Main -> Books -> Technical Books -> My Books -> TAB Electronics Build Your Own Robot Kit

TAB Electronics Build Your Own Robot Kit

TAB Electronics Build Your Own Robot Kit - 2002

This simple-to-build robot will provide you with hours of enjoyment and a great platform on which to develop more sophisticated applications. The 9-volt battery-powered robot (battery not included) is driven by dual electric motors and controlled by a Microchip PIC16C505 PICmicro Microcontroller.

With two light sensors and infra-red "collision detectors" the robot is pre-programmed with the following "behaviors" built in:

• Random Movement - change forward direction when an object is encountered
• "Photovore" - seek out light
• "Photophobe" - avoid light
• "Maze Solver" - follow wall

These behaviors can be selected along with the ability to manually control the operation of the robot by the infra-red remote control included in the kit (two AAA batteries required). With the addition of a BASIC STAMP BS2 Microcontroller (not included) customized applications can easily be built.

All of the software code for the Basic Stamp applications is included on the accompanying CD-ROM along with illustrated assembly instructions, many schematic. Block diagrams and over 100 pages of robot building basics are taken from the best-selling Robot Builder's Bonanza, 2nd edition, by Gordon McComb.

To illustrate how simple it is to develop applications for the TAB Electronics Build Your Own Robot Kit consider the following application which can be programmed into the robot's BS2:

' Robot Life - Simulate an animal's existence over a 2 Minute "Day"
' { $STAMP BS2 }
 
' Mainline
        high SC                ' Set the I/O Bits As O/P
        high SD                '  and High
 
Loop:                          ' Repeat from here for each "Day"
        RobotData = Behavior1  ' Start Day off by wandering about
        gosub RobotSend
        pause 30000            ' Wander for 30 Seconds
 
        RobotData = Behavior2  ' Now, look for "Food" (Light)
        gosub RobotSend
        pause 30000            ' Search/Feed for 30 Seconds
 
        RobotData = Behavior1  ' Wander again for a few Seconds
        gosub RobotSend        '  after feeding
        pause 10000
 
        RobotData = Behavior3  ' Find a dark spot to sleep for 
        gosub RobotSend        '  the rest of the "Day"
        pause 30000            ' Behavior3 stops at obstacle
        pause 20000            ' 50 Seconds left in "Day"
 
        goto Loop              ' Start the new "Day"

These 16 lines create an application which will make the robot run around the room ("Behavior1"), look for light which could be considered "food" ("Behavior 2" - "Photovore") and then look around the room for a dark place to sleep.

The example application above is the basis for many of the early experiments in robotics. From this humble beginning, which can be programmed into the robot's BS2 in just a few seconds, you can conduct your own experiments into artificial intelligence.

This product is designed for users aged 14 years and up. The kit includes: pre-assembled and tested PCB, robot hardware, remote control, instruction booklet, a CD-ROM containing BASIC Stamp 2 programming instructions and code.

You can find out more about the TAB Electronics Build Your Own Program Kit by pointing your browser to: http://www.tabrobotkit.com.

Click Here to order from Amazon.com. Click Here to order from Amazon.com.