Review of Robotics Demystified by Edwin Wise

The folks at McGraw Hill graciously sent me a copy of Edwin Wise's new book, Robotics Demystified, for me to review. Unfortunately, I got it right around the time that I left for Hong Kong (study abroad) and I'm just now getting around to actually reviewing it. The title calls it a "self-teaching guide" and the back cover reads; "Now anyone with an interest in robotics can gain a deeper understanding - without formal training, unlimited time, or genius IQ." So, I cracked open the book to find out if this is true or not. The folks at McGraw Hill graciously sent me a copy of Edwin Wise's new book, Robotics Demystified, for me to review. Unfortunately, I got it right around the time that I left for Hong Kong (study abroad) and I'm just now getting around to actually reviewing it. The title calls it a "self-teaching guide" and the back cover reads; "Now anyone with an interest in robotics can gain a deeper understanding - without formal training, unlimited time, or genius IQ." So, I cracked open the book to find out if this is true or not. Demystified is a relatively short 295 pages and contains 18 chapters. Example chapter names include, "Simple Machines", "Starting with Electronics", and "Intelligent Behavior." It is clear from the beginning that Wise is targeting this book to the complete novice. He says in the Preface, "There is no one 'robot technology,' so this book breaks the study of robots down into technology categories: the mechanics and framework of the robot, the electronics that make up its brain and nerves, and the control systems and programming that gives the robot life." Each chapter concludes with quiz questions to test your knowledge of each chapter. The book starts off at a pretty low level (mechanical forces) and slowly (very slowly) builds on the knowledge. The forces chapter, and the following, "Simple Machines" discuss basic mechanical systems. All the mechanical systems described in the book deal only with LEGO pieces, so the reader never actually sees any other type of building materials. The mechanical systems are also presented as individual units and aren't ever assembled into a comprehensive "overall" system (aka, an actual robot). After an introduction to mechanical systems (which is where Wise really shines) the book turns towards electronics and spends an entire chapter discussing the building blocks of electronics (electrons, electric fields, magnetic fields, etc.) in what seems a bit too low level for most robot hobbyist’s needs. Another disappointment was the chapter on circuits, which was sadly lacking in basic tools for analyzing circuits and their behavior (it only contained a brief description of Ohm's law). Another chapter dealt entirely with sequencing and programming, including Cam Control and Card Control - who seriously uses this anymore? The discussion on binary systems was also brief. The chapter on control systems didn't even mention block diagrams and discussed closed-loop feedback systems without any good examples in robotics (a good one would be a motor driver). Another chapter was devoted to semiconductors, with discussion of BJT's and FET's, but this was sadly disconnected from real-world applications and circuits. Which, is the biggest problem I have with this book - there isn't any real world applications in robotics. The book lacked any discussion of sensors or microcontrollers, and only mentioned programming in a high-level way. There were no pictures of actual robots anywhere in the book. I would say this book is definitely not for true beginners. It will only leave them more frustrated and confused. It builds a very nice foundation, but stops there, leaving the beginner to find yet another resource to link all the pieces together. Robotics Demystified only succeeds in clouding the really difficult part - putting everything together into a working robot.