The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Build Your Own Robotic Dog — And Much More Major Keary |
No doubt you have seen pictures, or even video clips, of a Japanese-manufactured robotic dog, Sony's AIBO; a pretty sophisticated product, and at an enormous price. Japan has been at the forefront of recreational robotics and has produced some grand masters of the art, such as Joe Nagata and Jin Sato. Each of them has written a book that, thanks to No Starch Press, are available to an English-speaking audience.
Jin Sato's LEGO Mindstorms - The Master's Techniques describes - amongst many other things - how MIBO (the author's LEGO version of AIBO) was created. Complete assembly instructions and parts lists are included with extensive illustrations of assembly details. MIBO has achieved LEGO hall-of-fame status, and I think it looks far more interesting than AIBO.
One of the attractions of LEGO's Mindstorms Robotics Invention System (RIS) is that one can construct a robot, and then disassemble it to recycle the components in a new project. In either the design or disassembly stage it is desirable to have diagrams of how a project will be constructed, or how it was constructed (just in case one wants to do it again).
There is a group of applications - all freeware - written specifically for the purpose: MLCad, L3P, and L3PAO. They can be used in conjunction with another application, POV-Ray, which will be familiar to many users. The results are quite sophisticated, as shown by the many excellent illustrations throughout the book. Chapters devoted to their use include URLs for downloading the programs.
The first part of the book includes information about components in the LEGO Technic range with illustrations; an invaluable resource. The diagrams of how various parts work with each other are also very useful as a constructional guide.
The second part focuses on software and how to program the RCX (LEGO's onboard processor). There are two main options: input using LEGO's RCX Code, or writing a program in one of the other available languages. In either case the code/program has to be downloaded to the RCX, which has an infrared transmitter/receiver. There is an assumption that readers who want to compile and download routines have a reasonable familiarity with programming. RCX coding is visual and quite easy to master; it also has the advantage of lending it self to being represented in graphical form.
Part 3, which takes up about half the book, is about creating robots. It begins with an example that demonstrates the use of sensors and gears and provides the RCX code in visual format. The first project, a tire robot (it moves on wheels with tires), is developed through various levels of complexity as more new gadgets are built on.
The next projects are the construction of multi-legged robots that move by way of a walking motion and a robot with a grabbing hand. Graphical representations of RCX coding show the reader how to program these devices. Extensive use is made of illustrations to show details of construction.
A chapter shows "how to build your own essential MIBO", which I assume means the basic model. The author says, "I continue to improve MIBO little by little" and in this chapter takes the reader through the full constructional and programming details. In this instance the programming is by way of NQC (Not Quite C). An interesting feature of MIBO is that it uses two processors.
The last part of the book describes LEGO CAD software and has a chapter on practical aspects of collecting, organising, and maintaining LEGO parts.
An excellent manual that describes a range of practical projects; they are practical in the sense that readers can follow the diagrams, instructions, and other information. The large format lends itself well to the excellent illustrations. The projects described teach various mechanical aspects of robotic design and construction that are applicable to any other robotic project using LEGO RIS. Good value and well worth looking at by anyone thinking of taking up recreational robotics.
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Jin Sato: Jin Sato's LEGO Mindstorms, The Master's Technique ISBN 1-886411-56-5 Published by No Starch Press, 361 pp., RRP $55.00 incl. GST. |
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Reprinted from the September 2002 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
