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 I've just finished reading the best damn robot book I've ever read (and I've read plenty!). The book, called Junkbots, Bugbots & Bots on Wheels, is by Dave Hrynkiw. Street Tech old timers will remember Dave from when he was a "Geek in Residence" here years ago. The president of robot parts and kit company, Solarbotics, Dave has been a tireless champion of BEAM robotics for years. BEAM (which stands for "Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, Mechanics") is a fascinating bottom-up approach to robot building. Taking cues from biology, BEAM-makers mainly use analog electronics to create surprisingly lifelike behaviors in (usually) solar-powered, autonomous, bug-brained bots.
The book (which also includes some chapters by Mark Tilden, BEAM's "Big God") is surprisingly well written, funny, and easy-to-follow. Unlike many amateur robot how-to books which are about as dry as the tax code, sport poorly rendered drawings and photos that look like the author took them with a pin-hole camera (can you say "Tab"?), Junkbots is beautifully produced. It definitely lives up to the "aesthetics" part of the BEAM approach.
The book includes a crash course in electronics (that even a complete newbie should be able to follow), a section on tools, techniques and safety tips, and seven nifty bot projects, from Symet, a sort of solar-powered top, to a Mini-Sumo, to an awesome four-legged insectoid walker. Each project raises the level of difficulty and the skill set that you'll acquire. One cool thing about BEAM is the use of "techno-junk" as building components (e.g. all those cast-off pagers, Walkmen, modems, and serial mice you have in that box in the basement). Dave offers tips on dumpster diving and collecting this stuff and suggestions for what components you can get where. Inspired by the book, my son and I promptly field-stripped an inkjet printer, two Walkmans, a mouse, a solar calculator, an MP3 player, a pager and two modems. In all of this, we didn't get all the parts we needed for any of the projects, but a quick trip to The Shack will fill in these gaps.
If you're looking to do something with all of that antique gear you can't bring yourself to toss, and you fancy the idea of creating a zoo of little robo-critter monitor pets that'll be the envy of deep geeks everywhere, you must check out this book! Dave has created a website dedicated to the book. You should also check out his Solarbotics site and the Solarbotics-sponsored network of BEAM sites.
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| That's Not A Pile of Junk, That's My Pet Robot! | Login/Create an account | 0 Comments |
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