply Transform

Important for:

  • Robot links
  • Wheels
  • Gimbals

Module 4 - Gazebo Workflow (2 Days)

Lesson 4.1 - Export DAE

Exercise:

  • Create a simple drone frame
  • Export frame.dae

Lesson 4.2 - Export GLB

Exercise:

  • Building
  • Tree
  • Obstacle

Lesson 4.3 - Create Environment

Build:

  • Road
  • Buildings
  • Landing zone

Export to Gazebo Harmonic.

Module 5 - Materials and Textures (2 Days)

Lesson 5.1 - Materials

Create:

  • Metal
  • Plastic
  • Concrete

Lesson 5.2 - Textures

Apply:

  • Road texture
  • Grass texture
  • Wall texture

Useful for:

  • Optical flow
  • Visual SLAM
  • YOLO

Module 6 - Terrain Creation (2 Days)

Lesson 6.1 - Heightmaps

Create:

  • Hill
  • Valley
  • Road

Lesson 6.2 - Terrain Export

Export:

  • PNG Heightmap

Use in Gazebo.

Exercise:

  • Drone test area

Module 7 - Mesh Optimization (1 Day)

Lesson 7.1 - Polygon Count

Learn:

  • Statistics Overlay

Lesson 7.2 - Decimate Modifier

Reduce mesh complexity for simulation performance.

Example:

  • 100,000 triangles → 5,000 triangles

Module 8 - Synthetic Data Generation (Optional)

Lesson 8.1 - Cameras

Create:

  • Track
  • Car
  • Drone

Lesson 8.2 - Lighting

Experiment with:

  • Morning
  • Noon
  • Sunset
  • Night

Lesson 8.3 - Domain Randomization

Randomize:

  • Colors
  • Objects
  • Textures
  • Weather

Generate training images for YOLO.

Final Projects

Project 1 – Drone Landing Zone

Contains:

  • Terrain
  • Buildings
  • Trees
  • Landing pad

Export to Gazebo.

Project 2 – Autonomous Vehicle Track

Contains:

  • Road
  • Signs
  • Obstacles

Use with YOLO.

Project 3 – Optical Flow Test Environment

Contains:

  • Textured floor
  • Moving objects
  • Camera viewpoints

Use with a GStreamer optical flow pipeline.

Recommended YouTube Tutorials

Beginner Blender

  1. Blender Beginner Tutorial Series – Blender Guru https://www.youtube.com/@blenderguru

  2. Grant Abbitt – Blender Beginners Course https://www.youtube.com/@grabbitt

Modeling

  1. CG Essentials https://www.youtube.com/@TheCGEssentials

  2. Ryan King Art https://www.youtube.com/@RyanKingArt

  1. Gazebo + Blender Mesh Workflow Search: "Blender Gazebo mesh tutorial"

  2. ROS Mesh Export Tutorials Search: "Blender URDF STL DAE tutorial"

Terrain and Environment Design

  1. Blender Terrain Tutorials Search: "Blender terrain beginner"

  2. Low Poly Environment Design Search: "Blender low poly environment"

Learning Schedule

Week 1 - Navigation - Interface - Basic Modeling

Week 2 - Edit Mode - Import/Export - Scale and Origins

Week 3 - Gazebo Workflow - Materials - Textures

Week 4 - Terrain Creation - Mesh Optimization - Final Projects