Zac Soden reviews Lego Mindstorms Interfacing THE LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System is the most advanced construction toys to date and has been amazingly successful, opening the LEGO market to a whole new audience of builders, both young and old. Being a fan of all things LEGO, I had to g…
Zac Soden reviews Easy Microcontrol'n A YEAR ago I would have never imagined myself programming a PICmicro MCU in assembly language. Even just considering learning the assembly code seemed a daunting task, let alone writing my own programs in it. But all that changed when around four months ago my …
Zac takes a look at the TAB Electronics Build Your Own Robot Kit TAB Electronics Build Your Own Robot Kit Designers: Myke Predko and Ben Wirz Publisher: McGraw-Hill Rating: 4/5 Notes: Excellent for beginners PROBABLY a month ago I remember visiting my local Dick Smith Electronics and noticing a…
This is a large review of many different Leatherman multitools - perfect for building robots with!In a geek's toolbox, especially robot geeks, there are loads of great tools: pliers, soldering irons, solder suckers, drills, screw drivers, and the list goes on and on. However, one tool that no robot…
This is a review of Savage Innovation's new microcontroller, the OOPic 2 By now, all the regular readers here at The GoRobotics Network are probably aware of the OOPic processors. This little beauty is loaded with great features (and a great price) that make it quite attractive to robot builders…
This is a review of Joe Nagata's LEGO Mindstorms Idea Book While surfing around the 'net the other day I came across the website of No Starch Press. What caught my eye was the fact that they published a couple of LEGO Mindstorms books that I've seen around. While I don't have LEGO M…
This is a review of the book Robotsapiens One of the latest additions to the growing array of robotics related books is the book entitled Robosapiens. The authors describe their new book as a "field guide to our mechanical future." Husband and wife team, Peter Menzel and Fait…
Do not miss the new, up-to-date and detailed How to Build a Robot - Grand Tutorial Series This article lists some ideas for starting a simple robot. A good read for beginners. If you like this article, check out this. How to Build A Simple Robot, The Beetle Robot. This is the first of a series o…
Here's a nifty hack to add a shaft encoder directly into a servo box. Parts:1. Servo - Preferrably a Futaba or Tower Systems2. Drill3. Photointerrupter - Rat. Shack #276-142 (NOT the package with the diode and transistor separate),or any standard 'U' shaped photointerrupter …
Here's instructions on how to make a simple and cheap small robot base. Ever since my initial start in robotics I've been fascinated with small robots. Small 'bot seem to have this amazing charm about them. Maybe it's the 'wow!' factor, or maybe it's 'just because.' This tutorial will step you …
This article shows how to use an ADC chip on your next project. Introduction For this this project you can either choose to use the MAX186 or the MAX187. The differences between these two chips are described below. The MAX187 is an 12 bit o…
This article details how to build a FLED solar engine for your next BEAM project. 1. Take the 3904 transistor and using a pair of long nose pliers carefully bend the collector leg (that's the one on the far right) so that it is perpendicular to the …
This article shows how to hook up a LCD screen to your microcontroller. LCD displays are a great way to add output to your robot - they can be a very useful debugging aid and also can make controlling the robot much easier (setting options, vi…
How to build a BEAM symet. The symet for some reason always tends to be a three fold rotation symmetrical robot, but I like to push the envelop a little. The Quaret, hence its name, is a four fold rotation symmetrical robot. It's very small, very active, and a lot of fun to watch. So enoug…
As I mentioned in last month's article, I'd decided to turn my robot into a fire-fighting robot. Because of scheduling conflicts, I couldn't attend the international contest in CT, but I was able to compete in our club's local contest. Unfortunately, because of short time constraints I didn't do so…
Bernie's experiences with the Lynxmotion line tracker kit. Having just finished my hexapod robot and before progressing to a more advanced model with jointed legs, I decided I would like to try my hand at a wheeled robot. I made up a robot platform to experiment with and to try different sen…
