Personal robots are about as advanced today as personal computers were on the eve of the first IBM PC in the early 1980s.
They are still the domain of hobbyists who cobble them together from scratch or from kits (available through such vendors
as robotstore.com), who join local clubs to swap code and stage contests, and whose labor of love is setting the stage for a
technological revolution. There is even an analogy to the Apple II, a ready-made, almost mass-market product: the Cye
robot. And two companies, Dyson and Eureka, are beta-testing the first potential killer app: automated vacuum cleaning.
Lunt's former column from Nuts & Volts magazine-all five years of the column are reprinted in this volume-has been to
robot hobbyists what Byte and Popular Electronics were to computer hobbyists. Along with Joseph Jones and Anita Flynn's
Mobile Robots, his book serves as an essential guide for those who want to build their own blinking, buzzing, bumbling
artificial pets.
Karl Lunt is a wel-known name in the field of robotics. For many years he has filled a column in the Nuts & Volts magazine,
primairely around the 68hc11 and 68hc12 controler. He has a lot of experience in making robots and it really shows in his
book: "Build your own Robot!". The book consists of a compilation of the columns he has written for the Nuts & Volts
starting back in 1992. This is a very unusual approach for a book, and the author has some pitfalls to avoid.
Beginning and advanced robotics builders will find Build Your Own Robot! a rare coverage of all the basics involved in
building a robot, from hardware to the author's own code used to program robots. Build Your Own Robot! is as much for
the hobbyist as for the student of engineering and promises to reach a wide audience with in-depth details, tips for building
very different kinds of robots, and specifics on circuitry and how to avoid problems.
Personal robots are about as advanced today as personal computers were on the eve of the first IBM PC in the early 1980s.
They are still the domain of hobbyists who cobble them together from scratch or from kits (available through such vendors
as robotstore.com), who join local clubs to swap code and stage contests, and whose labor of love is setting the stage for a
technological revolution. There is even an analogy to the Apple II, a ready-made, almost mass-market product: the Cye
robot. And two companies, Dyson and Eureka, are beta-testing the first potential killer app: automated vacuum cleaning.
Lunt's former column from Nuts & Volts magazine-all five years of the column are reprinted in this volume-has been to
robot hobbyists what Byte and Popular Electronics were to computer hobbyists. Along with Joseph Jones and Anita Flynn's
Mobile Robots, his book serves as an essential guide for those who want to build their own blinking, buzzing, bumbling
artificial pets.