Build Your Own Robot

by Karl Lunt

Book Overview

This book, a compilation of articles from Karl Lunt's long-running column for Nuts & Volts magazine, is a must-read for all beginner and intermediate-level robotics enthusiasts. Written in a friendly, straightforward manner, it contains entertaining anecdotes as well as practical advice and instruction. The author's stories about his various robotics projects will inspire you to try them yourself; and he shares his tips and code to help you. Possible...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1568811020
• ISBN13: 9781568811024
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: A K PETERS
• Length: 592 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful guide for intermediate or advanced... NOT FOR BEGINNERS!

I know you can already tell by the other revies that this book isn't really for beginners, but I want to just add a bit to it. This is a wonderful reference and tips book for the advanced robo-builder. Although I would recommend you save your money, because you can find most of the information in cheaper books and some online. For the intermediate robotics builder, this is a must have. This will teach you all kinds of techniques that will be perfect to practice, add more information to your head about the architechture and hardware of a robot, and be a perfect reference book for those things you keep forgetting how to do. You'll also learn new programming techniques and have a wonderful time with this. This is definitely who the author wanted to write for. This is the perfect Amateur robotic builder's guide. For the robotics beginner, you should basically forget about buying this book now. If you want to buy it in advance and think you will become a better bot builder someday, you can still save money by buying it later when the price is down. Alhthough the author has put in some content suitible for you, it's still definitely not worth it. So if you want to turn a TV clicker into a remote control and a cooler into a walking robot, I would advise waiting a while and reading some of the books below first... *****-INDICATES RANK ****ROBOT BUILDING FOR BEGINNERS (DAVID COOK) ****ABSOLUTE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO BUILDING ROBOTS (GARRETH BRANWYN) *****ROBOT BUILDING FOR DUMMIES (NANCY STEVENSON, ROGER ERRICK) **BUILD ROBOT DRIVE TRAINS (DENNIS CLARK, MICHAEL OWNIGS) *****JUNKBOTS, BUGBOTS, AND BOTS ON WHEELS: BUILDING SIMPLE ROBOTS WITH beam TECHNOLOGY (MARK TILDEN) **ROBOT BUILDER'S BONANZA (GORDON MCCOMB) I would mostly recommend the two five-stars (ROBOT BUILDING FOR DUMMIES, JUNKBOTS, BUGBOTS, AND BOTS ON WHEELS: BUILDING SIMPLE ROBOTS WITH beam TECHNOLOGY) before you could start this book, but if you absolutely want to be sure that you're ready for it, you can spend an extra few bucks with "ABSOLUTE BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO BUILDING ROBOTS." You can look at the other books, but I would not completely recommend them, because the robot building either costs a bit ("ROBOT BUILDER'S BONANZA", "ROBOT BUILDING FOR BEGINNERS" about in the $200's if you complete all the projects), or (for "BUILD ROBOT DRIVE TRAINS") doesn't really teach the subject we're looking for, and is more for advanced beginner.

Top Notch

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.

A valuable addition to your hobby robotics library

This book is a compilation of articles written in the 1990s for Nuts and Volts magazine by Seattle Robotics Society member Karl Lunt, an avid robot hobbyist. Karl's enthusiasm for and enjoyment of hobby robotics is evident throughout. Rather than a first book or an A-to-Z 'how-to' manual for those starting out in robotics, I think this book is more valuable as a 'companion guide' or reference to accompany a beginning book such as Gordon McComb's Robot Builder's Bonanza. A variety of ideas, sources, components, schematics and the like are sprinkled throughout the articles. The book provides not only technical information, but also a sense of the history of the hobby, and a feel for its people. Karl has pretty much standardized on Motorola MCUs and focuses on the 68hc11, which typically requires at least some assembly language programming. He is more comfortable writing about software and electronics than about the mechanical aspects of robotics design, though he discusses his collaboration with people who have strong mechanical skills. Ideally, a reader of this book should have an understanding of basic electronics, experience with computer programming, and some machine shop skills. Without some background in these areas, some of the reading will be slow going. For example, Karl assumes a knowledge of hexadecimal math, and bit manipulation with Boolean operators. The book goes into a fair amount of detail in describing the 68hc11, which I think provides a pretty decent introduction to MCUs in general.

Fun, informative -- recommended for hobbyists & students.

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.

(none)

was a great book i found it quite informative and easy to follow