My goal was to gain a robots eye view. I wanted to see what the robot saw so I could better develop the robots characteristics. To this end, I purchased a couple of easy to find parts.

Fist a CCD camera. I got the COMedia C3186 with I2C Bus control from the Marlin P. Jones catalog. Marlin P. Jones sells all sorts of surplus parts and is a great source, but be warned, surplus does not mean a finished product or support. Though it only cost $80 I was kinda bummed out. The auto gain was set too low so the picture came out very dark. After a few e-mails to the manufacture COMedia (who was very helpful ) I was informed that I would have to use the I2C bus to alter it. So that will have to wait until I get a clue on I2C programming and an I2C controller.

The next thing I wanted was to get was a transmitter for the camera, so the robot would not have to drag a cable around. Dragging a cable would only hinder performance and would eliminate the mobile part of my mobile robot . I found a cool transmitter in the Ramsey catalog. It is only a little bit bigger then a nickel and has a range of a mile all for $170. All I have to do is tune my cable ready TV to channel 59 and I am seeing the world through the cameras eye.

Both units can be powered by a single 9 volt battery. They can be mounted on a Lego base then snapped on to a servo. When you turn the servo you are in effect, turning the robots head to see what is going on. Hooked up to a VCR you can make some cool movies like "...Attack of the giant killer cats..." ( we all know that cat are organizing to destroy all mobile robots ) or "... Exploring the mystery of what lies beneath the couch...".

Since I gave the eye its own power supply, it became very modular. I can quickly remove it from one project and attach it to the next. All in all it has been fun and worth the money. If you are smart (unlike me) you'll just buy both packages together from Ramsey part number ME-2000 for $119. You will save a few bucks and get a microphone as well. Good Luck and watch out for the giant cats.