[...]... control The typical “tele -robot uses a video camera that serves as the eyes for the human operator From some distance—perhaps as near as a few feet to as distant as several million miles the operator views the scene before the robot and commands it accordingly The teleoperated robot of today is a far cry from the radio-controlled robots of the world’s fairs of the 19 30s and 19 40s Many tele-robots, like the. .. blank Ch 01_ McComb 8/ 21/ 00 3 :16 PM Page 1 PART 1 ROBOT BASICS Copyright 20 01 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Click Here for Terms of Use This page intentionally left blank Ch 01_ McComb 8/ 21/ 00 3 :16 PM Page 3 1 THE ROBOT EXPERIMENTER T here he sits, as he’s done countless long nights before, alone and deserted in a dank and musty basement With each strike of his ball-peen hammer comes an ear-shattering... “Further Reading,” for more information Ch02_McComb 8/29/00 8:39 AM Page 13 THE BODY OF THE ROBOT 13 The Body of the Robot Like the human body, the body of a robot at least a self-contained one—holds all its vital parts The body is the superstructure that prevents its electronic and electromechanical “guts” from spilling out Robot bodies go by many names, including frame and chassis, but the idea is the. .. bipedal (two-leg) structure, but because it distributes the weight toward the mid and top sections of the body In reality, this “android” is science fiction writer J Steven York modeling the latest in casual robot ready-to-wear Ch02_McComb 8/29/00 8:39 AM Page 15 THE BODY OF THE ROBOT 15 Arnold Schwarzenegger (if one of these asks you “Are you Sarah Conner?” answer “No!”) The overall shape of the robot. .. conversation pieces all their own You must overcome many difficulties to design and construct a legged robot First, there is the question of the number of legs and how the legs provide stability when the robot is in motion or when it’s standing still Then there is the question of how the legs propel the robot forward or backward—and more difficult still! the question of how to turn the robot so it can navigate... and other design criteria These may affect the operation or performance of the circuit The chart in Fig I -1 details the conventions used in the schematic diagrams Note that nonconnected wires are shown by a direct cross or lines, or a broken line Connected wires are shown by the connecting dot Details on the specific parts used in the circuits are provided in the parts list tables that accompany the. .. Programming Concepts The Fundamentals Robot construction using wood, plastic, and metal Chapters 8 -1 0 Making robots from old toys found in your closet Chapter 11 , Constructing High-tech Robots from Toys What your robot should do Chapter 42, Tips, Tricks, and Tidbits for the Robot Experimenter Other sources about electronics and mechanics Appendix A, Further Reading Appendix C, Robot Information on the Internet... to manipulate objects around them Of the two—stationary or mobile the mobile robot is probably the more popular Ch02_McComb 8/29/00 8:39 AM Page 12 12 ANATOMY OF A ROBOT project for hobbyists to build There’s something endearing about a robot that scampers across the floor, either chasing or being chased by the cat As a serious robot experimenter, you should not overlook the challenge and education... county fair, it’s the robot experimenter who studies the way the “egg-beater” ride works, watching the various gears spin in perfect unison Perhaps the gear train can be duplicated in an unusual robot locomotion system I At a phone booth, it’s the robot experimenter who listens to the tones emitted when the buttons are pressed These tones, the experimenter knows, trigger circuitry at the phone company... claws or hands This robot does not depend on any other mechanism or system to perform its tasks It’s complete in and of itself The other side says that a robot is anything that moves under its own motor power for the purpose of performing near-human tasks (this is, in fact, the definition of the word robot in most dictionaries) The mechanism that does the actual task is the robot itself; the support electronics . whether such claim or cause aris- es in contract, tort or otherwise. DOI: 10 .10 36/00 713 86 718 abc McGraw-Hill CONTENTS Acknowledgments viii Introduction ix PART 1 Robot Basics Chapter 1 The Robot. retrieval system, without the prior written permis- sion of the publisher. 0-0 7 -1 3867 1- 8 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: 0-0 7 -1 3629 6-7 . All trademarks. 12 3 Chapter 11 Constructing High Tech Robots from Toys 13 3 Chapter 12 Build Custom LEGO-based Robots 14 7 Chapter 13 Creating Functionoids with LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System 16 1 Chapter 14