Robot builder
the beginner's guide to building robots
Bibliographic details
Summary
If you could only own one book on building robots, this is the one you'd want. Most books cover only one aspect of robotics and assume you're geeky enough to know the rest already. Not "I, Robot Builder"" " This easy tutorial explains "all" aspects of robot building, and never leaves you "out in the cold." It even teaches basic robot programming, and gives you all the cut-and-paste code you'll need for some pretty sophisticated projects. Passionate roboticist Thomas Messerschmidt starts with a plain-English overview of the exciting world of robots, robotics and robot building - including a history that takes you from ancient automatons and Leonardo da Vinci's robot knight to today's walking, talking, A.I.-controlled ASIMO. You'll learn about great educational robot kits that make robotics easier, find expert recommendations on some simple, fascinating single-project robotics kits, and check out the exciting worlds of battling robot contests, military robots, and domestic household robots. Next, Messerschmidt turns to hands-on robot building. You'll learn all about the skills and tools involved, and tour a robot from "head to toe," including chassis, locomotion, sensors, micro-controllers, programming, and more. Next, you'll walk through building four different ultra-cool robots: a sumobot, a line follower, a wall follower, and even a hacked Roomba that recognizes faces and voices, and talks back Part III is an up-to-the-nanosecond resource guide: reliable information on where to get everything you'll need, including hardware, software, magazines, videos, web sites, and more. Packed with hints and tips from the author's own robot building experiences, this book makes robot building easier and more fun than you ever thought it could be