It's a well known fact that 97.3% of the UK population (babies included) are alcholics; according to the government definition of binge drinking anyway. Well I follow in that proud national tradition, but nevertheless think it would be good for the body if I could cut down. I've also decided it would be good for the soul for me to get into robotics and doubly as good if it could be neutral for the wallet.
I studied for a degree in Maths and AI and have always had a great deal of interest in robotics, however until I found out about the robots constructed here (thank you YDM), I had no idea how cheap these sort of controllers had become. The last time I looked into this, you were staring down the wrong end of several hundred quid. Unfortunately, living in the UK a lot of the prices mentioned here translate pretty instantly into pounds (despite an exchange rate of about 2:1... grr), which still makes £120 quid worth of gear a lot to burn because I can't solder for toffee.
All of which brings to the the point of the post: my cunning plan to drink beer less and make more robots. I have decided that every time I choose to substitute a drink for water, I'll put the money saved into the robot pot! When I have enough, I'll buy a chunk of the bot and play with it until I get enough for the next bit.
So the first chunk is of course the Pixace 28x1 starter kit. So far the pot stands at a mighty £17.26tiddly pom!... hmm. Well I've not been at it for long.
Long life and robotics!
Update
Ok, so after some serious pint dodging the pot is now at £52.50, (I rounded off the pennies). But reality has struck and I know it makes more sense to get everything from the same shop at once. So I'm waiting on must £5 pounds more. Easy.
I, too suffer fro the UK problem. (No, not ALCOHOLISM!) Tonight, I DIDN’T drink 2 cans of Tetly’s mild, so my robot pot stands at £1.54. (That’s around $3, for our American-speaking cousins.) Nevertheless, I spent £15 on a seconad-hand wiper motor from a NIssan micra today. So, that means I have to drink 19.48 cans less of Tetly’s this month.
It’s a tall order. Keep us posted!
God created the integers; all else is the work of man - Leopold Kronecker
Hurray! It’s good to imagine another robot pot out there. Saving the nations health and building robots one can at a time.
Well my pot now has about £35 ($70) in it which is enough for the Pixaxe starter kit. Along with the LEDs I knabbed that would be enough to start getting familiar with the chip. However common sense has told me off, and insists that I buy everything I’m going to from the same vendor in one go.
I was looking at getting the SRF05 and some other bits and bobs, so I’m looking at about another £15… so close!
To be honest, I was wondering how to drink 19.48 cans les this month, when I don’t really drink more than about 8-10 in a month. I was thinking. Maybe I shouldn’t do this right now. I should start drinking in pubs instead of carry-outs and then, when I start my robot pot, I’ll be able to save about £4.50 per pint instead of just 79p.
What do you make of that for a plan?
God created the integers; all else is the work of man - Leopold Kronecker
Good lord. £4.50 a pint!? Do you sup upon only the finest beverages brewed by devoted monks retained to your personal service? I’d be very poor, sober or covered in robots at that rate; possibly a combination of all three.
I only really apply the rule at the pub and set the standard hock at £2.50, just to make the money easier. It also means that I can go to the stupid trendy bars that some of my friends seem to be into and still only pay my £2.50 no matter the price.
I’ve seen a few of my mates go teetotal, and not only did they look thoroughly miserable, but they never came out because going to the pub just rubs in the fact you aren’t drinking. This way you can have a few pints if you want to (you just don’t get any cash) and it encourages you to be sociable to make opportunities to save up.
OKay, so maybe it only FEELS like £4.50 a pint. I am confused, though by one aspect of the rules, here: personally, I’d put £10 in the jar each time I turned down the opportunity of a pint in a trendy bar.
Your only excuse, though, when not going out is “I’m staying in to build robots”. Then all your mates call you “saddo.” I know; I’ve been on the receiving end of this activity.
God created the integers; all else is the work of man - Leopold Kronecker
