Premier Issue Dew

PREMIER COLLECTOR'S EDITION
I
I
$4.95 US/$5.95 CAN

0 4>
Bulk Rate
I
U.S. Posta ge
PAID
a 74470 93568 1 Permit NO. 3:
Sacramento,
t~~-
--..,,:!!!!!,,"""""'-~--::' -'-
Jo in The Price/Performance Revolution
The Scout is an advanced low cost mobile robot system . The SyrriCentric' drive
system allows turning about geometric and sensing centroids. This, combined with
360 0 tactile and sonar sensing, greatly simplifies path planning and control algorithms.
Power
The Scout features a sophisticated power system: on board battery changing and
monitoring, more than 24 hours of operating life, and AC interface for charging and
direct operation.
Communications
Nomad Scout High speed wireless ethernet with full TCP/IP support turns your Scout into a network
$3 ,999 ioithoui node allowing seamless connectivity and control.
ications
COl/ 1I111l11
- ~ .' '!"'"-- '. ~"!'""'~ ... Software

-,
• • ~'
I"": .- ~ '~
--•
~
The Scout is fully supported by the Nomadic Software

• ,t . \ , ! ~ '~ :
I ,r S:': J ... ,
I I Develo pme nt Environment, the same full featured
• i/~-" e nvironment used by researchers with the industry
-
I
.f.
/ i=g:t-=~=-.:'=:"'"
standa rd No mad 200 and 150 robots. This package
,-
, .....:.~;jW- j:"" ":'::t..:.._ .... --
·u
feat ures a fully functional multi-robot simulator, a GUI
-..-
..-
-~-
Ii' .l!L J
2J~ .!:!J~
<...,r-- j)
~~-.'!!"-,.!:,J~",,"~J _""':.".4.1
~_~-L-I~
-'= J--"'--J
I
- r- I , interface to sim ulated and real robots, advanced
deb uggi ng and data recording tools, and interfaces to
!!!!1~ ''' ..-.i ::7:::7''::.-=-..':
'\i"·c·' ." '''' :W'~ ~5; C, CH, and LI SP.
Scout Pack
Make your own Scout RoboCup soccer team and take
advantage of a special offer for five Scouts equipped
with special RoboCup hardware options.
~
" "
,/ , , , > ,
6 ' '
, y
NOMADIC
TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
2133 Leghor-n St reet, Mountain View, CA 94 043- 16 0 5, TEL 650.988.7200, FAX 650.988.7201 , EMAIL nomad esr-obots.com, http: / /www.rohots.com
cae.science & technology
MICHAEL A . GREENE
publisher
editor-in-chief
D AVE ALBRIGHT
production manager
art director
TOM DURKIN
news & features editor
JAMES 01 VITTORIO
PETER STRA IT Deta iled instructions to guide the
D OUG WINTER design and construction of your
fire fighting r obot .
JOHN PICCIRILLO, PH. D.

Base Motor & Wheels, Basi c Stamp , Batt eries,
Steppers, UV Flame Detector, Passive Infrared Search, Sound r
KRISTIN E WILLS, M. D .
contributing editors
Ac tivation, Na vigation , and Extin guishin g the Flame.
by John Pi ccirillo
8
C ONTRIBUTOR S
Karl Lunt
Terry King
Ronni Katz An intro to robot design .
Robin Murphy, Ph.D.
The Iconoclast The Fire Exting uishing A utonomous
Robot cons iders a maze of design er's
ADVERTISING questions. Base, Navigation & Propu lsion.
Dave Albright 916.632.1000 by Terry King
ads@robotmag.com
5
EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS
send manuscripts or outline to
Robot Science & Technology
2351 Sunset Blvd #170-253
The Vx-Files
Rock/in, CA 95765 What the med ia couldn 't tell you about Pathfinder.
editor@robotmag.com by Tom Durkin
Rob ot Scie nce & Technology (ISSN
1096-4754) is p u blis he d m onthly a t
2351 Su nse t Blvd #170 -253,
Ro cklin , CA 95765; 916 .632.1000;
Fax:916.632.9216; info®ro botm ag.com .
No part o f th is p ublication m ay be re-
35
prod uced by m ech an ical, photographi c
or electro nic p rocess, o r in the form of
• •
electro nic recording. nor may be stored
in a retri ev al sys te m, transmitted o r
otherw ise copied for public or pri vat e
uses without the written permission of
a dam Ir s
th e publisher. Su bsc rip tio n inquiries: Going Where No One Has Gone Before ...
U.s . and Ca nada 888.510.7728; all other
co u n tries 916.632 .1000. Issu e price; How About that Anti-Asteroid Task Force?
$4.95 rus: $5.95 (Ca na da) . Su bscrip-
tio n rates : 6 m onths $19 .95 U. S., What's Honda Up To?
$29.95 Ca na da (U .S. fund s ).
Are We LIS?
Pos tmas ter: Send cha nge of ad d ress to
Robo t Science & Technology 2351 Su n-
set Blvd #170-253, Rock lin, CA 95765.
20
2 • R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY
---------------------------------~
Our Mission:
to immerse readers in 21s t century robotics
technology with in-depth reports on real robots
and through hands-on adventures with home,
classroom, and sport robots.
- - - - - - - - - - - Contents---------------..
An intro to programming microcontrollers. First in a series

of "cont r oller chips " articles.
Want to design a robot with brains, but never useda microcontrcller? Here's a beginner's
introduction to programming Motorola's 68HCll chip.
by Karl Lunt 40
An intro to working with aluminum. First in a series of "materials" articles.

Learn its characteristics and how to identiftJ grades . Tips for cutting, milling ,
bending, welding & bolting. A must-read for serious bot builders.
by Ronni Katz 45
Autonomous Rescue Robots at CSM
The Colorado School of Mines' marsupial
multi-agents use squirrel-like foraging behavior
to locate disaster victims .
by Tom Durkin
34
Interview: Verner Gresty 24 Our Guest: The Iconoclast. .. ... ... ... . 63
New Product Announcement: CYBUG .. 12 Book Reviews.. ........ ..... .... ... .... .. .... 54
Resources for Robot Builders .. ........ 13 Advertising 55

Booting Up Your Robotics Business.. 14 Submission Guide 56
Feedback Loop ... .. ........... ........... ... 17 Event Calendar... ... ... ... .................. 64
[OVER DESIGN:
The, Real Silicon Man. Designed by Mike Greene & Dave Albright. The head of our
Gorporates images of a BotBoard 2, a microcontroller described in Karl Lunt's story, page 40.
BotBoard su lied courtes Marvin Green.
P REM IER ISSUE • 3
announcement
Trinity College
"11.1 ';I()Hf'IN()
TWO $1,000 First Place Prizes
The 1998 Trinity Co llege Firefighting H orne Robot Contest will be held on th e Trinity College campus
Hartford, CT, on Sunday, April 19, 1998. This is the largest, public, true robo tics competition he ld in th e l
th at is open to entrants of any age, abil ity or experience from anywhe re in th e world. The goal of the conte§
to build a robot that can find and exting u ish a fire in a house. The cha llenge for the entrants is to buik
computerized (not radio-contro lled) robo tic device that can m ove through a model of a single floor of a hou
de tect fire (a lit candle), and th en put ou t th e flame.
Last year's weekend con test d rew interest from people in alISO states and 19 countries. Participants rang
from college professors and engi neers to eleme ntary school stu de nts. There w ill be a Junior Division for the
in High School and younger, and a Senior Division for eve ryo ne else. A cash prize of $1,000 will be awarded
the top winner in each division, and ad ditio na l cash prizes will go to othe r wi nners in th ose d ivision s.
Rules for th e 1998 contest are $3.

Videotape of the 1997 contest is $25 (shipping included).
Send cash, check or mon ey order - payabl e to TRIN ITY COLLEGE - to :
Jake Mendelssohn
190 Mohegan Drive
West Hartford, CT 06117
or d ownload th e rul es from
www. trinco ll.edu/ - robo t
If you have ad di tiona l question s, con tact: JMENDEL141@AOL.COM
Good luck with your robot. We'll see you in April!

Reg ional Contest Sites
Official regional contests have been estab lished that opera te u nder the same rules as the main contest in Hartford.
Contact the sponsoring groups d irectly for more informat ion abo u t these regional contests.
Seattle Robotics Society, kevi nro@nwlink.com, www.seattlerobotics.org

Sou thern Alberta Ins titu te of Tech., cra ig.maynard@sait.ab.ca, www.robotgames.com
Ft. Worth IEEE Region 5, b.hayes@ieee.org, www.flash.ne t/-ieeeftw fiJ::' Sponsored b)
\CJ,"O T O R OLB
Easv reading"
Cool robot"
Fire Extinguishing Autonomous Robot
Robot Construction Instruction

Story and photos by Terry King
Ever since I was a child, I hav e always been facinated by robots .

I imagined a machine moving under its own power, acting under its own
control. Movies and TV fueled my thoughts of creating my own robot.
While I was enjoying the imaginative entertainment, ternational attention. Good examples are contests such
I constantly scrutinized the designs. What kind of bat- as the Trinity College Fire Fighting Robots Contest in
teries would supply enough power? What kind of pro- Hartford, Conn. (www.trincoll.edu z' <- robot), Robot
pulsion would it take? How could the arms be designed Wars (www.robotwars.com) in San Francisco and MIT~
to move, grab and lift objects? How would the sensors sponsored events.
work? How could I make it think? In December of 1996, while surfing the Internet, I
Now, many years since the The Day the Earth Stood found out about the Trinity College contest. In short
Still, robots have become a part of our society, although order, I was hooked . I researched everything I could
not quite like Robbie - the robot from Forbidden Planet. about the contest - controllers, sensor systems and what
Manufacturing plants and automobile factories have other people were doing with robots in general.
long used specialized robots. Additionally, robots are Deciding that not only would I enjoy it, but that it
finding their way into fields such as medicine, under- would be a great father-son project, the creation of our
water exploration, detonating explosive munitions fire fighting robot began. My son and I both agreed we
and extraterrestrial exploration, like the Mars Sojoumer. wanted it to be autonomous. Thus, he named it FEAR -
In recent times, there has been a steady increase of Fire-Extinguishing Autonomous Robot.
interest in robotics by people in general. More and Perhaps you have considered constructing your own
more, robot competitions have gained national and in- robotic marvel. Now, more than ever, is an excellent
- -- - - - - - - -- - --- -- - - .- - ~------
time to ven ture int o this endeavor. Som e have built rob ots to ga the r th e fire, FEA R pump ed wa te r
Components and parts are available as many ball s or other object s in the through an adjus table sp ray nozzle
that make it possibl e for an yon e to shortes t tim e possible. Miniature
create a fun ctional robot. robots hav e been enginee red to pla y How Will It Behave?
Wh en building a robot, the first soccer as a team. In Robot War s, Will it be au to nom ous or d ead
step involves planning. Before yo u your robot defends itself again st reckoning in its d esign ?
pick up any tool or bu y any materi- other robots Firs t, con-
als, yo u sho uld invest conside rable intent on its sider auton o-
thou ght into your robot's d esign . destruction - mou s rob ots
and atta cks
TODAY, ANYONE CAN Th ey collect
What Do I Want It to Do? its opponents d ata fro m
So me bu ild er s ha ve kept to a with eq u a l BUILD A FUNCTIONAL se nso r y
s im p le objec tive like, " Move zeal. inputs a n d
arou nd but avoid obs tacles." Oth- Our robot AUTONOMOUS ROBOT then eva lua te
ers ha ve built rob ot s to navigat e was d esigned what to d o
mazes or sea rch for a light sou rce. entirely with n e xt. Th eir
Th en th er e a re th ose with m ore the fire fighting con tes t in mind. pro gramming pro vides a se t of be-
complex objectives. FEAR' s purpose was to navigate the haviors in resp onse to information
corridors without touching the made avail able to them . Their pro-
walls, reco gnize the rooms, en te r grams may have an overall objective
FEAR with its ho od up: Not e th e
the rooms, and scan for pr esence of to accomplish, but what it actually
adjustable spray nozzle 011 the robot 's
wat er canno n and th e water tank
a flam e. If your rob ot detect ed a encou nters during its mission win
mounted on the turret. See the onboard flam e, it wa s to approach the flam e, determine its exact actions.
controller under the turret. exting u ish it, exit the room, and re- Autono mous designs are meant to
turn to the starting point. To put ou t be adaptive in a variable env iron -
ment. For example, an auton om ous
robot removed from one maze and
placed in a new one will au tomati-
cally ad apt to the new ma ze.
Second, look at d ead-reckoning
d esign s. These robots use a prepro-
gramme d set of instructions, which
are carried ou t precisely. Each of its
actions is pred efined. It seeks its
objective with intensity, oblivious to
what is happen ing around it. Wh ile
this d esign is effective in a known
env ironme n t, it cannot d eal with
obs tru ctio ns or changes. A d ead -
reckoning rob ot programmed for a
particular ma ze, then removed to a
new a nd different o ne, will in-
stantly fail. However, if th e robot's
objective is con stant, with all pa-
rameters rem aining th e sa me eve ry
time, the d ead-reckoning approach.
can offer precision behavior.
Whichever d esign yo u cho ose,
you must make the d ecision early
on . Autonomous d esign s rely on
good senso ry information and lots
of it. Dead-reckoner s need good
encode r information to d etermine
precise di stan ces traveled.
6 • R OBOT S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY

- - - -- - - -- - - - -- - - -
What Will Control It?

You must select the controller, or
microprocessor, that will be the
"brains" of your robot. There are a
variety of devices that lend them-
selves to robotics. Some controllers
are .packaged with the necessary
penpherals, such as motor drivers
digital and analog 1/0 (input/out~
put). ports, and onboard memory.
Their programming formats
include BASIC, variations of
BASIC, assembly, C, or variations
ofC.
Popular examples of these con-
~rollers are the BASIC Stamp,
invented at Parallax, and the Handy
Board, invented at the MIT Media
Lab. Both are loaded with excellent
features ideal for mobile robots.
0~1e problem with industrially
To build FEAR, we decided to use The programmable Handy Board, the
available RC performance vehicles brains of FEAR, gave our firefighting
the Handy Board. It came with a
is the large amount of current they robot the autonomous ability to find and
stout battery pack, LCD (liquid
consume. Some people have had extinguish a small fire. Note the LCD
crystal display) screen, 32K of
success with the chassis of radio- screen mounted on the board and thefour
memory, digital and analog I/O
controlled cars made by Traxxas 2-alllp motor ports just above it.
ports, four l-amp motor ports, and
(www.traxxas.com). Toy stores or
a software package called
department stores like Wal-Mart
Interactive C.
often sell scaled-down, medium- We 've g o t Java!
My employer, American Commu-
quality, treaded earth-moving toys.
nications Network of Bakersfield, CA Does your robot have sonar, infra-
Look for one that already has sepa-
(www.acncommunications.com), red, 8 tactile sensors, and voice syn-
rate right and left drive motors. thesis? Perhaps, but can you pro-
generously sponsored the purchase.
Wheel s are more energy-efficient gram your robot from your web
but may have traction problems browser? With our new Java-based
Tracks? Wheels? Legs?
under some conditions. Four-wheel robot control system, it's as easy as
Once you have your controller,
designs make for a stable robot, but point & click, copy & paste. The
you ~ust next decide on the type
on the downside, steering is com- RB5X'Mbase unit is also available as an
of dnve system best suited for the inner-component kit.
plicated. (See Navigating Mobile Ro-
terrain your robot will traverse. Will
bots: Systcms and Techniques by J.
the topography be rough and un- 800.422.4265
Borenstein, H. R. Everett and
even? Smooth? Slippery?
Liqiang Feng.) Two-wheel designs
Track, or Caterpillar-type, treads
with two drive motors offer steer-
can handle just about any kind of
ing response like that of tracks, with
terrain. They also greatly simplify
the added advantage of requiring Shown here:
the problem of steering. Having one
less energy to turn. On the other RB5X base unit,
tread go forward with the other RF transmitter
hand, they require some sort of
reversed makes snappy turns. But heat/light/sound kit,
caster or skids to balance them.
that kind of maneuverability comes video, and 5-axisann;
Under smooth, ideal conditions, fully assembled.
at a price. Track designs take con-
wheels can prove to be very
siderably more power than wheels
effective.
because of the increased points of
Wal k i n g robots bring about a
friction. As noted above, good
very different set of design hurdles.
sensory information is important www .edurobot.com
Multi-legged configurations must 'Java' is a registered trademark o f Sun Mic rosysterns
here to ensure that a 90-degree turn RB5X™ by the General Robotics Corporatio n ™
is actually 90 degrees. continued on page 22
PREMIER ISSUE • 7
Fire Science Meets
~@J2J@~
~UG:l~l}u[hjlSDU(~~\~
by John Piccirill o
Here are the nuts and bolts

details of how I designed and built a robot for the
Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest.
And I won't hide the process, including my mistakes.
I
wish I could say that I followed a to p-down 1. A pla tform to navigate a known floor plan. Max
approach from beginning to end. But u nfortu- size was a 12" cube. To allow for navigating errors,
nately, I'm not that good an engineer. Actually, I smaller is better.
relied partly on the robot's behavior and on extensive 2. A sensor to reliably detect a standard candle flame
testing to guide the development process, (especially at a max distance of 4' . The base of the candle flame
to find the failure modes) . can vary from 6" to 8" above the floor.
Very briefly, the basic requirement is to bui ld a robot 3. A candle extinguis her.
that will navigate a known floor plan in an 8' x 8' square 4. A sing le -board computer that has a simple
foot robot house, find a lit candle, and extinguish it in development environment.
a minimum amount of time. 5. Software : an optimal search s tr a teg y in a
The five basic systems required are: the navigation high er-level langu age. A bonus is given for return ing
platform, the flame detector, the extinguisher, th e to the starting po int after the candle is put ou t, so the
computer, and the control software. software needs return-path tab les.
A bonus is g iven for starting the robo t w it h a 6. A sound activa tion circuit to work with a buzzer.
buzzer tone so I'll include a so und activa tio n unit.
In summary then, here are m y top level d esi g n As I worked, a compact and reliable robot eme rged,
requirements. but only after several missteps. It helped that I had
P REMIER ISSUE • 9
C _
~
experienced a previous errors . I made the s p ra y e r m a r,
fire fighting contest, and effective with an additive purchase-
1996 FLOOR P LRN had wa tched video from a fire protection services busines
tapes of past events. (look under Fire Extinguishers in tIl l
As a robot, my new yellow pages).
AoomO
sc ,
robot, Marv, is different 3. Marv's navigation was atrociou
SA
in every system from and he frequently collided with wall
I - my first fire fighting ro- and got stuck. After a long talk w HI
-
SB SB
, bot, which competed in him, I added a rear bumper with tw ,

SA
I se I 1994' s contest. hemispherical bumps (a ro ll-o i
Aoome deodorant ball cut in half) at eithe
I
I
I, Background end. Every now and then Marv WOUil1
Aoom B
I
[I ~
-'.'.,,,,,,'
My original plan was
98"
to build on what I had

back up, cra sh into a wall and thereb -
square itself - comical to watch, bu
done with Marv-94. It effective.
II wa s 10" in diameter 4. Marv u sed "kill assessment.'
I SA 5. se
i (with two layers), used After Marv sp rayed a candle it WOUL1
! a motor and gearbox re-scan the light sensor to confirm thai
sc SB SA AoomA
from an old Big Trac toy, the flame was out. If it was not, Ma r
98
a CdS visible light sen- moved closer and sprayed again.
These dimensions are approximations and are sor, a car windshield With these strategies, Marv put tnl
NOT 100% accurate and that's Whythe numbers washer pump to squirt candle out in two out of three runs.
don't add up exactly . Welcome to the real world! water on the candle, and
wheel encoders to The New Marv
measure the distance traveled. It For the new Marv I wanted a smalle
searched for the candle in a fixed or- platform, and aimed for an 8" diam
d er among the four available rooms. eter. I also wanted to add UV flam,
Coming to a doorway, Marv-94 detectors. These highly sensitiv:
turned, entered and scanned the light devices use a part of the UV spectrun
sensor with a stepper motor. If no (185 to 260 nanometers) called th.
candle wa s found, Marv would solar blind. Since this is no t presen
advance further in the larger rooms in most light sources the sensor c Ol]
and search again before re-tracing its detect a candle flame by reflec ted ligh
steps and trying the next room. When without being affected by backgrounc
the candle wa s found, the pump lighting. This allows it to see a cand k
sprayed water on the flame. even if it's not directly visible. This wa
This technique worked fairly well a crucial feature of my design, as I'M
and Marv took fourth place. How- describe below.
ever, making Marv really reliable From my prior experience, I knev
required a few tricks. that most navigation problems resul
1. The scanning light sensor looked from the inability to make exact 91
for an increase, followed two steps later degree turns. An error as small as i
by a decrease in light level. It also com- couple of degrees soon has the rob o
pared the light level measured two steps crashing into walls. Therefo re
earlier with the current measurement, wanted to make the m inirnu n
rather than with some preset light level. number of turns.
These precautions eliminated the com- One way to do this is to check ,
mon problem of unknown and non- room for a lit candle without turnin]
uniform backgrounds. to en ter it. So Marv traveled down "
2. A spray tip from a garden insecti- ha ll, stopped in fron t of a doorway ~{
cide sprayer was used to set Marv's de termine if a candle was presen
water stream. During discharge the (using the UV sensor, w hich has ,H
stream was swep t from side-to-side a at-large field-of-view) . No tu rns
Ii ttle to com pensa te for pointing continued on pag e 2:
Why A Magazine About Robots Now?
Our unique magazine reaches a highly focused readership. Two yea rs of market testing and trade research has
proved that tens of thousands of people are already building robots: home robots, classroom robots and sport
robots. Our audience, hungry for information, has been clamoring for a dedicated magazine. The ingredients we
promise are: commitment to excellence, respect for th e intelligence of our readers, and enthusiasm for robotics.
We are multiplying the size of the robotics market

by reaching an audience w ho has no t yet seen a magazine about real robots.
What is Robot Science & Technology?

RS&T is the only dedicated gateway to this new rapid-growth market.
You're enjoying a fresh new kind of magazine tha t tens of thousands of consumers have never seen before: a
unique monthly resource to help them comprehend the robo tic applicatio ns that are playing an increasingly mean-
ingful role in our lives. We write to a level tha t any technically-oriented consumer can read to get a hands-on
understanding of one the most powerful technologies of the 2151 century.
Our expert writers help readers build affordable, useful robo ts for home, classroom and competition use.
Every month we focus on :
Highlights of Recent Robot Competitions and Events

(There are over a hundred major competitions each year,
many drawing thousands of spectators and dozens of robotic competitors.)
Preparation Tips for Upcoming Contests

(How to build, how to compete, how to win.)
Resources for Educators, Small Robotics-Related Businesses and Robot Clubs

(College engineering and computer science departmen ts, even high schools, are filling classes
in artificial in telligence, robo tic behavior an d robo t design.)
Plus: What's New in Humanoids, Space, Exploration, Police & Military Robots
Do you remember how a few techno-nerds

changed our world in the '70s & '80s
by using computers?
THE PERSONAL ROBOTICS EXPLOSION IS HAPPENING NOW,

in schools, clubs and garages across the land.
Who Reads RS&T?

Educators: Our ha nds -on projects make learning interesting and concrete.
Students: The bri ghte st, most curious students get m ore from extracu rric ular reading.
Hobbyists: Building robots is a hands-on hobby, perfect for tech-heads.
Researchers: Our ar ticles offer a fresh perspective.
Techi es: In the New Millenniu m, robo tics will be one of the most promising job opportunities.
Cons u mers: They' re looki ng for some thing new, some thing exciting, something very Wow !
L
CYBUG: -
A Real
Computer Bug
CYBUG 1 is an exciting neweducational
robot kit. It combines elements of
electronics, robotics, mechanics and
ecology in a unique and interesting
package, but it uses no microprocessor and requires no programming.
It's instructional, easy to build, and fun to modify and customize.
T
he CYBUG acts like a living vided in the educational instruc- tempt to suck the energy out
organism, with behaviors tion manual. them. This add-on kit includes a
and instincts designed into Although the CYBUG robot has small transmitter that attaches it
its circuitry. This "robe-organism" basic survival "instincts" built in, the rear of an herbivore CYBUG 00
is nocturnal (most active at night) these instincts can be enhanced that the predator CYBUG can localji
and can be configured to be photo- with the addition of optional its victim.
tropic (light-seeking) or photopho- daughterboards called HBFs
bic (light-avoiding). It has a pair of (higher brain function). HBF HBF 3: Programmable
"feelers" that allow it to avoid ob- boards mount on top of the The CYBUG is given a small us .
stacles or edges. primary CYBUG platform and re- programmable PIC (peripheral
A quick adjustment of its poten- semble a small insect head. interface controller) microproce..
tiometer transforms a CYBUG from sor, or "brain." This add-
a fast-moving, aggressive "preda- HBF 1: Hunger microprocessor controls t
tor" to a slow but energy-efficient This add-on board causes the CYBUG's behavior until the pow .
"herbivore." CYBUG to be attracted to a feed- level of the robot drops below
No two CYBUGs are exactly the ing station when the onboard critical level, then the phototropi
same, and you can come to recog- voltage drops below a critical level instinct takes over to find a fo
nize the unique characteristics of - in other words, it gets hungrv, source.
each individual. When the CYBUG is fully charged, The CYBUG is just one membs
One of the most fascinating at- it becomes photophobic and seeks of a new robotic "cyber-ecosystern
tributes of the CYBUG is its abil- out the protection of darkness . that parallels the Darwinian vies
ity to seek out its own food source Materials for construction of a of nature in a unique and fascin a
and energize itself. Just as a hon- feeding station are included with ing manner. More than a toy rob
eybee is attracted to a flower for this add-on kit. CYBUG and its evolving relative.
its nectar, the CYBUG is drawn to teach the fundamentals of electron
the light of a "sunflower," where HBF 2: Predacious ics, robotics, biomechanics an
it feeds on a meal of raw energy The predacious (predator) HBF cybernetics.
to recharge its onboard battery. board modifies the CYBUG's in- The CYBUG is suitable f
Details on how to build a stincts and sensors so that it will novice to advanced roboticist.
sunflower feeding station are pro- track down other CYBUGs and at- Soldering is required.

resources · - -
For More
W
hen RS&T correspo nde nts visit competiti on s,
two com me nts always come up: "Wow, there
are some really bri ght people with coo l
rob ots!" and, "Man, you w ouldn't believe how
unprep ared some peopl e we re."
, .••
If you' re new to spo rt robo tics, we suggest you ge t a video of last yea r's event.
Information on the Nex t: Be Brave. Go and Show ! Even if you don 't win, (or d on 't com plete th e
course), you' ll still have a grea t tim e meeting peopl e, sha ring kn owled ge, and
CYBUG: learning to mak e bett er robo ts. To help yo u, here's a video offer from the Fire
Fighting Hom e Robot Contest. Thi s isn 't a glitzy PR piece, but it d oes show,
close up, how the contes ta nts ran the course, wi n or lose.
JCM Ele ctron ic Services
403.284 .2876 Send $25 check or mon ey orde r pa yable to Trinit y College and ad d ressed to:
CYBUG@nucleus .com Jake Mendelssohn, 190 Moh egan Dr, West Hartford CT, 06117
www.nucleus.com /-CYBUG
M ARKS' STANDARD HANDBOOK

DISTRIBUTORS FO R M ECH ANICAL E NGINEERS
edited by Eugene A. Avallone and
Theodore Baumeister III
US & CANADA: Thi s b eh em oth b ook see ms to b e th e
"Encyclopae d ia Britannica" of mechanical eng i-
Fu ture Activ e Components neering. The 150 contribu tors to this tenth ed ition
800.655.0006 provid e us w ith an au tho rita tive and compreh en -
sive referen ce tool for eng inee rs and students. If
you' re a rob ot builder, or are serious ly thinking
Mondo-tronics Inc. abo ut d esigning a rob ot, we recommend this book
4286 Redwood Hig hway, #226 for more than light read ing. Sections include math
San Rafael, CA 94903 tabl es, measurem ents, solid and fluid mechanics,
tel: 800.374.5764 heat, streng th of mat erials, properties of com mo n
materials, fuels, propulsion, electronic eng ineering,
fax: 415.491.4696 refrigeration, optics, and more. You don' t need to
info@mondo .com be an M.E. to ben efit from this book. In fact, you can learn a lot from the narrative
www.RobotStore.com acco m pany ing th e tabl es and formulas.
R e commend ed s o u rces: M cGraw-Hill a n d o the r maj or b ookstores

EUROPE: www.booksite.com /mcgraw-hill, tel: 800.352.3566
McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-004997-1, 1656pp hardback, $125
Technology Education Index
www.technologyindex.com
M AKI N G PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD
ASIA: by Jan Axe/so
Hard w are adventuress Jan ett e Lou ise Axelson gu ides us th rou gh PC board fabric.
tion : including drawing a circuit, designing a layout, using CAD software, etchin
Robotics World _ coppe r patterns, and so lderi ng th e com po ne nt:
100 [alan Sultan, #02-16 Thi s easy-to-rea d, concise but thorough , introd u r
' . tion to making your own circu it boards has som
Sultan Plaza I dated (1993) recommendat ion s for softwa re, but th
Singapore 199001 techniques are tim eless. Clearl y illu strated w it
tel: 65.298 .8426 man y drawings and how-to photos, this book he:
fax: 65.298.1372 the most com prehe ns ive soldering section we ' v
jstcmpa@singnet.com.sg - see n yet. The ind ex, several extensive lists of TE
so u rces, a nd p erson al tips stra teg ica lly pl a ce-
www.roboworld.com.sg through out the book mak e this an ou tstand ing in
troduction to making your own PC boards.
There are lots of hints and tips that even experience
, technicians will learn from .
, Recommended source: Most ma jor bookstores.

.........~-"-"'-L.~-"-,.......... I:.oa;,...._ _ -:~"'I Tab Books, ISBN 0-8306-3951-9, 327pp pback, $22.9,
- .- -- -
'- - , -- ~------- --- --~ - --- ----- --- - --~-
Boot-in]g Up Youlr mall l
Ro ~ Iotiics BUlsiinless
It 's said that a wise man learns from his mistakes. That's true, but incomplete. So I will now add this:
A wiser one learns from the mistakes ofoth ers. Fortunately, you 've joined a legion of robot builders who picked up this
premier issue ofRo bot Sc ience & Techno logy maga zine. You now have the benefit of learning from the mistakes of others.
When do you need a business license?
O
nce upon a time, in a neighborhood very near again when yo u sell it as part of your product. You'I
your house, a really smart propeller-head had want to keep your reseller's permit number in yOlJli
a Bright Idea (or maybe it was at least a wallet, because it's as good as cash.
saleable idea). Also, eve n if you file a simple tax form (with businest
Being bright and resourceful, PropTop thought about expenses), you'll discover that depreciation 1.1
the prospect of Morphing the considered a Good Thing by ac
Bright Idea into Gold, and so THE SOLUTION TO countants, bankers a nc
sought the counsel of sages in creditors. You might think 0
many books, tapes, seminars OVERCOMING THE FEAR OF depreciation as a loss, but tc
and mentors. creditors, a portion of it i:
"Why not get a business THE UNFAMILIAR IS TO considered as good as actua
license?" PropTop wondered. income.
But the nominal county fee When you become a r
would have to be deducted .JUST 00 IT. official business, your ego wil
from the family grocery bud- swell temporarily, lead ing tc
get, and filing unfamiliar paperwork at City Ha ll made increased, pe rhaps premature, spending. (At tax time
PropTop nervous, (although PropTop would never your accountan t will bring your ego back down to size.
admit this aloud) . So be sure to read the books about starting your OWlI
Here's the answer to PropTop ' s dilemma, wi th busi ness, browse the Web for market research and keel
explanations: banging away in the garage, developing your product
Getting a business license means you can begin to But don't forge t to get a business license before you thin)
establish a relationship wi th a bank. The sooner, the you need one.
better. General advice from someone w h o k n ows: ThE
This will become important. When you realize you solution to overcoming the "fear of the unfamiliar" is tc
want credit, the banking world will ask, "How long have just do it. First, use your phone book to find a nearbj
you been in business?" The worst answer is: less than Chamber of Commerce. This "club" of local businesse
two years. Then, when the bank is deciding how much will hap p ily answer all your freshman questions
interest to charge you for your line of credi t or loan, they Second, call the Small Business Development Centei
will often give you a better interest rate if you have a (often attached to a county, state or college agency). ViSE
relationship established. The same axiom applies when them, attend their educational briefings, take notes anc
you decide you want to accept credit cards, and then always, always ask questions, no matter how stupid.
have to deal with merchant card services. Fina lly, and perhaps most importantly:
A business license and a reseller's license can get you a Make a habit of in tr od ucing yourself and yOl]Jlj
local sales tax break and has depreciation benefits. These dream to everyone, ev eryw h ere. You'll be surprisec
may seem unimportant to you if you think that a sale how many folks will relate to you and want to part 0
proprietorship is just you, your Bright Idea and your your adventure into business.
personal credit history. But, in fact, a reseller's license PS: Use this article's advice at your own risk. RS&l
allows you to buy things free of sales tax, if those goods ass u mes no responsibility for your failures, althougl
end up in your product to be reso ld . Ot herwise, you'll we'll be happy to take credit when your business grows
pay sales tax on the stuff you buy, then pay sales tax i=\S&C
Coming Issu es: Practicing Sdfe Fax • Intellectual roperty Law • Mat's HiC1den in a Business Name
When, Why & How to Hire/Fire Employees • True-Life Pitfalls & Pratfalls of Bringing Friends Into a Partnership
Thinking Ahead Before Getting a Toll Free Number, SBA Loan or Credit Card • Successful No-Spam Spamming
Mailing Lists, the Post Office & Getting Your Monel/s Worth with Direct Mail
What You Should & Should Not Do Without a Lawyer.
14 • R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHNOLOGY
Explore cae. Science &Technology's
Galaxy of Robots
Autonomous Soccer Robot Teams
~ o rs d'oeuvre-Serving Autonomous Bu t
~Y b u g Maze Solving Micromouse Cybo~
NASA Autonomous Aerial Vehicles FIRS
I
ph o t o t r o p i c Robo-Organisms Cassir
Genetic Learning Ground Vehicle
\
\line Following PinBots Silicon [onsciousnes

VlotherBot DaughterBot Humanoi
I
'- u m o Critters Explosive Ordinanc

Iutonornnus Gathering ClusterBot
,Solar Powered MiniBots Tech Challeng
nrtcnorn ous &. Radio-Controlled Robot tllarrl o
I
~a w n Rovers Ii Rescue Robo t
In t e l l i g e n t
I
Life-Finding MarsBot
-lutonomous Vacuum Cleaners Lunar ROVE
I
~nthropomorphic Home Object Retrieve r

re t h e r e d Atomic Hockey Bot.
-l ut nnorn ous Fire Fighting Home Hnbo t
nter actlve RoboPe ts For The Hom]
vvvvvv.robotrnag. c om - 888 .510 .7728

Tr.(l.i~ Flft5T ma[nS[](l ft[]l:I[]i Tr.ail1&[](l m.r:r[]m[]USE
fli[]m.r: li[]r:,""E~ lUa&,"".(l~ mar:l1.(lE IJEr:ail1&[](l 5um[]
£:r.iiEr 5[]r:r:Er ft[]l:I[]£:U~ lUarr.[]r £:[]ml:l~i l3aii&Es
If you can't be there,

Feedback
Loop RS&T: "Do you think robots will be integrated into home life soon? How will it happ en?"
Prof Ron Arkin, Georgia Tech: "Sure. Toys!"
RS&T: "Are real robots coming to everyday life soon? How will real robots first insinuate
themselves into our daily home life?"
Prof Rod Brooks, MIT: "Absolutelsj. Toys!"
Those Curious Roboticists p laying w ith for some time. I have You Can Never Get Enoug h
and Their Flying Machines been look in g for just a m agazine Warm Fuzzies
like th is one. I w ill se nd in yo ur
You are ahead of your tim e. There postca rd today. I w ill try out yo ur Jus t a no te to say how much I
is serious interest in robotics , but new m agazine. I hope it's all yo u have enjoyed / am enjoying your
only among an exclusive class of say it is. website. It's obvious a tre mendou s
people. The rest of society only sees -Big Rich amount of work has go ne into the
it as a curiosity. Sojourner demon- is sue currently onli ne, and as a
strated to the world th e possi bili- Dear Big, thanks for taking a chance lon g-tim e (bu t in term itten t) robo t-
ties of robo tics, a nd ye t, I o n ly on us. I hope you find RS&T useful, in- ics hobbyist, I'm gra tef u l for suc h a
sensed a short-term interest fro m formativeandentertaining. If not, write resou rce . I've been in te rested in
not only the p ub lic but also the immediately with specific suggestions ro botics since th e early '70s, but
m ed ia . Once we have a robo t do and we'll keep trying to produce a high only thi s year have I found th e in -
th e dishes and put them away, then quality magazine to meet your needs. fo r ma tio n, ins piratio n and
t here will be a ser io u s in teres t. in te ractivity to really p ursue th e
(I sense th is from my w ife.) inter est. Your m agazine is a grea t
-Russell A. Buckley There Rre No Rverage ad d itio n to th ose resources. Tha nk
Robot Builders yo u for putting your magazine on
Russell, I'll agree that robotics prom- t.lust Potentially Great Ones) th e Web.
ises great benefits tothe educated classes. -David Beckham
But soon "the masses" will benefit. I am glad th at th er e is fina lly a
Haveyou seen the news clips of Eastern magazine on robo t construction. I David, I've waitedfor a long time to
Europeans searching for land mines have for th e lon gest tim e wa n ted to answer your words in print. Finally,
with sandbags on their feet? It's time ve nture into this field, but there was the webexperiment seems to have paid
NOW for robots tobe EVERYWHERE. not much in th e field available for off. Thanks for theencouraging words.
Don 't let the media view of the world the average builder. I wou ld like However, we'll keep the website in a
fool you. ThetJ can't report on a tech- to ge t sta rted in th e field as soon as slightly different form, fro m now on:
nology they don 't understand. For a possible. RS&T's Onl.ine Suppl imen i, Hope
prime example of the limits of the me- -Dave Johnson you like it.
dia , seeour Pathfinderstory on page36.
Dave, your letter echoes the senti-
meni s we' ve been hearing around W E'D LOVE TO READ
Have CanBots. Will Subscribe America during three years of market
YOUR FEEDBACK,
testing. Stick with us, and we'll con-
OK ! I looked over your webs ite siruct a whole world of robots. WHETHER IT'S
after getting the postcard you se nt POSITIVE DR NEGATIVE.
me in the mail, and I liked w ha t I Send
saw. I have tw o robo ts (canbots : Correspondence to;
Richie & No Name) tha t I've been Robot Science Technology - 2351 Sunset Blvd #170-253- Rocklin, CA 95765
or
ed itor@robotmag .com
P REMIER ISSUE- 17
- -- - - - - - -_._ - . _--
JRCOB E. MENDELSSOHN
CONNECTICUT ROBOTICS SOCIETY
The guy who provides the venue for all these robotic
fire fighters is Jake Mendelssohn. If there were at
Booster's Club Award for the Advancement of Popu-
lar Robotics, Jake would win by a landslide. He started
his own robotics company in 1975, published the
quarterly Robot Review in the '80s, and now works with
M ICHREL R. GREENE second ary schools, universiti es, museums, private com-
Publisher panies and the film industry. Jake ha s been encourag-
Ediior-in-Chiei ing th e development of robot competitions through-
out North America, and he ho sts th e annual Fire Figh t-
ing Home Robot Contest, introduced on page 4.
ROBIN MURPHY, PH.D.

COLORRDO SCHOOL OF MINES
We were pretty impressed b y Robin Murphy' s
leadership at AAAI-97. So it seem s natural that she's
co-chairing the Mobile Robot Competition atAAAI-98. She
DRVE RLBRIGHT tackles tough projects and leads teams with energy and
competence. She and her students developed a very cool
A rt Director
Production Manager and useful team of rescue robots, described on page 34.
TERRY KING, COMPUTER ENGINEER

RMERICRN COMMUNICRTIONS NETWORK
When we saw our photos ,of the '97 Fire Fighting
Home Robot Contest, one image seemed to capture the
whole spirit of RS&T. Terry and his son were hacking at
TOM DURKI N toy tractor as a father-son hobby. Dad eats, sleeps an d
News & Features Editor breathes electronics, mechanics and computers, so it' s
no surprise that their machine looked so cool. Terry
seems to be a pretty good photographer and writer, as
you'll see on page 5.
··REPORTS OF THE PROBLEM IN THE

POPULRR PRESS WERE GENERRLLY
INCOHERENT, RND IN SOME CRSES
KRIS WILLS, M. D.
BioMechanics Advisor WILDLY WRONG... " see Pathfinder page 36.
1B • R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY
JOHN PICCIRILLO, PH.D.
SIGMRTECH
Sometimes the most useful robotic applications come from mu ltidisciplinary
I
~
thought: John Picccirillo has degrees in physics and as tro nomy bu t spends his days
working for a defense contractor, his nights on robo tics, and his weekends on a
house. An amateur's ama teur, his robo tic interests include d ecentralized control,
case-based reasoning, and any thing else but vision sys te ms. John has gracious ly
IJ assisted RS&T for three yea rs, providing so u nd gui dance, useful articles, and
supportive friends hip . He also developed a two-time award-winning au tono mo us
fire fighter, detailed on page 9.
T
1
f \1
RONNI KRTZ, VETERRN ROBOT WRRRIOR
QUEST INC.
\
Well, it's nice to know abo u t all that circu itry, but w hile the RS&T staff was tour-
ing competitions last year, we noticed that a w ho le lot of people rea lly d on 't kn ow
beans abo ut metals and plas tics. So we ap proached Ronni Katz to help fill us in on
alu minum. She ma naged to tak e tim e ou t from her video production compa ny
(and her new novel) to interview her favo rite metal benders for us. Th anks Ronni,
for giving us newcom ers a grea t introduction to working with alu mi nu m, starting
on page 46.
i
1
I
I
I KRRL LUNT, SERTTLE ROBOTICS SOCIETY
,
j
-I
i After reading abou t these au tono mo us machines, a lot of our readers w ill wa nt
I
to learn th eir firs t lesson abo u t microcontrollers. We found the per fect instructor
in ve tera n writer /robot builder Karl Lunt, who ha s written nearl y a hundred
i articles on robo tics. Bu t no ed itor has ever met him, and his picture has never
appeared in public, so we can' t reall y be sure that he exists. Karl is obv iously an
I ou tstanding programme r and ama teur robo t builder. In fact, he's the only person
I w ho never had to learn SBasic. Hi s teachings begin on page 40.
If-------------------------------~/
!
••
WHEN MOST OF THE PIECES WERE WORKING, I DECIDED
IT WRS TOO UGLY, SO I RE-BUILT IT COMPLETELY... "
see Fire Science Meets Robot Technology page 9

Random Firings
GOING WHERE No ONE HAS GONE BEFORE ...
Three years ago, we asked, "How could we bring robotics to the world the way
the Techno-Nerds of the '70s brought pes into our homes?" The challenge was
to provide information that experienced robot builders could use, and that new-
comers could learn from. You are, we hope, holding the answer in your hands,
T
here were a few dozen boo ks th at ge ne ra l mini-series destroyed much of L.A. last yea r, the task
audiences could read, and tens of thousands of web force never actu ally met. In fact, no one was eve n ap-
sites. But there were no magazines that inform ed pointed to be on the committee, and there are no meet-
and entertained the neural wet nets in most of our brains. ings sched uled in the future. "We were ove rcome by
Other similar publications attempted to survive on sma ller high er pri orities," th e spo kes pe rso n said . " If this we re a
audiences,with less adve rtising, in a tighter economy,when pressin g problem , it would be globa l."
robots were not nearly as advanced, and when the popu-
lation was not nearly as technically literate. Some journa ls What's Honda Up To?
we re available, but they we re really expensive and way "This rob ot is so sec ret, d on 't even bother calling to
above the reading level of most folks who would like to as k qu estions," we we re wa rned . Indeed , w he n we
read about robots. called Honda in Jap an, they hung up the phon e as soon
Rob otici st s exp ress th eir skills in m an y fo r ms: as we mention ed th e P3. Later calls yielded so me vital
artificial intelligen ce (AI) so ftware, mechan ical crea- measurem ents and a couple of photos. Our so urce told
tures wi th va rious controllers (au tono mo us, firmware, u s th at Honda will continue to de vel op a line of
teleop erati on , radio contro l, brain s on- and off-board, autonomou s humanoid rob ots.
etc.) and in simu lations . They are fou nd in hundred s H onda' s latest humanoid robo t, P3, sta nds 1600 em
of sc hoo ls, d o z en s of cl u bs a nd in co m mercia l (5'5") and weigh s 130 kilos (286 lbs),
sta rt-ups spawned by grad stu dents. Robo ticis ts va ry Thi s is a significant improvem ent over her predeces-
in ed uca tio n: h ard w a re typ es, software typ es, sor, the P2. We've seen tapes of P2 in action. She wa lked
wa nna bees, PhDs and thou sands of "a ma teurs" (like with a slow purposeful shu ffle at 2 km /h, and climbed
Eins tein was an ama teur?) Th ose are th e au d iences we stairs with a gracefu l ga it. She d em on strat ed wa lking,
are tryin g to join togethe r. Quite a task, but then , ro- turning, asce nd ing and d escending sta irs, pushing a
boti c builders tend to share th eir inven tive id eas eas- s ta nda rd sho p p ing cart, a nd turning a nut w ith a
ily. We're quite a gregarious com mu nity! w rench. Wrist-turning resembles a d ecid ely unhuman
600 555
Ca ll me crazy (ma ny ha ve), but it' s my belief that our
community of rea ders (ed uc ated and talented ) w ill
su p po rt th is magazine w ith our collective pion eering
spi rit. I'd love to hear yo ur th ou ghts on thi s, both
positi ve and negati ve.
So, welcom e to a rob ot magazin e aime d at the Wh ole
o
Plan et! - Mike ....
N
How About that Anti-Asteroid Task

Force?
You and I may kn ow that a space-based intellige nt
nuke delivery robot cou ld save the world, but w he n
Ass istan t Secreta ry of Defen se Kenneth Bacon was
asked recently abo u t an "A nti-As teroid Task Force,"
his respon se, "We're not ve ry far alo ng," was not much
of an answer.
A Pentagon spo kes person inform ed RS&T that al-
thou gh Unde r Secretary of Defense for Acqu isitions Paul
Cominsky sugges te d the id ea af te r a TV
20 • R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHN OLOGY
triple-jointed moti on . Figure the [acobi ans here! Are We LIS?
Thi s beast's beauty is in her w eight-shifting behav- No t reall y. But let' s face it, Lost ill Space cap tured th e
ior : a slow-motion w igg le that rev eals the complexity ima gination s of a ge nera tion, and prob abl y encouraged
of her se lf-ba la ncing mechanisms. Sh e can balan ce so me of us to pursu e robo tics as a caree r. RS&T is non-
upright on a slope, or if she is push ed. Her legs ha ve fiction, but we th ou ght yo u' d like to kn ow so mething
tw o joints with 6 Degrees of Freed om, arms have tw o abo u t the va rio us robots th at appeared in the TV se ries
joints with 4 DOF, and eac h hand has 2 DOF. And those 1965-68 a nd in th e n ew mo vie th at premieres this
are force-feedback se nsi tive grippers. month. Check ou t our int er view on page 64. ,,\5&.
) P3, the new in carnati on , is much slim mer, closely
resembling a human in a spacesui t. P3's AC se rvo
I mot ors are pow er ed for 25 minutes by a 136V 6A h
nick el-zinc batter y ba ckpack.
Two Micro SPARC II CPUs run at 11 0 MHz to coo rd i-
\ nat e P3's gyros, G-sensors, came ras and 6-axis forc e
se nsors on her w rists and feet. When d esired, a w ire-
less ethe r ne t interfa ce co n nects h er to a h u m a n
opera tor's pla tform for radio control.
I w onder if Kazuo Hirai kn ew he wa s d esigning this
month's centerfo ld?
\ I
I
pes Are Passe '
If a rob ot is a com pu ter with arms and legs (or w heels,
or not ), then yo u mi ght expe ct a more po w erful pro-
cessor wo u ld d estroy an y com pe tito r w ith few er MIPS
(millions of ins tructions per seco nd) .
N ot so. In fact, when two au to no mous ma chines
Photo Obtained by RS&T Intelligence Agents
faced off at Rob ot Wars last Augus t, Bob Gross' rob ot, Shows the ICONS Assembly Line
spor ting a Par all ax Basic Stam p II, flipped a 386-pow- Preparing to Dominate the Earth with Robots .
ered cha in-saw-wield ing Camp Peavy production in
the first few seconds of th e fight.
Marc Th or pe's annual Robot Wars" in San Francisco
is one of the most exciting places on Earth for thr ee
days, and yo u' ll see us there, di gging into the program-
ming of the au tono mo us en tries, and reporting on the
eng ineering of the radio-controlled w alkers. Sure, it' s
the "Mo ns ter Truck Rally of Rob otics." But so me of
scie nce's best minds are twist ed, too.
Inquiring minds can link to Solar Engine Kit Speech Recognition Kit
Co m p lete Solar Energy Power Plan t Add speech recogniti on ca pa b ilities to projects ,
Robot Wars, LIS, Honda and the Pentagon $22" ap p liances , and rob oti cs. Circuit ca n recogni ze 40
user pro grammab le o ne seco nd wo rd s. User pro -
grams the 40 wo rd voca bulary. Circuit may be in-
through www.RobotMag.com. terfaced to o ther stand alone circuits o r applian ces
o r to a host co m p ute r system. HM200 7 IC uses lat -
est LSI techn o logy.
Speech Recognition Kit un asse mbl ed ....Sl 00 QO
LISFAN club members get a discount . - - - « irr ---..
when they order a life-size replica of the ::@I • • I ••• ••• dDJ I l J4~
original TV robot from Camera CCO - -----.-0- - -

~
Nomi rte I nes t cence
lilt. 0 degrees 1 0K
with aud io S i de Vi e w \ F lex 9 0 degrees 2 0K ohms
Icons Authentic Replicas. Black and White
Sensitivity: .3 LUX· Resolution: 430 TV lines
>90 degrees 30- 4 0K ohms
To join LISFAN, contact Flint Mitchell Voltage: 9-12 VDC• Output NTSC (1 Vpp)
Options: Bend Sensors
CAM·04 3.6 lens S90"
7331 Terri Robyn Dr. . CAM·05 pinh ole S90"
May be used to create a VRg love or as sensor for
ro bot ics. FLOl S lO"
Col or Ve rs ion S22 5"
St. Louis, MO 63129-5233
www.as-inc.com/lisfan/lisfan.html
~-I--I--I-a.b~S C'orrrparry ~
(7 18) 698-8305
To order an Icons catalog, call 39 Seneca Loop - Staten Island , NY 10314 • www.image sco.com I,'I
818-982-6175.
_________________________________________JII All orders add $ 7~ PPH • NYS residents add sales tax

F.E.A.R. continued from a e7 Electronic s (w w w .meci. co rn ).
which were ori ginally d esigned for
cordless screwd rive rs . Th ey w ere
be sy nc hro nized in ord er to ad- relatively lightweight. Aluminum is complete w ith plan etary gears for
va nce, reverse and turn in a coordi- the choice of more advanced or go od torque. The curren t draw is a
nat ed fashio n. Some d esign s have heavy-duty desi gns . It requires littl e high er than d esir ed , but oth-
em ployed ste p pe r m ot or s, while machining, however. erwise the motors were perfect. We
others use servos. Some people use Your decision as to what material found that 'l-Inch electrical conduit
expe rimenta l nitin ol shape memory to use to build the robot will be, of clamps w orke d ni cel y as motor
a lloy (SMA), s u ch as Fle xin ol course, greatly influenced by what clamps.
Muscle Wire from Mondo-troni cs the robot will be doing. If its onl y
(www.robotstore.com ).This unique purpose is to propel itself around, Which Batteries Are Best'?
material can be stretched and con- then a minimum lightweight design Common battery types range from
tr acted by regulating the flow of is appropriate. If it has to tran sport nickel-cadmium (N iCd) , gel cells,
electrical cu rren t. heavy batteries or cargo, then a more lead-acid and alkaline.
For our fire fighting d esign , we sturdy construction is called for. Lift- Alkalines are generallyused in light-
chose to use tracks. After searching ing, pushin g or pulling will also re- weight applications. The current draw
from store to store, we settled on a quire stou t construction. should be limited, as they are not re-
Tonka Toy bulld o zer. A fte r It is surp rising how far a little chargeable.
performing a mechan ical hack, we imagination will go when tr yin g to Gel cells and lead-acid batteries
a ttac hed the tracks, track w hee ls find parts for your project. For come in a good selection of current
and side fra mes to an aluminum example, in our robot, a transistor and voltage combinations. Their size
base. radio antenna made an excellent can vary some, but they usually take
boom for the water sprayer. In fact, a lot of room and tend to be heavy.
What Materials to Use? th e sp raye r itself wa s hacked from NiCd s are popular because they can
Pl a sti c? Alu m in u m? Wo od ? a hand-held squirt bottle. supply aweso me current in pack-
Man y hobby kits are pla stic, and age designs similar to alkaline or
some come with a shee t-me tal base. Avoid Tim-the-Tool-Man 's carbon-zi nc batteries. Th eir
Legos are po p ular w ith studen ts, vo ltages are a little low er
Mentality
becau se there is little or no cu tting 0.2 V p er ce ll) th an
Keep th e d esi gn a s li ght a s
or drilling involved. Legos are also
pos sibl e . H ea vi er constructi on
requires more powerful m otors.
More powerful motors require big-
ge r batteri es. Th is eventually be-
co mes a vici ous cycl e. Sp eaking
from person al expe rience, this is an
easy trap to fall into.
Al so , a load ed-down motor
draws extra current. Excess metal,
heavy batteries or other weighty
features all con tribu te to overload-
ing the drive sys tem. A poor choic e
of gears can also prevent the motor
from ope rating within its normal
range.
For ou r robot, w e found some
gears to raise the torque and bring
down th e rpm. The problem with
this approach wa s having to devise
a way to mount the gears and keep
FEAR was drioen by two cordless
screwdriver motors ( top and bottom of them precisel y aligned. Ultimately,
photo). The motorwas powered by four in our se a rch for parts, we ran
rechargeable batteries anchored to the acro ss surplus DC (direct current)
undercarriage. motors su p p lied by Mendelsson
standard cells,but this usually is not a bot operating autonomously or as Author's
problem. a dead-reckoner? Recommendations
To ensure that NiCd batteries Robots in the fire fighting contest
don't degrade over time, they must certainly need sensors to detect the Images Company
be fully discharged before being re- a flame. Some may also use bump P.O. Box 140742
charged. This assures that they will switches to detect an obstacle or Staten Island, NY 10314
tel: 718.698.8305
continue to output their full poten- wall. Some may use infrared or
fax: 718.982.6145
tial and remain in good health . sonar for object avoidance. Most www.imagesco.com
Some of the newer rechargeable will employ some type of shaft en- Specializes in items for robot experi-
batteries (e.g., Rayovac Renewals), coder to sense or track distance menters, such as voice-recognition
however, are just the opposite - traveled. boards, digital and analog compasses,
their long life and capacity depend Certain sensors can be drastically tilt switches, bend sensors and more.
on not being fully depleted. affected by the robot's own vibra- Be sure to ask for their catalog.
tion. This can be a problem with tall
What Sensors to Use? track-style drives. Electric currents The Electronic Goldmine
Sensors can be a complete study and permanent magnets in motors P.O. Box 5408
Scottsdale, AZ 85261
by themselves. (See Sensors for Mo- can distort the readings of electronic
tel: 800.445.0697 (orders)
1
\
bileRobots Theoryand Application by
H.R. Everett.) Your selection of sen-
sors depends on several things.
compasses as well.
Other sensors include bend
sensors, photocells, thermistors,
fax: 602.451.9495
www.goldmine-elec.com
Surplus electronic parts and kits.
I What are you trying to accomplish? EMF sensors, etc. Some sophisti- Features online catalog.
What kind of environment will cated designs are even employing
your robot be operating in? What rudimentary vision. MECI (Mendelsson Electronics Co.)
variables could interfere with the 340 E. First St.
operation of the sensors? Is your ro- Build a Robot for Fun! Dayton, OH 45402
By working out the design tel: 800.344.4465
meci@mecLcom
criteria in advance, you'll be able to
www.meci.com
search for and select the parts and Vast surplus electronic,
materials that are just right for your mechanical stock.
robot. Nevertheless, even with the Motors, LEDs, Controls.
best-laid plans, you'll often find a Online catalog.
reason to modify your design.
Don't be afraid to experiment. Arrick Robotics
In conclusion, adding finishing 2107 W. Euless Blvd.
touches can have dramatic results. Euless, Texas 76040
A few cable ties and a thoughtful tel: 817.571.4528
fax: 817.571.2317
paint scheme can make a world
arrick@ix.netcom.com
of difference. After all, if you Arrick makes a number of
are going to put all the automation systems, including
effort into building a stepper motor systems, positioning
robot, you might tables and robotic workcells.
as well have
fun with it Additional sources on th e
when it's Worl d Wide Web:
finished! www.parallaxinc.com.
Parallax Inc., BASIC Stamp supplier
~S&.
www.gleasonresearch.com
Handy Board supplier
www.robotstore.com
Robotic books, motors, gears,
Flexinol Muscle Wire, batteries, etc.
www.alltronics.com
Electronics, Parallax products
P REMIER ISSUE- 23
INTERVIEW: VERNER GRESTY
Robot Builder
for
Lost in Space
"Building robots is fun,
it's really quite a thrill." Photo courtesy Jilll Henson's Creature Shop (thanks, FaIl IlY)
W
hen our publisher sugges ted w e s hou ld Fortunately, he nev er had to use it.
follow Lost in Space, a n ed itor made th e All of the control signals on 60 cha nnels were elec-
poi nt that we are definit ely not a sci-fi maga- tronically recorded for instant pla yba ck, so that if the
zine. But hey, the cam py 1965 TV se ries wa s inspira- director liked a particular seque nce of motion s, all 60
tional to a lot of us, and frankly we could n' t ign ore it channels could be duplicated perfectly for the next take.
this month. So we called Verner Gresty, the Head Gu y So, what's the process they used to d esign th e bots?
in Cha rge of Building Robots for Lost in Space. Well , from conc eptu al im ages, th e y m ad e 600
Usua lly,Jim Henso n's Creature Sho p in London tends Au toCAD®drawings to help make three different sized
to make sma ll and light anima tro nic puppets. But this mod els. Then th ey chose to go w ith th e medium-sized
tim e, the hard ware wa s, in itself, a challenge that all monster, usin g fiber gla ss and traditional molding to
rob ot builders could learn from . effect the sharp corners they w an ted . They used alu-
Robot #1, w hich you'll call Big BIlle w hen you watch minum for the cha ssis. Eng ineers worked for 14 wee ks
the movie, we ighed 3000 lbs., and could lift a grow n to build two full-sized copies, making no lightweight
man easily. In fact, in on e sce ne, character Don West models for special effects.
actu ally mounts the robot. And in case you' re wo nde ring, Robot #2 is actu ally
Onboard electrical motors wouldn't have had the Robot #1 that ha s been cu t down, just like you ng Will
power d ensity d emanded by the role. So the y bought Robinson does in the movie.
hydraulic rams off the shelf, and powered the robot with Robot #2 looks innocent enough from the front, but
a TexTron 20,000 psi hydraulic generator. Yup, the robot it retains a giant and powerful scorpion arm on his back,
is teth ered, and can still make 15 mph, flat out. so that he can be quite menacing while guarding the
Did they use real senso rs on the robot, to get the bot' s Robin son famil y.
point of view? Oh, no, no wa y. Thi s wouldn't give So, why didn't the new LIS robot look more like the
eno ug h persp ective to safely drive the robot at high old one we remember from television ?
speed, so close to the actors on the se t. "Well, this is a far more futuristic robot than was used
So fou r crew members contro lled the machine, com- in the TV series, which was obv ious ly a man in a suit, "
municating w ith Vern er through head sets. Two of the Verner said . "Blade Runner set the scene for robots of
crew wo re light-weight virtual reality suits. On e con- the future. Movies like Dune and even Siarship Troop-
troll ed the arms, w hile anothe r controlled th e torso. ers show how society will cope with technology."
Two others contro lled the head and tracks with joy- And considering the progress we've noted in artificial
sticks. For ad de d safety, the man who controlled the intelligence in recent years, we at RS&T sus pect that our
locom otion was po siti on ed directly in the "sight line" children, or at least our grandchild ren, ma y be living with
so the robot was always driving directly toward him. the likes of the US robot. "It's going to be wonderful when
"We would n' t tru st radio control with a creature this robots finally integrate with families," Verner said.
powerful on the set," Verner told RS&T. OK. Now you know more about the world's most
Th ere were also four levels of safety in the motion famous robots than any other kid on your block. So
control softwa re. And Verner carried a powerful radio tak e a look at our rea lly neat pictures on page 62.
transmitter connected to a robot-mounted "kill" switch. ~S&.

Continued from page10
If a candle wasn't found, Marv would go to the next

doorway. This was the grand plan.
I also wanted to replace the water sprayer but I wasn't
sure what else to use. I didn't like fans because they
required getting close to the candle, which would have
taken more time.
Getting Started
The first step is putting together the platform deck,
motors, and wheels. Since the salient feature of a
mobile robot is mobility, I like to start with the locomo-
tion, because this sizes the rest of the robot.
This phase took me about 3 to 4 aggravating
months. I first tried the motor / gearbox I had used
for Marv-94, but the motion was too sloppy. Then I
tried different DC gearhead motors, but even with
better wheel encoders the turns were still inaccurate.
The problem seemed to be that after the motor was
turned off, the platform coasted. I tried braking and
briefly reversing the motor direction but that wasn't
good enough.
There was also the problem of getting the motors to
run at precisely the same speed. Even though DC
motors can be made to dead reckon fairly accurately
with a good control algorithm, I decided to try stepper
motors. It took another month to find wheels that I
could adapt to fit on the stepper motor drive shaft of
the size I was looking for. An incredible three months
went by before the platform could move soberly.
Top: Marv's underbelly. Not e left and right stepp er motors and
Motor and Wheels traction tape around the tire.
The basic platform is an 8" diameter disk cut from Bottom: A Parallax Board with Basi c Stamp Rev-D.
finished 3/8" plywood. Two stepper motors
attach to a common U-shaped bracket, which is bolted
to the plywood disk. The motors are unipolar step- through the hub of the wheel ~nd into the coupler.
pers. They operate at 5 V and 1.5 amps/phase, for a This wheel isn't going to slip on the axis.
holding torque of 36 oz-inches, which is barely adequate Next, I improved the traction by covering the wheel
(I'll discuss the stepper motor control later). Two long rim with a layer of double-sided foam tape topped with
spacers connect the open ends of the U for rigidity. rubber electrical tape.
The wheels are hard plastic, 4" in diameter and 1" The dnve wheels are mounted in the center of the
wide. They came with a center bearing, which I platform so that the robot can turn about its vertical
knocked out. axis. Marv also has a third, idler wheel. This is not a
Whenever I buy a new part, I buy extras. I bought four caster. Casters (the crude ones that are commonly avail -
wheels and wrecked two trying to remove the bearing. able), impart a sideways push when they turn. Instead
The center hole was too big to fit on the quarter-inch I used a 1" roller ball - a ball mounted in a universal
motor shaft. I drilled it out wider to 1/2" and joint so that it can roll in any direction. There's no
attached the motor shaft with a coupler from Small horizontal axis.
Parts Inc. This had a 1/2" outside diameter and a 1/4"
hex hole on the inside. I attached it to the motor shaft Computer
flat by drilling and tapping the coupler for a 4-40 set I suppose this part could have been quite involved,
screw. I then drilled a hole for a 6-32 screw radially but I chose to make it simple.
PREMIER ISSUE • 25
~.~. _ - -.... _-_ _--
..
I d et ermined th at I d idn't need Stepper Control
m~
high speed, large mem or y, or man y Th ere are many di fferent kin d s
other ame nities that are ava ilable. I of s tep pe r m ot ors a n d co n trol
chose the Basic Stamp II (BS 2) from o p tio ns . A goo d referen ce is
GArno Parallax (www.parallaxinc.com). It
uses a form of interpretive basic, has
th e s te pper FA Q
www.cs.u iowa.ed u / -jones / s tep .
at
Easier Robotics eno ug h EEPROM mem or y (2K) for Marv's step pers a re unipol ar, 4
abo u t 600 lines of code, and is slow w ind ings . Afte r much sea rching,
(An emp ty For /ex t loop takes a I u sed a SGS- Tho m son s te p per
half milli second to execu te.). It is co n trolle r ch ip, L297, and a 2 A
also sma ll (1 1/4" by 5/8"), con- qu ad Darl in gt on switc h, L702B.
s u mes littl e p ow er, a nd has 16 Th e controller uses in puts suc h as
bi-directional I/ O lines. reset, di rec tio n, ste p clock, half /
http://www.acroname.com I al so u sed on e Basi c Sta m p I full s tep to ge ne ra te th e approp ri-
(8 I/ O lines, 256 byte mem or y) for a te seque nce to th e ste p per wind -
-Polaroid Rangers control of on e of the servos. ings. Thi s cou ld be d one by th e
- Eltec Pyroelectrics The d evelopment environme nt is con tro lle r but I pref er th e d edi-
-H-Bridge Drivers ve ry ea sy. Cod e is written in a ca ted hardwar e. Th e Darlingt on
- Share IR Rangers sim p le ed ito r a nd d o wnl oad ed sw itch is required to am p lify th e
- Surp us Motors from the PC to th e Stamp w ith on e co n tro lle r ou tp u t to th e cu r re n t
-Information
-Part Sources comma nd . A Debug comma nd is necessar y to con tro l th e mot ors.
-Links available for returning variable val- The L297 controller has ad d itional
-Ideas ues back to the Pc. fun ction s that I did not use. (In ret-
-Articles The com pleted robo t used 15 of rospect, thi s was probabl y a mis-
the 16 I/ O lines and abo u t 90% of tak e, since Ma rv cou ld have been
phD : 303-258-3161 lax: 303-247-1892 th e memory. mad e speed ier.)
Step per control comes in di fferen t
Battery Power m od es a n d dri v e techniqu es .
Ma rv has tw o su p p lies: a 6 V, Modes include full , half, wave, an
4 Ah ge l cell batter y for th e step- micro stepping . These mod es allow
per motor s and tw o se rvos, and a the basic step size to be subd ivide d,
12 V NiCad batter y pack (10 AA but a t th e cos t o f reducing th e
ce lls ) for th e e le ctro n ics. Th e torque. Marv uses a full s tep size
grou nds ar e common. Th e batter- of 7.5 d egrees / step.
Use separate power sourcesfo r motors and ies rested on th e two, 6" lon g spac- Drive techniques include direct,
elec tonics to prevent motor noise from ers that braced th e motor bracket, L/R, and cho p per. Direct dri ve
affecting processors. a s n ug fit und er th e pl atform. u ses th e rated v oltage to dri ve
Some o f th e elec tro n ics need ed current through the windings. An
12 V, so me 5 V. A 7805 regulator is L/ R drive uses a high er th an rat ed
used to provid e 5 V. The motor and vo ltage to force current more
electro nic su pplies quickly th rou gh the w ind ings and
ar e sw itche d se pa - a se ries resistor to limit th e max
r at el y. Since va lue . A lot of energy is wasted in
s te p pe rs dra w th e resi stor but th e s te p p ing is
m a ximum fas ter.
cu rre n t w he n A cho p pe r drive is th e best. It
th ey're not s te p- also uses an overvoltage, w hich it
ping, th ey can re- monitors w ith a sm all se nse resis-
main off when not tor in se ries w ith th e motor wind-
needed for testing. in gs . When th e ma x current is
Thi s is h elpful reached , th e con tro ller switches off
durin g pro gram th e current. Thi s repeats at th e
downloading and chopper rate frequen cy, usually
se ns or testing. many kH z.
. -- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - --
Navigation Testing pattern. Testing pointed out
Enough robot is now at hand so some failure modes which re- ui
L27 U2
that the platform can move autono- quired som e refinements. i; CONTROL ENABLED ~o
mousl y and a tte m p t to ne gotiate D ep endin g on vs
13 *INH2 8r-
1=:::t:+:J:+=l:j L702B
GND 116,
~~~;~
14 C 7 ~~ i~
th e m a z e. Ac tu a lly, thi s is a th e candle loc ation i~ osc
17
VREF
INHI
B'h;C - -t-t--' GGNDND 1,2
1,
r-i- f--+, cw/*ccw
n8 A:f-'3Lt!~~=~ GND 1 0
n ever- ending proc ess. As other in room C, th e UV STAMP II
To ·CLOCK HOM~r=2
~~~~*FULL s~
20 1
~~ y
and 6v
robot fun cti ons are add ed, new s ens o r will occa - Supply
Right DIR ~~~~~

navi gation complications ari se. s io n a lly mi s s it. Right elk
Gnd
I began by learning how to work Since this is a rare .6V

Reset
Left Dir
th e motors. Steppers are low torque occurrence, the ba- Left elk
comp ared to co m p a r a b le DC sic search pa ttern

m otors and th e torque d ecreases as is s till u sed, but if
th e m otor is ste p pe d faster. There- th e candle is not indi-
fore, the motors must be accelerated cated after room 0 , Marv
to th eir final ste p rat e or th ey will moves back to re-check
mi ss steps or sta ll completely. room C; this time going
At this point Ma rv weighed about to th e room C doorwa y. Left
ABC D
Stepper
7lbs (mos tly m ot or s and batteri es). All of Marv's turns are Motor
By expe rimenting, I found an accel- in-place pivots excep t the

era tion cycle th at brought Marv to first turn at the end of the
it s ma x s peed with out missing first hallway. That turn is
ste ps. A sho rter d eceleration cycle made by pivoting around
brought Marv to a stop. The limit- the left wheel to double
in g speed performance is a function th e angle resolution of the
of the basi c motor capabilities, turn.
Marv' s weight, and th e direct drive The number of steps re-
circuit. quired to execute each
To fini sh th e navigating ta sk , I path segm en t of the basic
had to pick a pre-planned route. search pattern is calcu-
I had run Marv through th e maze lat ed with the known step
so many times I could eyeball a on e size and wheel diameter.
d egree mi salignment. I refined these numbers
Looking at th e house diagram, I by trial and err or. Even-
d ecided that by turning left at the tually, Marv could move
end of th e first hall it was possible through the search pa t-
to sea rc h three room s with n o tern flawlessl y. That is, The phototu be p rotru des up ward at bo ttom ofthe board
additional turns - a time and d ead s top p ing at each candle
reck oning advantage. search position without bumping
Marv h a s tw o UV senso rs, one into the walls. One sou rce of error - uv Flame Detector
o n th e left s ide, ab o ve th e wheel, w a s Marv ' s initial orientation The UV flam e d etector is a pro-
and o ne o n the ri ght . Marv fir st when placed in the maze home fessional unit from Harnamatsu .
s t o ps in fr ont o f ro om Band circle. Although the rules allow the It consi st s of a UVtron phototube
counts th e UV pul s es received u se of a n alignment fixture , I (R2868, about $40) and a UVtron
for tw o se con ds. If no candl e is found it unnecessary. I had run drivin g circuit (C37 04, abou t
indi ca t ed , M ar v back s up to Marv through the maze so many $3 5). Marv u s ed two of th es e,
room A and s a m p les it. N ext times I could eyeball a one degree ri ght and left, in ord er to se a rch
Marv backs up to th e other end mi salignmen t. rooms without turning.
of th e h all a nd sa m p les room C. Th e UVtron tub e is s o lde red
If thi s is al so ne gative , Mar v Detecting The Flame directly to th e driver board. Th e
m o v es forward to the la st unex- Marv u ses two flame detectors. A board ha s a changeable jumper for
plored h allwa y, turn s ri ght , UV flame d etector for the candle setting the background threshold to
m ov es to th e doorway of room search mode and a PIR detector for 3, 5, 7 or 9 counts, positions marked
D and sea rches it. pinpointing the candle location on the board. The board puts out at
This w as M arv ' s b a sic sea rch inside a room. 10 ms pulse only after the set back-

grou nd coun t is reached within tw o I had to overcome before the PIR burning for a few minutes.
seconds . I wan ted as se ns itive a d etector would be su itable for th e The PIR d etector with Fresnel lens
d etector as I could get, so I se t the contes t. The ou tpu t need ed ampli- is a ttac he d di rectl y to a pi ece of
jumper to the unmarked position fication and di scriminati on. circuit board (abo ut 1 1/2" by 3" ),
just past the 9 poin t. This produced The PIR ou tp u t from th e detector w hich contains the am p lifier and
a pulse ou t for every UV ph oton rid es on a 2.5 V level. It can be a compa ra tor circuit. This unit is at-
d etected. (I p refe rre d se tting th e positi ve or negative pulse d epend- tached to the horn of sma ll servo
background di scrim ination level in ing on th e scan direction. The am- motor, Fu taba 5-148, with a small
software.) This was convenient for plitude of the pulse d ep ends on the alu m inu m bracket.
making adjus tments during the At the beginn ing of a scan,
testing day before the con test. the m icrocontroll er positions
The ou tpu t of the UV d etec- th e PIR to a CC W (cou n te r-
tor d ep ends on the positi on of
I WAS TESTING IN MY GARAGE clock-wi se) start positi on, then
th e cand le in a roo m . If the IN THE WINTER. IT TOOK ME A slowly sca ns it CWo
cand le is a few inches from the The beginning and end scan
d et ector, as it wou ld be if it LONG TIME TO DISCOVER THAT po sitions are chosen separa tely
were in the d oor way, the detec- for each candle sca n po siti on.
THE PI R WAS TRIGGERING ON
tor produces abo u t 20 counts / Since the scanning is a little
sec. (This is the sa turation rate.) WARM AIR CURRENTS slow, the positi on s are chosen
If th e cand le is in th e room 's to cover th e roo m w ithou t
hidden corne r, not directly vis- w as te d m oti on (see the
ible from the doorway, the measure- heating of the d et ector eleme n ts, floorplan ).
ment is abou t 4 cou nts/sec. thus it is sensitive to the scan rate. The first scan is mad e ou tside a
For a cand le flam e just 4' away and room in case th e cand le is just in-
-Pyroelectric Detector using a reasonable scan rate, th e side the d oor way. If the candle is
On ce the UV detector di scovers a pulse is only a few tenths of a volt fou nd, the platform is orie nted to
cand le in a roo m, Mar v pi vots to from the DC level. point to it and th e CO 2 exting uis her
face the roo m and sea rches for the The signal also need ed amplifica- is di scharged . If the cand le is not
cand le position with th e PIR (pas- tion to detect a cand le at the limits fo u n d, M ar v e n te rs th e ro o m
sive in frared ) detec to r. Th e PIR of the required FOY. I positioned the
u ses th e pyroelec tric effec t of a PIR detector to be at the same height
Lithium Tantalate crys tal to convert as the average flam e, 7." (The rules Note that the cone with Fresnel/ens is
radiant energy in the mid-infrared , stipulate the candle will be from 6" protruding from the board.
8 to 14 m icrons, to a n elec trical to 8" tall, and a candle flame is abou t
cha rge . The d etector pa ckage uses an inch hi gh.) For th e range of
tw o eleme nts to d etect a d ifferen- candle heights and distances (a few
tial effect, ma king it a goo d moti on inches to 4') the PIR must have a d e-
d etector. tection FOV of +/ - 10 deg. To inter-
In this case, the motion is due to face with the microcontroller, the PIR
sca n ning the d et ector across th e ou tpu t needs to be a sim ple 5 V
roo m with a servo. The particular pulse. After amplifying the signa l,
PIR unit I used is an Eltec Mod el it is passed through a window com-
442, w hich has an int ernal vo ltage parator. This compares the ampli-
regulator, reference, and amplifier fied signa l to a threshold (0.6 V in
in a TO-5 style wi ndowed package. this case) and pulls it up to 5 Y.
In order to increase the sensitivity Testing the PIR wi th candles at
of th e detector and restrict its FOV, va rious di stanc es and heights, I se t
I u s ed a sma ll IR-tran sp arent the amplifier for a ga in of 9. Am-
Fres ne l lens, held in front of th e plifying too much can produce spu-
d et ect or wi th a light cardboard rious d etections.
cone. The d et ector pack age w as Be a w a re th at n ot a ll candl e
bought as a kit fro m Ac ro na me flam es are th e sa me . A newly lit
(stever@acrona me.com) for $45. cand le gives off less than half the
There were seve ra l problem s that radiation of a candle that has been

several inches and scans again to I also discovered later that the PIR but comes into play durin g
look in the hidden corner. would detect a warm place on the deceleration , or when Marv
Given that the UV detector has in- wall where a previous candle had been, accelerates going backwards.
dicated the candle is in the room, a or detect a hot, unlit candle. The les-
negative result for the PIRscan is taken son here is that extensive testing is So und Activation
to indicate that the candle is hidden necessary to find the failure modes. Since Marv was going whole ho g
behind the furniture. In this case, Another "feature" of the PIR dis- on the bonus opportunities, I added
Marv would advance further into the covered during testing is that it can sound activation as well. This als o
room and scan from a new perspec- take 20 to 40 seconds for a "cold" unit turned out to be handy for restart
tive. In practice this scheme works for to begin working when first turned in testing modes. The stipulated
all possible arrangements of candle on, Then the PIR emits a transient buzzer is a Radio Shack #273-075
and furniture. pulse. A small grain of wheat light is that emits a 3.5 kHz tone. I put thi s
Except one. During testing, I turned on with the electrical power in a little project box with a 9 V
became paranoid about bumping and the PIR output is monitored for battery and a momentary push-but-
into the simulated "furniture" while the initial pulse. When this occurs, ton. The detection circuit used a
advancing into a room looking for a the light turns off,signaling that Marv microphone with a built in PET am-
hidden candle. So in the last month is ready to begin. plifier (Radio Shack #270-092),a 74]
before the contest, I added a three- op-amp, and a 567 tone decoder
part bumper to parry this threat. The Flame Extinguisher chip. Holding the buzzer close to
The bumper uses microswitches As previously mentioned, I used the microphone and giving a on e
to sense a collision. If Marv runs a CO 2 extinguisher. This worked second blast suffices. I also incor-
into the furniture, he stops, backs much better than expected. A two porated a push button override in
up and discharges the CO 2, which second blast blows out a row of case the sound activation failed .
is powerful enough to flow around candles two feet long at a distance
the furniture and snuff out the of four feet! Putting It Together
candle. I was fortunate to find a hefty CO 2 Many parts were tested in paral-
During testing in the maze, I cylinder that came with a handle- lel. The UV detector and the extin-
experienced a lot of problems with operated control valve. The extinguisher were first tested alone while
the PIR detector. By now it was guisher (with valve) is 7" long and trying to find a workable motor
about November and I was testing 1 1/4" in diameter. The cylinder configuration. The PIR detector
in my garage. In order to take the holds 38 grams of CO 2, enough gas was added to the platform later.
chill out of the air I installed a heat- for 10 seconds of operation. The I made many changes during thi s
ing unit with a blower. It took me a cylinder was originally sold as a
long time to discover tha t the PIR duster and is available from Hosfelt
was triggering on warm air currents! Electronics (800.524.6464) for $15
At first I thought that maybe the de- (cylinder and valve) or $5.50 for a
tector was seeing beyond the maze replacement cylinder.
walls and detecting something out- The extinguisher is mounted on
side. the front of the platform and is
Programming the microcontroller operated by a servo which pulls
to scan back and forth repeatedly down on a metal lever attached to
showed that it did not respond to IR the control valve handle.
sources, such as a hand, placed out- The extinguisher serves an
side the maze . Mystified, I additional function. The cylinder
programmed the detector to scan, bottom is hemispherical and rides
stop when a source was found, note about 3/32" above the floor, thus
its position, and re-scan . If the providing a fourth support point.
source was found in the same place This is not used when Marv accel-
twice, I counted it as the candle. If erates or moves at constant speed
not, it continued to scan. This was
time consuming and worrisome.
After wasting several weeks, I finally The CO 2 trigger (top) is connected by a
ball-capped link to a servo.
realized what the problem was and
eliminated all the unnecessary code.

~-- -- --- - ~-_ . - - -
process. At on e point th e wheels "square" by eyeball. Wh en the
w ere mounted in th e back of the grain of wheat light goe s out,
platform and th e roller ball in th e Marv is s ta r te d with th e
fro n t. The m otor bracket was buzzer.
cha nged at least three times. The It moves to th e end of th e
PIR was firs t m ounted near th e hall , turns left and goes to th e
front, off to one side. Wires we nt room B doorwa y. Th e right
all over the place. UV d etector m easures for 2
There was a seco n d platform seco nds. If th e count is high ,
abo ve the main deck that held the th e candle is in the room; if it
co m p u ters and so me electro nics. is low it isn 't. If the candle is
Wh en most of the pieces were work- not in the room B, Marv ba cks
ing, I decided it was too ugly, hard up to the room A doorway and
to work with, and likely to ha ve measures with the left UV d e-
wires pulled ou t, so I re-built it com- tector for 3 seco nds. If the cand le is
pletely. It was during this stage that not in A, Marv backs up to end of Sound activation board with microphon e
a simple layout came abou t. th e transv erse h all and se arches protruding from left.
room C with the left UV d etector for
Typical Operation 2 seco nds. Not th ere ? Proceed to and sca ns w ith the PIR d etector. If
Let' s go over a typ ical run (refer the d oorway of room 0 and search not found, Ma rv ad va nces inside
to th e floor pl an ). A small toggle with the right UV detector. Still not the do or way and scans aga in. If not
switch turns on the electrical power there? Back to room C, thi s tim e fou nd , Mar v adva nces ag ain while
and a red LED. Th e motor power movin g directly to the d oorway and monitoring the bumper sw itches. If
is turned on with a rocker sw itch measuring with th e left UV d etec- th e bumper is not s truck, Marv
and th e w hee ls sna p to th e step pe r tor. sc a ns o nce m ore fro m th e n e w
hom e position . Mar v is then placed If / w h e n th e ca n d le is fo u n d, position . At w ha tever scan spot the
in th e h om e circle a n d a ligne d Marv pivots to face th e d oorway
Ilew age pianist

ron tall will help
soothe vour l1100d

and energize your mind.
1.888.5 J0.7728
I BASIC Build your own RObotl
Controllable We Make it Easy! :
Robots
..... ~
.....,..... '--"
O I' ~®DU
t-----http://www.lynxmotion.com ~I
MRA·KT Mobile Arm Kit $250.00 !
• Pre-Assembled Electronics. '
tfitlililiiili;l:--"'" • BASIC Controllable .
~~~~~ • Easy RS-232 Control trom PC or Micro.
• Excellent Advanced Platform .
• Complete Kit, Works with Tracker I IRPD.
5AA·KT 5 Axis Arm Kit $195.00

• Pre-Assembl ed Electronics.
• BASIC Controllable.
• Easy RS-232 Control trom PC or Micro.
• Excellent Intermediate Project.
Above : Sil ver Bull et discovers Kate Murph y at AAAI-97 . • Compl ete Kit.
Left: Bujol d articulates to three positions.
3AA·KT 3 Axis Arm Kit $155.00
• Pre-Assembled Servo Controller.
win-sta y" forag ing behavior of squirrels and bees. Ad- • BASIC Controllable.
• RS-232 tromPC or Microcontroller
diti onal code for frontier-ba sed exploration algorithms • Great Kit tor the Beginner.
was donated b y th e Na val Research Center' s Al • Complete Kit.
Labor ator y. This programming enables Silver Bullet to

na vigate autonomou sly outdoors ov er uneven terrain H2·KT Hexapod II Kit $375.00
• Full Size Hexapod Robot.
at speeds up to 8 mph, carryin g a 60-pou nd pa yload • 2 Degrees ot Freedom per Leg.
(Bujold). • Low Current Draw Leg Design.
• Excellent Advanced Project.
Silver Bullet's size and car-like stee ring pr event her • Mechanicsl Servos only, Add 2 Mini SSC's. !
from go ing int o tight corn ers or climbing over rubble.
Nevertheless, she can quickly drive around the perim- H1 ·KT Hexapod Kit $150.00
• Walks Forward, Reverse, Left, Right.
ete r of a di sa st er zo ne lookin g for lik ely pla ces to • BASIC Programmab le.
investigate. She can d o this au tonomo us ly, usin g her • Requires Soldering.
• Great Intermediate Project.
onboa rd Pen tiu m compu ter and AI software to process • Complete Kit, Works well with IRPD.
informa tion from her came ra, mi crophones, sonars,
th ermal probe and inclinometers to navigate safely and CR·KT Carpet Rover Kit $115.00
sea rch out possible victims . • Designed tor Carpet or Rough Terrain.
• BASIC Programmable.
• Requires Soldering. [,
• Great Intermediate Project. I
The Sensors • Complete Kit, Works with Tracker I IRPD. I
Silver Bullet has a health y varie ty of sens ors. A
camcorde r is mounted on a panning ma st (controlled MM·KT Micromouse Kit $95.00 Iii
by a CANAM P module). An E2T thermal probe is also • Designed tor Table or Smooth Surfaces. I
• BASIC Programmable. I
mounted on the panning mast. The thermal probe, •
•
Requires Soldering.
Great Intermediate Project.
I
d esign ed for medical applications, can d etect changes • Complete Kit, Works with Tracker I IRPD. j,
in temperature up to 20 feet away. This allows the
robo t to scan an area for warm spots relati ve to the am -
Accessories I
STA·01 Counterfeit BASIC Stamp Kit $40.00
bient temperature. If a "wa rm body" is locat ed , Silver SSC·01 Mini SSC II Servo Controller $44.00 I'
Bullet alerts the teleop erator, wh o can then use the vid eo IRPD·01 IR Proximity Detector Kit $30.00
TRA·01 Tracker Line Tracking Kit $20.00
feed of the camcorde r to d etermine if the wa rm spo t is, S1·01 Hitec 420zlin Single Servo $15.00
ind eed , a s u rv ivo r. Silve r Bulle t a ls o carri es a S6P·01 Hitec 420zlin Servo 6 Pack $80.00
mi crophone and speake rs so the tel eoperator can SLS·01 Hitec 1330zlin Large Scale Servo . . $40.00
BMR·01 Mobile Robots Book . . . . . . . . . . . . $48.00
com mu nica te with the victim. BP·01 PVC Bx12x1/B/I Blank Panel 3 Pack. $10.00
Silve r Bullet h as six so na rs and a hom emade 1--------0rdering- - - - - - --i1
inclinom eter for navigation. The sonars are Polaroid Lab S&H; add $7.50 tor a single robot kit and IRPD I Tracker sensor . Add
$3.00 tor each additional robot kit or book. Call, tax or e-mail tor quote
grade II ultrason ics controlled by a 68HCll micropro- tor international or large orders . IL Res. add 6.25% sales tax to total.
cessor contro l unit (MCU) programmed in assembly Ask fo r o ur free catalog ! Tel: 309·3 82·1816
Lynxmotion, Inc. Fax: 309-382-1254
104 Partridge Road E-mail: jtrye @lynxmotion .com
continued on page 52 Pekin, IL 61554-1403 USA Web: www.lynxmotion.com

byTom Durkin
Arguab ly the most spectacular interplanetary robot mission in

history, Mars P athfinder outperformed all expectations - and
ironical ly, that was why the lander developed a mysterious
communications problem shortly after its successful landing
July 4, 1997.
For no appa re n t re a son, Pathiinder 's onboard lost, but data collection was delayed by a day every
compu ter wo uld spo ntaneous ly reset itself. This hap- time Pathfinder reset itself.
pened about a half d ozen tim es in the first few weeks "Reports of the problem in the popular press were.
after the landing. generally incoherent, and in some cases wildly wrong,"
Contrary to press rep ort s at the time , no data wa s acco rding to David Wilner, chief technica l officer 0
Wind River Systems of what happened from their point of
Alameda, Calif. view."
In a Dec. 3, 1997, key- The "guy" at JPL was Glenn Reeves
note address to the - the flight software cognizant engi-
18th IEEE Real-Time Sys- neer for Mars Pathfinder. Reeves led the
tems Symposium in team that identified Pathfinder's reset
San Francisco, Wilner problem and fixed it.
explained that the media Using Jones' report as a framework
couldn't grasp the for his response, Reeves elaborated
complexity of the - in painstaking detail - the exact
problem - much less the software engineering methodology
answer - "because of the his team went through to replicate,
difficulty of explaining and then rectify, what the general
the issues to non- media called a "software glitch."
engineers."
However, because he How VxWorks Works
was speaking to real eng- In order to understand what went
ineers Dec . 3, Wilner wrong, it is necessary to understand
detailed precisely what what VxWorks does. Basically, th e
went wrong last sum- software provides "preemptive prior-
mer, why it went wrong ity scheduling" of data threads an d
- and how it got fixed. mission control commands.
Wilner was uniquely Data (video images, soil samples,
Flight software engineer Glenn
qualified to speak on the subject, be- meteorological readings, etc.) from the
Reeves had reason to grin after he cause Wind River makes the RTOS various instruments on the lander
and his team solved Pathfinder's (real-time operating system) (Pathfinder) and the rover (Sojourner)
"software glitch." Behind him is VxWorks - which was embedded in had to pass through an information
the duplicate Mars lander that the Pathfinder's onboard computer. bus in Pathfinder'S computer to be
JPUWind River team used to find Fortunately, Wind River and transmitted to Earth.
and fix the priority inversion NASA software engineers were able Likewise, commands to control th e
problem in the VxWorks@
to replicate the problem on a dupli- devices on Pathfinder and Sojourner
program. "The biggest thanks
should go to the software team that
cate of Pathfinder at the Jet Propul- (such as the cameras or alpha proton
f had the privilege ofleading. Their sion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. X-ray spectrometer) had to move
expertise allowed liS to succeed, " It only took 18 hours to fix the prob- through the same information bus in
he emphasized. lem - but it took almost three weeks the opposite direction.
to find it. Obviously, this couldn't happen all
at once. Datathreads and command
People Will Talk strings had to take turns using th e
Michael Jones, a researcher in the bus. Furthermore, some data and
Operating Systems Research Group at commands were more important
Microsoft Corp., found Wilner's than others. Thus, it was the job of
speech so interesting that he wrote up VxWorks to schedule traffic through
a report on it and e-mailed it to some the bus according to th e
friends, colleagues and educators. pre-assigned priorities of data an d
Within days, his report was posted on commands.
several Usenet interest groups, where In order to prevent communica-
it was widely redistributed throughout tions conflicts, VxWorks synchro-
the larger Internet community. nized access to the bus with mutual
"It was actually a pretty good take exclusion software locks known as
on my description," Wilner told "mutexes" or "semaphores." When a.
RS&T, adding, "One of the guys at specific task was running, its
JPL posted a reply to Jones that went semaphore blocked other tasks from
into a lot more gory detail about interfering with it.
38 • R OBOT S CIEN CE & T ECHNOLOGY

"A Classic Case of th e software tim e limits." trace/log facility th at was origina lly
Priority Inversion " d eveloped to find a bug in an early
"Most of the time this combination Too Much of a Good ve rsion of VxWorks .
wo rke d fin e," Jones w ro te in his Thing "After th e p roblem occurred on
report. How ever, ve ry infrequently, What caused the p riority in ver- Mars, we ra n th e sa me se t of activi-
an interrupt w as sent to the bus that sion was th at Pathfinder's an tenna ties over and over again in th e lab ,"
caused a med ium-priority com m u- per formed better th an expected. Reeves sa id. The tr a ce /lo g wa s
nic ations ta s k to b e sc he d u le d ''It turned ou t that we go t a much coded to dump its record of ac tivi-
during th e sp lit-second interval hi gher meteorol o gi cal data ra te, ties w he n a failure occurred . Finally,
w hen a high-priority thread was because we cou ld point the antenna "we were able to cause th e p roblem
bl ocked w hile wa iting for a low- at Earth much better th an we ever to occur. O nce we were a b le to
priority meteorological data thread to imagined," Reeves sa id. "We d idn't reprod u ce th e failure, th e priority
run. ex pect it. We had n ever ac tua lly inversion problem was obvious."
In this case, Jon es exp laine d, th e tested th e thing w ith th at high a se t Wha t was not so obvious w as th e
long -runnin g, m ed iu m-priori ty of dat a rates. It was better th an th e so lu tion ...
co m m u nica tio ns task - having a best possible hope we had.
hi gh er p ri orit y th an th e low- "It was reall y grea t new s from the The Big Fix
priority meteorological task - would spacecra ft, but it w as so mew ha t As both Jones and Reeves explained
prevent the meteorological task from di scon certing to u s, becau se it did it, the "priority inheritan ce" param eter
running. After a pred etermined time expose a bug th at w e really wi sh we of the sema phore for the meteorologi-
h ad passed, a wa tc h d og tim er had cau ght." cal data thr ead was not enabled in
wou ld go off, notice that th e low- Pathfinder's VxWorks software.
priority data bus task had not been Bug Busters If priority inher itance had been
execu te d o n time, co nclu de th at "The software th at flies on Mars ena bled , "the low-priority meteoro-
so mething had go ne wrong, and ini- Pathfinder has several debug features logical thread wou ld ha ve inherited
tiate a total system reset. within it that are used in the lab but the pri ority of th e high-priority d ata
"This sce na rio is a classic case of are not used on the flight spa cecra ft bus thread blocked on it w hile it
priority in ver sion ," Jon es asserted . (no t used because some of them pro- held th e mutex, caus ing it be sche d-
"Priority in ver sion is a difficult duce more information than we can ul ed w ith hi gher priorit y than th e
co ncep t to explai n," Reeves told send back to Earth)," Reeves wrote m edium-priority com m u nica tions
R5&T. "It d oesn 't m ak e any sense in in his respon se to Jon es. task , thus preventing th e priority
everyday term s. In a nutsh ell, w ha t While not ena bled on th e space- inver sion ." Jon es wrote.
happen ed is there was a situa tion cra ft, these features rem ained in th e Clea rly, th e JPL flight so ftware
w he re the act of taking the informa- so ftw are by d esign. "We stro ng ly team had to "cha nge th e crea tion
tion took lon ger than the amou nt of beli eve in th e test-what -you-fl y- flags for th e se ma p hore so as to en-
tim e we had allotted for th e rest of and-fly-w hat-yo u-tes t philosophy." a b le th e pri orit y inh eritan ce ,"
th e communications to occur within One of th e d ebugging tools w as a Reev es exp laine d .
continued Oil page 53
by veteran robot programmer Karl Lunt
ou want to build a robot, but not

just a simple robot. In just a
couple of hours of blue-sky contemplation, you've decided
to combine several motors, some sensors, and tons of intelligent
behaviors. But now, you've hit the big challenge:
How do you control all of these elements so that
YOU OBOT ACT ALLY DOES

SOMETHI G!
No do ubt abo u t it, you need a "microcontroller." Introducing Hexes, Bytes,
If yo u've never worked with a microcontroller be- and Addresses
fore, then this article is for you. I'll star t with the "black- Let's first consider the MCU's compu ter. (I'll ass u me
box" view of a microcontroller, and w hen I'm d on e, that you kn ow th at a bit is a small voltage that is rep re~
you'll begin to see that microconirollers are tools. sen ted by a 1 or a 0, and tha t a chu nk of 8 bits are called!
When you view a microcontroller as a building block, a byte.) All MCUs have at the ir core a sma ll compu ter,
like a m otor or a battery, you'll be on your way to usu ally an 8-bit d evice that can process a byte at a time,
designing more complex an d robust m achines. Since each bit must be either 0 or 1, the eight bits within
a sing le byte can form 256 differen t patte rns. Here are
The Black Box View equ iva len ts in th e binar y, d ecimal and hexadecim al
First, we'll limit ourselves to seeing what goes in and numbering sys tems:
w ha t comes o u t, wi t ho u t loo kin g in to th e
microcontroller itself. This is called the black box view.
Viewed simply, a microcontro ller (MCU) is an elec- 00000000 0 dec imal or $00 hexadecimal
tronic device tha t merges a small comp uter, so me 00000001 1 dec imal or $01 hexadecimal
memory, and a collection of input/ou tput (I/O) sub- 000000 10 2 decimal or $02 hexadecimal
sys tems, all on a single chip . On ce yo u've ins talled a 000000 11 3 decimal or $03 hexadecimal
program into th e MCU's m em or y and the p rogr am
runs, the MCU will sense voltage con di tions on its in- 1111111 0 254 decimal or $fe hexadecimal
put lines, make decis ions accordi ng to its program , an d 11111111 255 decimal or $ff hexadecimal
alter the voltage sta tes of its ou tp ut lin es.
40 • Rosor S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY

The above table shows two cru- program need s more mem or y than running your program, then it migh t
cial points to remember: comes on the chip, yo u have to add be execu ting the senseless bytes i
First, pro grammers count differ- th e ex tra yo urself, w hich en tails random contents of memory, w hich
ently than the rest of us: They cou nt ad d ing electro nics. is not a Good Thing.)
beginning wi th 0, not 1. For in- Rem ember th at MCUs a lso
stance, if I we re to refer to the third include on-chip I/O eleme nts. The Power Up! Pointers and
element in a spa n of memor y, I'd be 68HC11 chips reserve a sma ll se t of Vectors Explained.
referring to memory cell #2, not #3. ad d resses in mem or y for control- So ho w d oes an MCU actually ge t
Second, most of the tim e I'll be lin g th e I/O ele men ts . To yo ur s ta rted, a nd how does it d ecid e
usin g the hexad ecimal numbering p ro gram , th ese I / O ad d resses, what to? I'll continue using th e
sys tem. This sys tem is simply more known as I/O registers, behave like 68HC 11 as an exam ple: When yo u
con venient to use when talkin g memory. But yo u r progr am can throw th e power switch to start th
about 8-bit numbers. The hexad eci- w rite a va lue to one of these I/O 68HCll running, the MCU's com-
mal math system uses th e di gits registers and cause electronic sig- puter exam ines the byte stored at
0-9 and a-f. I won't go int o more nal s to cha nge on va rious MCU address $fffe and the byte stored at
d etail than that here, but I'll try to output pins. Similarl y, changes that $ffff. It merges these two by tes to-
mak e my later examples easy to fol- occur on so me of the MCU pins can g eth er to form a sing le, 16- b it
low so tho se of you who haven 't be detected by your pr ogram when "word ." It then interprets this word
seen hex before can keep up. it reads one of these I/O registers. as a new address and then reads the
As I sa id, an 8-bit MCU handles Thus, the I/O registers represent byte it find s at that address. The
information in byt es. Gen erally, the interface between your program MC U u ses this b yte as the first
th ese bytes of data occu py fixed and the ou tside wo rld. ins truction it execu tes . The results
location s in th e MC U's mem or y. I/O registers can also be used to of that instruction gu ide the MCU
Suc h locati on s a re kn o wn as access th e co mplex s u bsys te ms to th e next in struction, and th e
mem or y "ad d resses." How man y within the MCU. For exa mple, th e se que nce co ntin ues as the MCU
bytes an MCU can access at once 68HC11 MCUs all contai n a sop his- runs its program.
depends on the number of ad d ress ticated se t of timers and cou nters, T h is techniqu e of u sing th e
lines it has available. Man y com- w hich yo u r p ro gr am can u se to contents of one address to define
mon MC Us, s uc h as Mot orola' s tim e events or to ge ne ra te accu ra te an other ad d ress is known to C
popular 68HC ll fa mily, spo rt 16 pulses. Your program can control
address lines. This mean s they can how these tim ers behave, by access- Left: BotBoard 2
ac cess m em ory a d d resses th at ing a d ed icated se t of 1/0 registers Below: BotBoard 1
range from $0000 to $ffff. Refer to tied to the tim er subsystem. Other These examples are populated with
my di scussion of po ssible eight-bit 68 H C ll I /O regi st ers control Motorola 68HCll MCUs.
patterns above, th en expa nd th e features such as serial port s, analog-
table to use 16 bits and yo u' ll see to-digital (A/ D) converte rs, and
what I mean. even lower level cha rac teristics of
If you con vert these numbers to the MCU itself.
d ecimal in st ead of hexad ecimal, But view ing an MCU as a black
you ge t addresses that range from box with I/O registers and memor y
o to 65,535. The latter number is leaves ou t a vital element: execu tion
usuall y s ho rtene d to 64K, w hich speed . The MCU is always running
reall y means 64 tim es 1,024 bytes; some form of a program, and is run-
(This illu strat es th at a kilob yte is ning it very qu ickly. The 68HCll,
reall y not just 1000 byt es, but is while slow by tod ay's standa rds, still
actua lly 1024 bytes. This conve n- per forms two million mem or y ac-
tion is used because 1024 is an eve n cesses per second . This means the
power of 2, but 1000 is not. ) machin e is d oing some thing at the
No te that being able to access 64K rate of about one million instru ctions
of memory d oes not mean that an per second . Your job, as the robot's
MCU actually has 64K of memory on programmer, is to make su re that the
th e chip . Microcontroller s come MCU is exe cu ting your program
with a small amount of memory while it is running. (I guarantee it
already on the device. But if your will be executin g something:If it's not

you place your progr am anywhe re • An asynchrono us se rial port,
in the 68HC11's mem ory space, ye t called the SCI, th at you can use to
/ ,... <D .,., ..,. ..., N O ~ ;;:; ~ !: ~ !:;; tell the MCV exactly w here it can talk to serial d evices such as you.,
XTAl 8 1 46 PE5!AN5 find your p rogram aft er power is PC' s COM port.
PCO/AOO 9 45 PE1/AN1
Pel /An1 10 44 PE4IAN4 reset.
PC2IAD2 11 43 PEOIANO
PC3/A03 12 42 PBOJA8 • A sy nchro no us se rial p ort as
PC4JAD4
PC5!AD5
13
14
41
40
PBlIA9
P821A10 Overview of an MCU well, dubbed th e SPI. This hi g h-
33 PBJIA11
PWA06
PC7/AD7
15
16 aa PB4IA12 First, you need to know that RAM speed link can move data betw een
RESET
XIRQ
17
18
37
36
PB51A13
PB6JA.f4
mem or y is volatile: It "forge ts" its th e MCV and othe r chips at up to
iRO
PDMhO
19
20
35
34
PB7/A15
PAOJ1C3
contents when power is turned off. one million bits per second.
But EEPROM memor y is non-vola-
tile. EEPROM stands for Electrically • Eig h t cha nnels of 8-bit A/ D
Erasa ble Programma ble Read -Only (a na log- to-dig ita1 co nve r te rs ),
Memory. This is simply a len gthy w hi ch allow yo u r p ro gr am to
Pinout of the MC68HCll £2 52-pin ter m meaning, "me mo ry yo u can sa mple analog vo ltages on any of
PLCe. Also comes as 48-pin DJP, store progr am s in, eve n after the eight pins and tran slate those vo lt-
power is turned off." ages in to d igital in formation .
programmers as a "poin te r." As- The 68HC8 11E2 can store up to
sembly language programmers call 2,048 b ytes of program co de in • Eight tim er cha nne ls and large
it a "vector." In fact, 68HC11 p ro- EEPROM . It ca n also temporarily a number of di git al I/ O lines.
gram me rs refer to the ad d resses store 256 bytes in RAM as lon g as
$fffe and $ffff as "the rese t vec tor," the power is still on. The 68HC811E2 has nearl y every~
since th ey form th e 16-bi t vector Besides 2K of EEPROM and 256 thing a robo t builder w ould wa nt.
that the MCV uses immediately fol- b y tes of RAM , th e '811 E2 a lso A 68HC 11 chip looks like a thi ck,
lowing reset or power-up. contains a good assortme nt of I/O black plastic postage stam p . Most
This conc ept of a reset vector lets su bsystems: co me in a pl asti c lead ed chip
ca rrie r (PLCC) package w ith 52
pins. To make these d evices actu-
ally d o something useful, you must
fir st co n nect them to you r rob ot
circu itry.
Getting Started With a

BotBoard
To ge t sta rted usin g a 68HC11
CD PLAYER OR right away, nothing beats a Bot-
TAPE DECK Board. Mar vin Gree n, a friend of
•
•
POWER
DATA
CH' l ~
CH.2
CH.3 mine in Portland, Oregon, design ed
CH.4
CH.5
CH.6 th e BotBoard so me tim e ago as a
IN CH.7
8/PWR sim p le way to ge t a sing le-c hip
68HC11 sys te m up and runnin g,
This little printed ci rc u it board
(PCB) is sm alle r th an a pl a ying
EYES ca rd, ye t h as all th e paths lai d
(EXAMPLE)
o u t for th e b a si c 68HC1 1
sys tem . You can buy a blank Bot-
Low cost motion control system uses a Board fro m M orido -tron ics
sma ll CD player or tape deck to play back (w w w.robots tore .co m) for about
synch ronized sound and motion. Unit can
drive hobby servos , solenoids, air valves , EFFECTive ENGI NEERING $10. You w ill also need to find an d
6727 Flanders Dr., Ste. 106
motors, lights , etc . Bring your robots or San Diego, CA 92121 ord er the remaining parts, includ-
cr~atures to life! System is easy to install, TEL (619) 450-1024
in g the 68HC8 11E2 MCV d evic e
FAX (619) 452-3241
reliable , and simple to program. www.trix.com/effectivel a n d a m a tchin g 52 -p in PLC C
Call o r write fo r a catalog describ ing our complete lin e of motion co ntro l p roducts. socket. The BotBoard documenta-
tion includes a full par ts list with

suggested suppliers. Expect to You can easily buy the software SBasic compiler for examples, so I
spend about $50 in all to build up you need . But for th ose of you who suggest you stop by my web site
your first BotBoard. (For suggested are interes ted in gathering up your at www.seanet.com /-karllun t an d
sources of components and soft- own tool se t, I'll now briefly de- hit the Tips and Techniques page.
ware, see the Resources section at scribe w hat you'll need and where There you will find a copy of my
the end of this article.) you can get it. Reliable sources for SBasic distribution file; this fil e
The BotBoard instruction book this software are also detailed at the contains the SBasic compiler and a
also includes plans for a simple end of this article. serviceable assembler, plus a lot of
serial cable that you will need to First off, you will need a copy of sample programs. You will also
build. This cable is needed because a program called "pcbugll ." This find a link to a page explaining in
the BotBoard's serial port detail how to use pcbugll
talks with digital-level sig- to talk to a BotBoard .
nals (0 to 5 volts), but your REALIZE THAT NONE OF THIS IS OVER Download tha t page an d
PC COM port talks using file it away for reference.
RS-232 levels (-15 to YOUR HEAD: JUST SPEND SOME TIME Third, you absolutel y
+15 volts). If you connect must have a copy o f
the two devices WORKING WITH THE CIRCUIT AND Motorola's M68HC ll
together without using the Referen ce Manua l
LOGIC PROBE , AND
suggested converter, you ( M 6 8 H C l l R M / A D ),
will damage or destroy RE-READING THIS ARTICLE AS NEEDED known in th e
your BotBoard. The cable microcontroller world as
and converter are easy to the "pink book" because of
build, and you will be able to use Motorola software runs on your PC the color of its cover. You can usu-
them on many different BotBoard and talks to the 68HCll from the ally order this book from the near-
projects. PC's COM port into the 'HCll's est Motorola distributor or sales
For a power supply, simply grab SCI. representative; you can also contact
a four-cell AA battery holder from Though written in the days of Motorola directly by using th e
Radio Shack and fill it with alkaline DOS and somewhat temperamen- phone number for their literature
batteries. I really like the Renewal talon today's faster machines, center, available on their web site.
rechargeable alkalines, and I use pcbugll is still both indispensable Note that this book is vital for
them for all of my robot projects. and great fun. You can use th is successfully designing with th e
Whenever the total voltage from program to probe areas of the 68HCll; if you don't have this
my four batteries drops below five 68HCll's memory, write and debug book, you doom yourself to endless
volts, I pull the batteries out and small programs, modify the MCU's frustration.
stick them in the charger. Note that I/O registers, and even do limited Last, but not least, you will need
you must use a Renewal charger to tracing and debugging of your pro- tons of information. The Motorola
recharge Renewal batteries: using grams. web site listed above is a great start-
any other kind of charger is asking To find a copy of pcbugll on the ing poin t. ' Another good place to
for a possible fire or explosion. Internet, aim your web browser a t begin is my web site, as well as site s
Also, recharge Renewals as often as Mo torola (www.mcu.mo tsps.com: for which I've provided links. You
possible. Unlike standard NiCads, 80/freeweb / ) and follow the links can also do a web search and loca te
Renewals don't form a "memory," tha t take you to the 68HCll a copy of the 68HCl1 Frequently
and they last longer w hen re- area. Download the program Asked Questions list, known as the
charged frequently. pcb ug342.exe, copy it to a new d i- 68HC ll FAQ. Some of the info is a
The BotBoard makes an excellent rectory called pcbug11 (or suchlike), little dated, but it still contains a lot
robotics tool, but it is complex, so and execute the program. It will ex- of meat and will answer many of
naturally you need tools to use the pand into a working version of your first questions.
tool. For the 68HCll in general, those pcbugll with all of its necessary
tools include software like assem- support files. Elements of an MCU
blers, compilers, and com munica- Seco nd, you will need progr ams The 68HCll I/O subsystems let
tions programs. Mondo-tronics sells called an "assembler" and a "co m- your p rogram interac t w ith th e out-
a couple of floppy discs that will in- piler" to help yo u crea te code for side wo rld, an d it's vit al that you
clude most of the tools that you will the 68HCll. The other articles in u nd erstand how they work so you
need for working with the 68HCll. this series will use my homebrew can use them effectively. Refer to

~~ --- ._ - .._ -- ---'.-~---~.~- --------~ ~--- -- - - - ---
the acco mpa nying fun ction al view If you don 't need to use an y of the asy nchro no us ly, in a forma t com-
of the 68HC811E2. timer-b ased functions on the port A patible with th e PC' s CO M port.
Thi s M CU , like m o st o f th e pin s, your pro gram can still use PAO Th ese lines mak e up th e SCI pins.
68HC l l va ria n ts, contains five ma- through PA2 as di git al input lines PD2 through PD5 form the SPI pins
jor I/O ports, eac h connec ted to the a nd PA3 th rou gh PA7 as di gital and are used for high-speed serial
o u ts ide wo rl d b y pin s o n t he ou tpu t lines. communications wi th special chips
d evice's package. Th e ports a re Port B co ns is ts of pin s PBO having a compa tible interface. Your
known by the alphabe tic lett ers A through PB7, co n nec te d to th e designs will alm ost always use PDO
through E, and by their major fun c- 68HCll's multipl exed ad d ress and and PDl for RS-232 communications.
tion s. d ata bu ses . (A bu s is sim p ly a If yo u d on 't need th e SPI fu nc-
Port A co nsis ts of pin s PA O grou p of cond ucto rs that are used tions, yo u r p rogr am can use PD2
th rou gh PA7, co n nec te d to th e together to pa ss sig na ls .) Th ese thr ou gh PD5 as either di gital inputs
68HCll's 16-bit timer subsystem. bu ses let you add external RAM or or di git al ou tpu ts.
Ge nerally, the 68HC ll can use PAO EPRO M to yo ur syste m, to gai n Fin all y, Port E co ns is ts of PEO
through PA2 as cou nter inputs; that more mem or y than is ava ilable in through PE7. These pins connect
is, th e MCU can sense changes on th e 68HC l l chip . Suc h memory to th e 68HC ll's A I D subsystem.
th ese th ree p ins a nd m ake th at expansion is beyond th e scope of You can connec t a voltage from 0 to
in form at ion ava il a b le to yo u r this article, but is di scussed in the 5 VDC to any of th ese eight pins,
program. Ad d itiona lly, pins PA3 books mention ed above and is we ll and your program can then read the
th rou gh PA7 ca n ou tp u t timing wor th study. vo ltage on th at pin as a va lue from
signa ls genera ted by your program Since yo u wo n' t be usin g th e oto $ff. Each of the eight port E pin s
to control motors or other actua tors. externa l ad d ressi ng on yo u r Bot- works indep endently of th e othe rs,
Board d esign s, your prog ra m can so any pin that yo u d on 't need as
use PBOthrough PB7 as di gital out- a n A I D in p u t ca n a lso act as a
put lines. No te that they cannot be di git al inpu t.
Functional Block Diagram: used as d igit al input lines. As yo u ca n see, th e 68 H C 11
68HC llE2
Port C co nsis ts of pin s PCO provid es you wi th 38 I/O lines that
through PC7, also connected to the you can use in a variety of ways to
68HCll ' s multi- control yo u r rob ot. Lines PBO
pl exed ad d ress through PB7 are the sim plest for m
I Pulse Accumulator a nd d ata bu ses .
PAl PA7
of 68HC ll I/O, so I'll use th em as
_ OC2
ROM · 8k Byles
g Aga in, since yo u
OC3
PAO
PA,
m y firs t exa mp le. Ref er to the
L Timer
wo n' t be usin g ex-
004
OC'
PA'
PA3 accompanyin g di agram on w riting
PA2 IC'
PeriodiC Interruptternal mem or y on
IC2
IC3
PAl
PAO
d at a to port B.
COP WatChdog
RAM - 256 Byle 5
yo u r BotBoard Thi s ex a m p le s hows w ha t
55 _ PA,
d esign s, you r pro- happens if your program writes the
EEPROM· 2 kByles t ~ SPI SCK
MO SI
gra m can use PCO

C
0
_ PM
.......... PA3
wsc
s
Q - PA2 value $32 to ad dress $1004. In the
PET
T'D
R,D 11 ::::: :~
SCI
throu gh PC 7 as 68HC8 11E2, ad d ress $1004 isn 't a
~==========~--:::::::::::...-----, di g it a l
PEO
PE' ou tput memory location, thou gh it beha ves
PE'
PE3 - - - +
PE2- '
AID
Conver ter
lines. like one as far as your program is con-
PE, - '
PEO- - - " Unlik e p ort B,
M68HC11 CPU cern ed . Actually, the eight bits in
however, an y or all add ress $1004 make up the eight digi-
V
AEFH
V REFL ===::=l of th e port C lines tal ou tpu t lines of port B. The value
can a lso se rve as written to bit 0 o f $1004
di git al inputs. appea rs directly on the pin PBO; the
Port 0 cons ists of value of bit 1 appea rs on PB1 , and so
pins PDO th rough on. Writing a 0 to one of these bits
PD5, connected to causes th e MC U to se t th e corre-
the SCI and the SPI spond ing digital output line to a logic
serial subsystems. 0, or ground. Writin g a 1 to a bit
The 68HC l l uses causes the MCU to bring the digital
PD O a nd POl to ou tput line to a logic 1, or +5 VDC.
receiv e and trans- Port B (or PORTB, to use th e Mo-
mit se r ia l d ata torola conven tion) makes a grea t

starting point for inv estigating how a 68HC 11 wo rks:
The port requires no setu p of any kind; just w rite a value
to it and that value appea rs on ou tp u t lines PBOthrough
PB7. The MCU isn' t eve n fussy abo u t how yo u write
MOTORIZED PAN
the va lue, jus t as lon g as some thing gets w ritte n there. Fastens between any tripod head and vide o c amera . Two motors allow
So yo u can use pcb ug l l to alter the va lue in ad d ress indepe nd ent smooth remote adjustment ot ve rtical a nd horizonta l
panning motion Auto Pan Mode - allows c ontinuo us horizo nta l panning
$1004 and see the effects of your cha nge imme d iately, motion. Switch selector for either a 30.60 or 90 degree movement.
• Maximum horizonta l angle +90
using a logic prob e or sim p le LED circuit. To u se • Maximum vertical angle + 15
MP-l0 l
pcbug11 to change port B, use the comma nd seque nce: 4
• Power Source AA batteries
• Pann ing Speed a djusta ble
Weight 27 oz. - Size 5.75' x 4.5 x 4'
$99
cont ro l bas e hex
900MHz WIRELESS TRANSMITTER 12V Auto Battery
ms 1 0 0 4 32
.~:E, .I,.."V
.;,]
, ,'&:Y~~~ii;~ ~~~~;F~~~:
No te that you only have to ente r the contro l sta te-
ment once, w hen you first start up pcbug11. It rem ain s
in effect from tha t point on.
WARN ING: The PO RTB ou tp uts, like th e othe r
68HC11 ou tpu t port lines, canno t provide a lot of power,
. 1.
cJ::: ~T···.. "
' -_~=
H ',' ,' ,.,
>........
"""",,<1
"f
F!:'·
AllOWS A VIDEOCAMERAWITH A COMPOSITE VIDEO
'J475 BCRI5 3
$239·• Camcorder Batteries
Blank Video Tape
• Ught ing Equipment
SIGNALAND/OR AN AUDIOSIGNAL TO BE CONNECTED TO THE • Wireless Mics
WIRELESSTRANSM lnER • RANGE 150FEET • Battery Be lts
so you need to use cau tio n w he n you hook up externa l LEAD ACID CELLS 1 170 Mhz Wire less MIC WLX PRO $139 I '
circuitry. For example, a PORTB line gets set to +5 VOC LC R-6V4 $22 DURACELLQIl ALKALINE CELLS '\
whe n you wri te a 1 to the corres po nd ing bit, but the LCR-6V 7.2 $35
LC R-6V12 $42 AAA 1.5V 1120mAh MN2400B2 2PK $1.99 I
68HC11 can only su p ply abo u t 1 mA of curren t at that AA 1.5V 2450mAh MNl500B2 2PK $1.89
LCR-6V 10 $30 C 1.5V 7100mAh MN1400B2 2PK $2.90
voltage. If yo ur circuitry tries to draw more cu rrent LCR-12V3 .4 $27 D 1.5V 14,250mAh MNl300B2 2PK 2.90
than that from the ou tpu t line, the voltage will drop LCR-12V7.2 $36 PROCElL 9V 565mAh PROCELL $1.95
below +5 VOc. If yo ur circui try tries to draw more
than abo u t 20 mA of current from any ou tp u t line, you PAYMENT BY: ~ ;: ·~·I ~ ~ FREE SHIPPIN ]1
risk d am agin g the 68HC 11 . THRIFTY Catalog sent with your Older on orders of $300 orMore
Th e bottom lin e her e is use ca re when d esigning

yo u r ex terna l circ u itry. You ca nno t dri ve d evi ces
suc h as relays d irectl y fro m 68HCl1 ou tp u t lin es, so curren t sta te of th ose pi ns co nfigured as inputs .
don' t try. LEOs wi th su itable d ropping resistors (say Wh en yo ur program reads a PO RTC inp u t lin e, th e
240 ohms or more) are fine, but d evic es th at need co rres po nd ing bit w ill be 1 if th at lin e is co n nec ted
high er curren ts ca ll for so me ki nd of interface IC in to +5 VOC, or 0 if th at lin e is co nnec ted to grou nd .
bet w een . I'll cover so me sui table inter face chips in Reading any ou tp u t pin s w ill return th e va lue most
fu ture articles . rece n tly w ri tte n to th em.
Port C (PORTC, ad d ress $1003) wo rks almost exac tly My last recommendati on is th is: Realize that non e of
like PO RTB, bu t yo u can d eclar e some of th e port C th is is over yo ur head ; just spend some tim e working
lines as d igital inputs and some as digital ou tpu ts. This w ith the circuit and logic prob e, and re-read ing th is
d eclar ati on takes place usin g an I/O register named article as need ed .
ODRC (address $1007). Before your program tries to Build your BotBoard using the su pplied instruction s,
use PO RTC, it sho uld firs t d eclare the d irection s of all load up pcbugl l , and spe nd some tim e play ing w ith
PORTC lines, so you d on't inadvertently cha nge some th e 68HC811E2 chip . You can buy a logic probe just
ex ternal circui t. The va lue yo ur progra m writes to abo u t anywhe re, and they make grea t tools for find ing
OORC determi nes the direction of each PORTC di gital simple hardw are p robl em s and for check ing th e sta te
line. Writing a 0 to a bit in OORC makes the mat ching of your 68HC 11 ou tpu t lines.
bit in PORTC an input line; wri ting a 1 to a bit in OORC
makes that line an ou tp ut ins tead .
O nce you 've se t up O OR C, yo u r p ro g ram ca n Nex t time, I'll cove r some more of the 68HCl1 I/O
cha nge th e state of th e PO RTC ou tp u t lines by w ri t- s u bsys te ms, a nd ge t yo u star te d w ith yo u r fi rs t
ing a value to PO RTC, jus t as I' ve d escribed fo r p rogram. I suggest tha t yo u print ou t the SBasic user 's
PO RTB above. Any PO RTC lines tha t have been con- manual that comes with the SBasic di stribution file and
figured as d igital inp u ts will igno re th e cha nge; th ose get started by reading that. I'll use SBasic for my p ro-
lin es remain inpu ts to th e ou tside world . Sim ila rly, gra m m ing exa m p les, a nd th is head star t w ill p ay
yo ur progra m ca n read PO RTC to d et ermine th e d ivid ends. -Karl i=\.S&""i'"
P REMIER ISSUE • 45
Someday soon, you 'll want to build a sturdy m etal robot.
In this fa ct-packed briefing, veteran Robot Warrior Ro nni Katz
helps yo u understand aluminum: selecting grades, cutting,
bendi ng, welding and bolting.
Fabrication: The Besic«
Story and photos by Ronni Katz
Understanding the Metal Itself

Pure alu m inu m is not heat -treat abl e, bu t it gains
stre ng th w he n bent, hammered or otherwise worked .
How ever, alu minu m is also subject to fatigue. This is
why, even thou gh it has excellent cond uctivi ty, it is a
poor choice for wi ring . Repeat ed be nd ing of aluminu m
wi re w ill cause it to weaken, crack and lose its ability
to carry cu rren t. However, w he n used in the fabrica-
tion of parts for rob ots and othe r struc tures, alu mi nu m
has m an y advan tages. For one, it is as worka ble as steel
bu t d oes the job for a fraction of the weig ht and cost.
Some of alu minu m's alloy grou ps p rovid e stre ng th
sim ilar to th at of mild steel.
Alloying alu m inu m d oes not adversely affect its
wor k- ha rdening cha racte ristic, but th e addi tio n of
eleme n ts to alu m inu m affects th e metal in othe r re-
spects. On e major altera tion is that some alloys are heat-
trea tabl e, w hich is importan t to consi der w he n we ld-
ing is to be a part of th e metalworkin g p roject. Also,
so me of the alloys offer corrosion resistan ce, an impor-
tant factor if th e project is so me th ing th at w ill be
expose d to the eleme n ts.
Aluminum and aluminum alloys come ill a variety of

shapes and sizes - tubes, bars, I-beams, sheets, etc.
Choosing the Right Alloy the inside of the corner will have a Miami Lakes, Fla., might have odd
Aluminum comes in nine differ- rounded edge. This is because the lengths of the material. If not, metal-
ent series of alloy groups. The 1000 6000 and above series are extruded, supply places will sell aluminum to
series is almost pure aluminum, and this process causes the bar to the hobbyist.
with minute percentages of impu- have that rounded inner corner. The problem with such metal
rities indicated by the lot number. The second quick trick is tha t wholesalers, however, is that they
For example, Alloy 1345 = 99.45 aluminum sheets in 6000 and require a minimum order. This may
percent aluminum. The "1" is the higher will usually have the series force you to buy far more than you
series number, and the "3" indicates stamped on the metal. For example, need. For this reason, I recommend
modifications in impurity limits. If I had a piece of aluminum with both finding a metalworking or machine
the second number were a zero, the Mil Spec Q number on it as well shop in your neighborhood. They
then there is no special control on as the aluminum factory 6061 T4 might have small lots of the grade
individual impurities. The last two notation on it. of aluminum alloy you're looking
digits indicate the minimum alumi- Although not as hard as the 6000 for, and they might be willing to sell
num percentage expressed to the and 7000 series, the 5000 series is some to you for a better price than
nearest 0.01 percent. The 2000 to easier to obtain and less costly than you might get from a metal sup-
8000 series are alloys of aluminum the higher aluminum grades. If the plier.
where the base metal is joined with 5000 series isn't strong enough for Central Metal Fabricators, Inc. -
other elements. Mostly what I will you, the 6000 series is heat-treat- the shop that helped me in the con-
be dealing with here are the 5000, able, possesses good formability struction of my robot Spike II - ha s
6000 and 7000 series, which are the and corrosion resistance, and has an impressive selection of various
ones most often used for metal- good strength. The major alloy is aluminum alloys that they
working projects by hobbyists 6061, and it is one of the most purposely keep on hand for local
whose projects require good versatile heat-treatable alloys. small-users, like hobbyists, sculp-
strength, workability and resistance The 7000 series has zinc as the tors and such. If your project re-
to corrosion. major alloying element. When quires superior strength, then I rec-
The 5000 series is what is most coupled with a little magnesium, ommend you seek out your local
frequently sold in Home Depot and the result is a heat-treatable alloy of metal shop, or Small Parts, to try to
similar do-it-yourself stores. This is very high strength. The 7075 alloy obtain the aluminum alloy you
architectural-grade aluminum . It is the bes t member of this group. It need.
provides strength, fine welding is used for the construction
qualities and good corrosion resis- of airframes and other
tance. The most common alloy is highly stressed parts. It is ob-
5052, which is used a lot in home tainable by the hobbyist, but
construction for window and it is more costly because it is SOME OF ALUMINUM'S;
doorframes. The Navy has its own aircraft-grade aluminum.
alloy - 5086 - that is used in ship- ALLOY GROUP.s
building, because it is strong and Selecting a Shop to
highly corrosion resistant. Help You PROVIDE STRENGT~
Two quick ways to identify the The 6000 and 7000 series
5000 series from 6000 and 7000: If are not readily procurable
the piece is an I-bar or like shape,
SIMILAR TO THAT
through building supply
on the 5000 series it will have an stores. Fortuna te ly, places
inside corner that has a sharp, pre- like Sma ll Parts Inc., a sur-
OF MILD STEELo
cise edge. In the 6000 and up series, plus parts store based in
At best, it w ill clog the cu tting teeth Most Home Depot sto res se ll i
and mak e it more di fficult to cu t the par affin-based wax yo u can use t<
metal. At worst, it w ill ge t into the coa t your sa nd ing disk. We usee
brid ges bet w een th e teeth, expa nd Edge Lu be, a co m m erci a l l-
from the hea t of friction, and pop ava ila b le wax lubricant, o n t h i
th e teeth off. Use W D- 40 to sa nder to wo rk on Spike II. Wa:
lubricate the cu tti ng w heel and enha nces th e sa nd ing p ro cess b;
keep the alumi nu m fro m sticking . keep ing the alu minu m from stick
Band saws and pl asma cu tte rs (a in g to th e di sk (w hich makes tlu
cu t ti ng torch ) a re bes t for grind ing less of a grind).
ge tting p recise cu ts, altho ugh com- A lathe can be used to "face off " i
mercial mill s usu all y use big rad ial- p iece, giving it a nice fini sh ed look
arm saws to cu t alu minu m . Using But a wo rd of cau tion: If durin g
A plasma cutter allows the designer a band saw, it is possibl e to ge t a the lathing p rocess yo u hear wha
to create a wide variety of shapes, nice clean edge that w ill need mini- has been nicknamed "lathe music'
including the circle shown here. The mal fini shing . Ama te ur builders - a high-pitched note or whine -
edges will be rough and need s to p th e lath e. Lath e mu sic i:
finishing. Nevertheless, a plasma
cutter is the tool to lise for cutting caused by th e alu minu m vibrating
unusual shapes. on the tool. If not prev ented , the vi
SOME SHOPS HAVE A brati on s w ill cause noi se marks -,
clear sign yo ur wo rk ha s been dam
SELECTION OF VARIOUS aged .
Understanding ALUMINUM ALLOYS THAT
Aluminum Work Can You Do It Yourself?
Aluminum has some advantages THEY PURPOSELY KEEP ON For sma ll projects, a Dremel too
over steel. One ad vantage is that it (www.d re me l.co m) is th e tool 0
is available in a variety of sha pes HAND FOR LOCAL cho ice. It can cu t, grind, mill, pol-
and thicknesses. It comes in bar s, ish , burnish and sand your alumi-
SMALL USERS, LI KE
tubes, sheets, etc. num. Muc h of the d etail work or
A second advantage is that it is HOBBYISTS, SCULPTORS Spike II was done w ith a Dremel
easier to machine than stee l. Stee l But th e major cu tting , weld ing anc
req uires fabrication ; aluminum AND SUCH bending shou ld be done by profes
does not. A shape can be design ed siona ls.
on a computer u sin g CAD
(computer-assisted design) soft- ma y not have access to a plasma Bending
ware and then be programmed into cutter, but these d evices give you If your d esign call s for th e meta:
an automated milling machine. the ability to ge t interesting shapes, to be bent, yo u need to kn ow th at
At Central Metal Fabrica to rs, I suc h as circles, ou t of alu m inu m.
saw how the y took a solid plate of Regardless of the type of sa w, one
aluminum and milled it to exact thing to not e is the spac ing of the
sp ecifica tions. Th e fini sh ed work teeth. Bigger spaces are be tter - they WITH ALUMINUM,
was precisely the size and sha pe the are less likely to clog the blade.
customer wanted, and it was mad e For grind ing alum inu m, it is best IT IS POSSIBLE TO
out of a so lid piece of alu m inu m - to use an alu minu m abrasive wheel,
no welding. Thus, w ith alu mi nu m,
it is po ssible to go from CAD to fi-
w hich is less like ly to clog, and a
cu to ff w heel. T he dow n si de of
GO FROM CA 0 TO
nal cut with a lot less labor cost than using these two w heels is that they
steel cutting. wea r out more quickly. However, the
FINAL CUT WITH A
An important point to note w he n fact that they'll wea r out before they
cuttin g a lu mi n u m: D on 't u se clog up is actually a positi ve aspec t. LOT LESS LA BOR
abrasive cutting wheels. It will be Here's a trick for maximum effi-
like tr ying to cut throu gh w ax. ciency and ease for sa nd ing your COST THAN STEEL
Aluminum is softer than stee l and aluminum project: Wax the sand ing
will "plate" onto an abrasive wheel. di sk .
48 • R OBor S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY

the temper of the aluminum will af-
fect its bendability. A T6 piece is the
hardest temper you can get, but a
high temper piece doesn't necessar-
ily mean it will be unbendable. It
just means it will be harder to bend .
Most pieces I used were T4 and
quite bendabIe.
Also, you should know that,
unlike steel, heating aluminum
doesn't make it more pliable.
Heating aluminum will make it break
quicker. If you are going to bend alu-
minum, cold-work the metal.
Cold-working means doing the
work at standard room tempera-
ture, not outside in North Dakota This one-inch bar of 6061 aluminum was used to make test bends, The test was
in January. Very cold temperatures successful, meanin g it was safe to use this alloy on the actual project under
also make aluminum more likely to construction.
break under the stress of the
bending process. type of metal will insure that after nonconductive and has a higher
A phenomenon to note when you cut, weld and assemble, your melting temperature than the
you're bending aluminum is that as aluminum will meet your design aluminum itself. If the oxide layer
you bend it, you will feel it getting specifications. is thick enough, the aluminum
harder. Here's an example of what can under the oxide will start to melt
Caution, it gets hardest just before happen if your metal is not stress- while the oxide remains solid above
it breaks. Furthermore, if it's going to relieved: Let's say your design calls it. Therefore, you need high-fre-
break in the direction of work, then for a series of wheel pockets on one quency AC to break down this
it's going to break when you bend it side of a bar, while the opposite side oxide.
back to its starting point as well. The of the bar is to be solid. If the bar is The need for high-frequency AC
idea here is to get your piece bent to not stress-relieved, the bar will makes welding aluminum at home
the angle you need without having bend slightly, because you have difficult for a hobbyist. Another
it go brittle on you and snap. relieved all the surface tension off down side is that you must control
It's a good practice to take a test the side with the pockets, and the the voltage while welding alumi-
piece and bend it to the solid side has pulled tight. How num. With steel, you just set the
desired angle. If the bend looks much the bar will bend depends machine, get the arc going, and
solid and there are no signs of metal upon the particular piece of alumi- you're ready to rock. Not so with
fatigue, then you can be pretty sure num you're using. aluminum'. You need a lot of
it will be safe to do the bend on the To prevent such bending, you amperage to get the material hot,
project piece. must use stress-relieved aluminum. because of the metal's high heat
Two related aspects to take into Stress-relieving aluminum isn't conductivity. (It is this property of
consideration when working with cheap, but if your application calls aluminum that makes it the metal
aluminum are surface tension and for absolute precision, you can't of choice for the construction of heat
stress relief. The rolling process of afford not to use it. sinks.)
manufacturing sheets of aluminum In order to weld your piece, you
and the like squeezes the surface Welding have to flood it with heat until the
tighter than the edges. There is sur- Welding aluminum is not like area you are working on gets to the
face tension on all of the material welding steel. For starter s, point that it cannot dissipate the
but it is mainly around the skin of aluminum requires a high-fre- heat fast enough. Once you get the
the metal, not so much toward the quency, alternating current (AC) to metal to where it needs to be, you
center of the piece. "Stress-relieved" break down the oxides that form on must back off the current. You can't
aluminum is absolutely necessary the surface as the metal is being just "set and forget," the way you
when doing an application where heated. The oxide that forms on the can with steel. Because you have to
precision is required. Using this surface of the heated aluminum is go up and down with the current

. '.~~~ . ----~~--~~~~~- - -- ----~ .. _ - . - -- . ._- ~- . .-
while working, welding aluminum (contaminate) the tip of your torc h
is tricky. The very tip will, however, get a
Another challenge in welding little ball on it because of the AC
aluminum is the shielding gas . but that's normal.
Some welders require straight The positive aspect of a tig weld
argon. There is, however, another is that you can get almost surgica.
option: the heliarc torch. This torch precision with your welds and, iti
uses helium as its shielding gas, done carefully enough, these weld s
because helium increases the rate of may need little or no sand ing ali
heat transfer. A spool-fed torch buffing to get a clean edge.
loaded with 4043 aluminum wire Overall, it's is easier to work wi th
works well for most welding a spool or wire-fed torch - as op-
projects. You can also use 5356 wire, posed to the two-handed ti.g
but it produces much more smoke, method - because with aluminum,
because of the higher levels of you have the current-controlling
magnesium in the aluminum alloy foot pedal to think about, not just
~ wire. If you're going to use 5356 as what you're doing with your hand s,
Your ( )
( your filler metal, make sure you When you are using a welding
()
have adequate ventilation. device that pumps 50,000 volts
A mig welder is great for large through it, a major issue is cooling,
projects that require thick welds A mig welder uses less amperagE
and for times when a quick weld is than a heliarc, and is air-cooled ;
Moilorder needed. Although with a mig while the heliarc is water-cooled.
welder it is more difficult to do the Another difference between a mig
really fine stuff, it isn't impossible welder and a heliarc is that the mi,g
to get a good clean weld if you only heats the area you are work-
know what you are doing. ing on, whereas the heliarc has to
If you don't have access to a coil- get the whole piece hot before it can
fed or spool-fed welder, you can use get the area to be worked on hot
• VIOEOS . ~ the tig welding technique - wire in enough for welding.
~ ~
one hand, torch in the other. When A mig welder more directly hea ts
For tig-welding, be sure to keep the the filler metal and the area rig ht
tungsten electrode from coming below it. I reccomend preheating
into direct contact with the metal the metal before welding. If it is
being welded. Otherwise you'll slag small enough, you can pop it into
Lef t: This is a spoo l gun for mig welding. It is loaded with 4043 alumin um wire, which
is used as a fi ller metal fo r welding.
Right: This is another type ofspool-fed mig welder. This unit uses copper wire, because
aluminum wire is too soft to pass through the long length ofthe hose without ja mming up
Or write to us:
4286 Redwood Hwy #226-138
San Rafael (A 94903
Phone 415-491-4600 • Fax 415-491-4696
Email infa@monda.com

f the ove n for a bit to heat it up, or just use the torch to Also, I didn't use inserts and di d lose some of the
wa rm it. Also, w hen d oin g a weld, making a "V" of the bolt s due to cree p and the stresses of comba t. Eve n
edges to be welded together is a goo d id ea. This w ill th ou gh the rob ot held together for the en tire com pe ti-
insure the we ld w ill rem ain solid through the finish - tion , mu ch of the loss of con tro l and drivability th at
ing p rocess in w hich the upper rou gh layer is rem oved
to ge t th at nice smooth edge.
This sho u ld be don e on both sides of the metal, eve n
loose and missin g connec tions . ,,5&.
occurred during the fina l battles happened because of
if the underside or "ba d" side isn't going to be finish ed .

It will ens ure that eno ug h we ld will be there to keep
the assembly structurally sou nd. This is most crucial
whe n d oing joint connections.
Author's Recommendations
Bolting
Wh en you have alloys that d on 't weld well, like th e Get acquainted with your local metal shop . (Thank you,
7000 series and some of the 2000s, you mu st use bolts Frank and Central Metal Fabricator s Inc . of Red Bank, N};
to make connec tions . For exa m ple, 7075 ca nno t be for all th e help w ith thi s article
we lded; it is almost as hard as mild stee l and is not and with m y rob ot wa rrior, Spike ll .)
bendable. Series 2024 is bendable and fabric ates w ell.
It is com mo nly used in airplanes.
Central Metal Fabricators, Inc.
So, if you need to make a connection to 7075 or 2024 34 Willow St,
alu minu m pieces, bolting is the best wa y to go. Here is Red Bank, NJ 07701
one recommended procedure: First, counter sink the tel: 732.530.7339
holes top and bottom . Second, put threaded inserts in If you need metal w ork, talk to Frank Cri safulli.
the bolth oles. These inserts will often have an activated Central Metal ha s experience wo rking with all types of
epoxy on the thr ead s so w hen you put your screw into metal , includin g titanium.
the insert, the screw will be secure ly locked in place. This
will prevent fasteners from coming loose due to "creep."
Small Parts Inc .
Creep occu rs w hen th e aluminum metal mo ves, or
13980 NW 58th Court
cree ps away, from under the bolt s as the m etal moves, PO. Box 4650
as it would if being used on a car or a robot. Such move- Miami Lakes , FL 33014-0650
ment can cause bolts to loosen and fall out or break. tel: 800.220.4242
A good exa mple of how the thread inserts work is fax: 800.423.9009
thi s: Let's say yo u have a 114-inch, 20-threads-per-inch smlparts@sma llpa rts.co m
tap that yo u wa nt to put int o your aluminum sh eet. w w w.smallparts.co m/
This requires a hollow thread insert that has an out- Great source for miscellaneous parts.
side diameter of 318-inch with 16 threads per inch - The y are a surplus place, so they ma y or ma y not have
and an inside di am eter of 1 14 inch with 20 threads per that 6061 aluminum sheet yo u need for your project,
but they have tons of stu ff you wo n' t find an ywhere else.
inch. You drill ou t a 3/8-inch hole in the alu minu m and
They also have a grea t shot of Carl o Bertoccini' s Stealth
screw the inse rt int o your hole in th e metal. robot on the cove r of their literature.
Thi s inse rt is often coa ted with an epoxy on it, which Hi ghl y recommended!
are microscop ic bead s of glue that grip onto the ou t-
side screw thr ead s and bind them to the metal. Ne xt,
tighten a screw int o the inside of the expo xied insert to PEM Fasteners
mak e the connection, and w ithin 24 hours, you will Danboro, PA 18916
have a secure fit. (The epoxy takes 24 hours to set full y.) tel: 800.342.5736
This connec tion w ill hold very securely. It is the typ e fax: 215.766.3633
of connec tion used in car engines . If it will hold under pem@pemn et.com
www.pemnet.com
that kin d of stress , yo u can be sure it w ill hold up un-
If it' s a connector, PEM has it.
d er the stress of most robo tics projects. Their catalog is detailed with eng ine ering spe cifications.
One last thing to remember - don't use cheap, low-qual- They have offices w orldwide
ity connectors . I found that out the hard wa y. The low- Ch eck out their Web site!
end connectors (rivets) I used on Spike II broke or fell out.
The better qu ality ones - the ones that were a dollar each
and designed for aviation use - were the ones that held.

Silver Bullet, continued from page 35
language by the students. Three use Bujold as a roving eye. For more gence technologies needed tc
sonars face forward, two are complex assignments, a human can remove humans from hazardous
mounted on the sides, and one is in teleoperat e Bujold through Silver situations and to do so in an envi
the rear of the vehicle to prevent Bu llet's con tro l tet her. The ronment where research, educatior
collisions as the robot backs up. teleopera tor can view Bujold's situ- and technology transfer a n
Data from the inclinometer (con- ation from Silver Bullet's camera, or inseparabIe.
structed from mercury switches) ge t a close-up view from Bujold's "I put a great deal of emphasis or
tells the computer w het her a incline video feed . students developing visualizatior
is safe to climb slowly, or to back packages and convincing experi-
away from it. The Researcher ments that help communicate the
Robin R. Murphy, Ph.D. con tribu tion to society of the ir
Bujold (magma .Mines.edu/ fs _home/ research rather than on purely the e-
When Silver Bullet can maneuver rmurphy I), is director of the Mo- retical simulation."
no closer to a trapped victim, she bile Robotics/Machine Perception Murphy and her students demon-
opens her back-mounted pouch, Laboratory at the Colorado School strated Silver Bullet and Bujold at la st
lowers her ramp and Bujold rolls out. of Mines (CSM) as well as associate year's American Association fox
Unlike the custom-built Silver director of CSM's interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence Conference
Bullet, Bujold is a $19,000 off-the- Center for Robotics and Intelligent This year, she is co-chair of the 199E
shelf industrial robot from Systems. Funds come from the AAAI Mobile Robot Competition
Inuktun Services, Ltd., of Canada National Science Foundation, the (www.aaaLorg/Conferences/Na-
(www.inuktun.com/).This tiny Defense Ad vanced Research Project tional/1998/Robots/) . Murphy is
but mighty "variable-geometry Agency, NASA, Colorado Ad- also faculty adviser to CSM' E
tracked vehicle" is designed for re- vanced Software Institute and vari- student AI Robotics Teams.
mote video inspection in confined ous interested industries. See: www.mines.edu/fs_home/
spaces. Ideal for SAR work. The laboratory was established in rmurphy /mrmp/ and
For simple tasks, Silver Bullet can 1992 to crea te the artificial intelli- www.mines.edu/research/cris / .
",5&0
Call Dave Albright 28,000 educated,

to place your ad here.
(916)632-1000
talented people saw this spot.
Pathfinder, continued from page 39 that yo u ca n possib ly im ag in e,
yo u' re wrong."
Although he broke th e news on
There were, however, several po- w ha t an ticlimac tic. Buried in a July th e program malfunction, Jo nes
ten tial problems wi th ena bling pri- 21 JPL p ress release was this aside: stresse d, "I greatly ad mire w ha t th e
ority inheritance on the met eoro- "[The flight software team] also sen t Pathfinder team accomplis he d ."
logical data thread semap ho re. a software upd at e to co rrec t At JPL, Reeves echoed the sa me
First, there was no way to enable seq ue nces o n boa rd th e flig h t sentiment: "The team, dedica ted to
the inheritance parameter only on com pu ter w hich have caused it to a sing le purpose, is what go t thi s
I
\
the semaphore for the meteorologi- au toma tically rese t itself." thing d on e. They' re the ones w ho
cal thread. Enabling th e meteoro- W he n as ke d fo r a ny fina l rea lly d eserve the credi t for making
\ it happen. The Wind River guys d id
logical semaphore wo uld enable all comme nts on the pri ority inversion
1 of the o ther se map hores in th e problem, Reeves sai d, "Eve n w hen a really good job." ",-5 &.
"1 program as well. How wo uld th is yo u think you've tested eve ry thing
I
I change the behavior of the
I res t of the sys tem?
1 RNATOMY OF A PRIORITY INVERSION
Second, Wind Rive r had
\
d eliber at ely tu rned off the Lest we've proved ourselves to be "generally incoherent," or worse yet, "wildly
I priority inheri tance op tion wrong," we refer you to Michael Jones' actua l report at: research.microsoft.com/
before launch to op timize -mbj/Mars_Pathfinder /Mars_Pathfinder.html.
"\
th e performance of You can find Glenn Reeves' response at: research.microsoft.com/ -mbj/
I VxWorks. Wo u ld perfo r-
mance be degraded if it we re
tu rn ed on?
Mars_Pathfinder / Authoritative_Account.html.
For background on Wind River's VxWorks on Pathfinder, go to: www.wrs.com/
products/html/jpl.html.
J After in te nse cons u lta - And for information on the entire Mars Pathfind er mission, go to:
i
1 tions w ith Wind River mars.jpl.nasa.gov / default.html
11
perso nnel and ex te ns ive
tes tin g on the dup lica te Here's a little of what you'll find in Reeves' analysis:
Pathfinder in the JPL lab, the
fligh t software team deter- The software to control the 1 553 bus and the attached instruments was
mined that there would be implemented as two tasks. The first task controlled the setup of trans -
J no adverse impac t b y actions on the 1553 bus (called the b us sch edu ler or bc_sched tas k) and
I the second t a sk handled the co l lect ion of the transaction resul ts i .e.
activating the priority inher-
I the data . The second task is referred to as the bc_dist (for distr ibu-
I itance fu nction. tion) task . A typical time1ine for the bus activity for a s ingle cycle
I
is shown below. It is not to scale. This cycle was constantly repeated .
i
I
Repair by Remote
Control
1< ----------- -- .12 5 secon ds ---------------- ---- ---->1
I
J
I
"Pa tching " software on a
spacecraft on ano ther plane t 1< * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1 1* * * * * * * *1 1**> 1
!! is a somewhat specialized
process. 1<- b c_di s t act ive ->1 bc_sched act ive
As Reeves explained it, the 1< -bus ac t ive ->1 1<- >1
team had to tran smit the dif-
ferences betw een wha t was ----1 ----------------1 ------ ---- ---- ------1--------1---1---1 -------
t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t1
onboard Pathfinder a n d
what was on board th e
The *** are periods when tasks other than the ones listed are executing .
reconfigured replica in the Yes, there is some idle time.
lab. They used cus tom sof t-
ware ("with a w ho le bunch t1 - bus hardware starts via hardware control on the 8 Hz boundary . The
of validatio n") th at was transactions f o r the this cycle had been set up by the previous
execution of the bc_sched task .
already onboard Pathfinder t2 - 1553 traffic is complete and the bc_dist task i s awakened .
to mo dify t he VxWo rks t3 - bc_dist task has completed all of the data distribut ion
operating sys tem. t4 - bc_sched task is awakened to setup transactions for the next cycle
The ending was so me- t5 - bc_sched activity is complete
-----"" . -,-,--~~- - ------

MOBILE ROBOTS:
INSPIRATION TO
IMPLEMENTATION
by Joseph L. Jones and Anita M. Flynn
MIT's Jon es and Flynn wrote the bible for small
robots, and this is it. Simply stated, "Our aim is to teach
yo u how to build a rob ot." Yup, they did it. In fact, Jones
and Flynn 's book op ened an esoteric world to us, and
mad e it see m simple. Using the LEGO-based TuteBot
and Rug Warrior de sign s, this book sho ws you not j ust
how to build an indoor mobi le robot, but also explains
why each co mpo nent works . Hundreds of drawings, dia-
grams, tabl es, definition s and photograph s illu strate the
narrati ve. Don 't be intimidated by the programming cod e.
Ju st start at the beginning, and by the end, it all becomes
clear. Th e authors give us lessons in microproce ssors,
batt eries, interfaces, light and sound sensors, motors, and
mechanics. This book contains some of the mo st exten-
sive app endices we've seen to date.
Recommended so urce : A. K. Peters, tel : 617 .235 .2210, www .akpeter s.com
A. K. Peter s. ISBN 1-56 881 -011 -3 , 349pp hardback , $48.00
Y ou CAN B UILD ••• THE LOST IN SPACE ROBOT,

edited by Flint Mitchell
LIS captured the im agin ations o f a ge ne ration in 1965 , and the robot (which never had a
real name) co ntinues to inspire im itati on. LIS fan extrao rdinaire Flint Mitchell , in collabo-
ration with builder s John Rigg, John Burkhalt er and others, gives us a firsthand account of
ho w to build yo ur ow n LIS rob ot from scratc h. Som e simple circ uits, so me wood and
pla stic , and presto ! Many hours (mo nths) and dollars later, yo u' ll have the satisfactio n of
building yo ur o wn life-size replica (with yo ur own added improvements, perhaps). This
book sugges ts so urces fo r part s and supplies, and details working with plastic mo lds and
vac ufor ming.
Recommended source: LlSFAN Press, 733 1 Terri Rob yn Dr, St. Louis, MO 63129,
tel : 3 14 .846.2846, lisfan edtr @aol. com
Ll SFAN Press, www. as- inc .co m/Iisfa n/lisfa n.htrn, 98pp pap erback , $9.95
------. ---------~
We can help yo u sell your products to a specific market
and make your advertising d ollar s work more effectively.
Unlike advertising dollars spent in electro nics hobby or ham radio magazines,
RS&T takes your message di rectly to those w ho need and want your products.
Cost Effective:
Unlike niche magazines, our ad rates are based on approximately
the same cost per thousand (CPM) of other consumer magazin es.
Advertising in RS&T is easy and economical for both small and large companies.
Design Flexibility:
Robot Science & Technology offers your advertising design team the flexibility to present
you r products to our expanding market in a number of ways. For the smaller budgets of start-u p
companies, we offer Marketplace Classifieds and Marketplace Display Ads -- with color available.
For companies that want more presence, we offer all options.
Expanded Distribution:
II
I You get global reach. Our distribution is international. RS&T is distributed through
i
'1 large chain bookstores and newsstands, as well as a growing subscriber base.
J
Your message reaches the existing robotics community, as well as the
I
J new growing market of home, sport and classroom roboticists.
!
I
1 Quality, Reliability, Professionalism:
RS&T is produced by a team of professionals with a track record of high quality,
awa rd-winning publications. Also, as a monthly magazine, RS&T gives you the flexibility to
reach a dynamic robotics market with more timely ad s.
Call Dave Albright at 916.632.1000 or email

ads@robotmag.com for a media kit
and start putting Robot Science & Technology to uiork for you today!
--~ ~-~_ . -. - - - .- - - ~-_ ._- - -. -- --_. ~- ----~-- ---- ---

WA T
YOU!
... to write for us.
Here are some tips on what turns us on (and off):
hot leads, cool conclusions - Make us want to read your article - and be glad we did.
Your first sentence should suck us in, and your last sentence should kiss us off.
let's get organized - We want to see an engaging introduction, an interesting narrative,
and a satisfyin conclusion. Subheads are useful in organizing longer stories.
let's get tee nical - Tell us exactly how you built and programmed your robot.
Where did you get your parts? Cost? Which websites were helpful?
Above all, get your facts straight!
let's get personal -we're always looking for the human side of robotics.
We'd like to see some robot stories involving family or team efforts.
do it with style - We're looking for lively articles with high readability.
Tell us your story in your own words.
be original - Please, no simultaneous submissions or reprints.
We want exclusive stories.
get the picture - We want to see crisp, clean photographs and graphics.
Of course, we want to see the whole robot, but we also want close-ups of the drive
train, power plant, sensor array, or whatever else that is particularly fascinating about
your robot ... including you, your family or your team.
stay within the parameters - Articles should be 1,000 words to 2,500 words in length. Email
submissions are preferred.
query? - Unless you're a professional writer with published credits, please, do not send us a query
letter. We don't want to know if you can write a letter; we want to see that you can write an article.
payoff - We pay on acceptance. How much we pay is directly related to how well you write, and
how hot (or cool) your subject is.
Please send your submissions to:

editorisrobotmag.com
or:
Editor
2351 Sunset Blvd., #170-253
Rocklin, CA 95765
USA
For our complete writers' guidelines, visit our website at www.robotrnag.com, or send a business-sized
self-addressed stamped envelope to the above address.

Ladies
Tapered
Tee
$2 4 9 5
Ball
Cap
$1 9 9 5
Men's Polo
$3 4 9 5
ear our
shirt:
r """N:"'IO..-s
·,d ..
, BII' er Than '/CXl
Get Noticed.
SJfIart com
'tf'IN'.robotmag .
To order call 1.888.5 10.7728 • •
elee
by Stev e Richard s
Photos by Doug Winter:
T
he pyro electric senso r is one of the eas iest ways but can be affec ted by the inhibited circul ati on ofter
to allow a robot to d et ect th e m ovement of caused by smo king. This waveleng th of m aximurr
human s and animals. Since this is accomplish ed ene rgy radiat ed by humans is abou t 10 micrometers
throu gh infrared ene rgy detection , pyro electric senso rs (For referenc e, a light bulb emi ts peak ene rgy in the
can also be used to find other sources of heat su ch as waveleng th range arou nd 1 mi crometer.) Th e total en
cand les. The most com mon eve ryd ay use of th e pyro- ergy emitted by a typical human is arou nd 800 wa tts.
electric sensor is in motion-detecting burglar alarms. Although all human s are nak ed under their clothes
Pyro electric se nsors offer passive infrared motion clothing tends to mask much of the infrared energy emit-
d etection and are th er efore often referred to as PIR ted. So the job of d etectin g human movem ent based or
senso rs . They are passive in that they d on 't introduce em itted infr ared boils down to d etectin g subtle cha nges
any thing into the env iro nmen t th ey sense: th ey sim- of ene rgy in the 8-14 micrometer ran ge while rejecting
ply observe the environmen t and measure changes in changes in other wa velengths that ma y be cause d by
ene rgy. In contras t, active sensors introduce a signal light, motors, etc. A pyro electric detector is design ed
into the environme nt. (An exam ple of an acti ve sensor with this specific task in mind.
is an ultrason ic ran ger that introduces noi se into the Th e ac tive ele me n t in a p yro el ectric d et ector is
env iro nmen t in the form of one or severa l chirps and typicall y made w ith a subs tra te of lithium tantalats
then await s an echo from that noise.) crystal, cera m ic, or polym er film . In all cases, a slice ol
To understand how a pyroelectri c d etector works, th e subs tra te is d oped with an electrode on both sides,
so me background information is helpful. Wh en infrared ene rgy hit s the substra te, heat is ge ne R-
Humans h ave a skin temperature of ab out 93°F ated w hich di splaces electron s, effectively ge ne rating
(39°C). The emissivity of human skin is arou nd 0.98 a charge between the two electro des. This small cha rge
tim es the emissivity of a perfect black bod y. Also, th e is then amplified with an opera tiona l am plifier, and the
infrared radiation from a person is indep endent of race result is a very usable signa l that refle cts changes in in-
frared energy. Lithium tantalate has the de sirable prop- JI'al elldog
erty of bein g particularly sensitive to infrared energy Here the rob ot can stay still in a corne r and watch its
in th e 8-14 micrometer range-perf ect for d etecting surround ings. If a person mov es nearby, th e robot w ill
human s . Lithium tantalate is also th e most stable d etect the mo vement and could "ba rk" usin g a speaker
subs trate with resp ect to temperature. or piezoelectri c buzzer.
A sing le p yroelectric d etector can find changes in
infrared energy in the 8-14 micrometer range. One way to FolloU' l/w IIl1mall
improve th e signa l is to u se two detectors placed The robot's ability to d etect movem ent all ows it to
side-by-side. The voltage difference between the two detec- follow th e direction of th e human. This is mad e
tors can be amplified and measured to get a more sensitive possible through the use of its d etector, which cap tures
reading. Keep in mind that the two detectors must have a the m ovem ent in its field of view. In this way, th e ro-
slightly different environmental view to notice the change. bot will be abl e to stay in con tact with the human . Thi s
(Differing viewpoints are often accomplished either by cou ld also be used to "chase the cat."
detector separation or optics.) Two detectors housed in one
package are known as a dual-detector device. TI1is dual- Hlld me Calldlc
detector device package often impro ves noise rejection from A candle in a room has enoug h infrared emission in
large air mass movement, such as wind , and is therefore the 8-14 micrometer wa velengths from the carbon in the
preferred outdoors. flam e to be detected by a pyroelectric sensor. The cand le
Typi cally, the d etector is packa ged like a transistor in is not likely to move, however, so the d etector must be
a TO-5 metal can or some thing similar. The top of the " pa n ned" aro u nd th e room until a s p ike
can has a window through which the d etector receiv es (positive or negative) is d etected by the pyro electric
infrared e ne rgy. That window is often d etector. This spike correspo nds to the heat generated
constructed from materials that filter waveleng ths ou t- by the cand le. On e way to determine if the spike is
side the d esired ran ge. In this wa y, spe cific wavelen gth cause d by a candle and not some other energy source is
filtering helps av oid false measurem ent from lights, to point the detector directly at the source of the spike.
IR-ran gers or other sources of infrared energy. Candle flames flicker at about around 4 to 20 cycles per
This package usu ally contains three or four pins. The second . Watching for a cha nge in energy in this fre-
422-3 is one of the most widely used pyroelectric detec- qu ency ran ge is very reliable when trying to distinguish
tors in robotics. The number 3 in the part number refers a cand le flame from other sources of infrared energy.
to the window material used and is specifically design ed
to transmit waveleng ths from 7-16 microm eters. J\roidallf C
Th e o u tpu t s ig na l from a p yro el ectric Big rob ots can hurt people! A softwa re driver could
detector typi cally floats near a steady sta te value. The cons tantly mon itor the pyroelectric d etector. Wh en the
422-3 hovers around 2.5 vo lts for its steady
state. Wh en a source of infrared energy in
the 8-14 micrometers wavelength mo ves into
the d etector 's field of view (FaY), the volt-
age at th e ou tpu t will drop or rise d ep ending 10 ' 10 10 10" 10- 10 10 10' 10· 10' J 10" 10' " to " 10 - ~ 10-·
I I I I t I I I I! I
o n th e directi on of th e infrared
ene rgy motion.
If a person wa lks int o the FaY of the dete c-
tor, th e d et ect or w ill show a short-te rm,
directi on -d epend ent ri se o r fall. If the
per son stays in the field of view but stops
moving, the detector will stabilize to a rela-
tively cons tan t stea dy state voltage until the
person m oves again. The d etector, therefore,
is not a true d etector of human presence. It is
rather a d etector of human movement. 6 Xl0 ' 1.5 Xl 0' 77 0 622 597 577 492 455 390 300 200 10
Some exam ples of rob otic behaviors that
incorporate a pyroelectri c detector int o their
\ I id \ k .u Red Oran ge I ( if t" II Hlll l' \ 'itl lel \1t" a1 \l id
sensor suites migh t be: Y t' II I I\ \
Opposite: Steve's hacked Rug Warrior lnfra re d Visible

software d river detects movem ent aro u nd th e robo t, it mi cromet er wave-
can trip an inter ru p t to stop or slow th e robot. Th e len gth ra nge.) Be-
robo t can then use a wa rni ng buzzer, speec h chip or cause a Fres nel lens
ano ther mechanism to warn th e offe nd ing human . is seg me nted, its d e-
Once the pyroelectric detector settles down to its steady sig n p rovides for a
sta te, the robot mig ht assu me "no moving- hu ma n risk" ve ry th in , flexible
and resume its activities. op tic. Fresnel len ses
have a focal len gth
The Interface just like continuo us
The method of inte rfacing microcontrollers or logic len ses . The foca l
circ uitry to a pyroelectric d et ector depe nds on th e length of th e len s
de tector being used. So me d etect ors, suc h as th e deter m ines th e
Eltec422-3dual-detector,incorporate the op-amp circuitry op tima l locati on for the pyroelectric detector be hin
internally in the de tector package. The output signal of th e lens.
such a detec tor ca n be read direc tly w ith a n An op tical head is typically used to prope rly or iel
analogidigital (A ID) channel on a microcontroller. Other th e len s and d et ector in a package tha t can th en l
de tec tors, s uc h as those m ad e b y Nippon pan el-m ounted to the head or bod y of th e robo t. A
Cera mic, require am plification to be easi ly read by a op tical head prot ects th e d etector and len s and shiek
microcontroller's A /D port. The detectors with integrated the detector from ambient interference ou tside the FO
elec tronics are m ore cos tly but offer grea tly An op tical head can be obtai ned commercially or mate
reduced complexity and power consumption. Below is a from a cone cons truc ted of stiff card stock. The di
block diagram of the internal circuitry in the Eltec 422-3. tan ce from the back of the len s to th e de tector windo
If an A ID converter is not available in the controller, sho uld be as close as possible to the focal len gth of tl
two comparators can be used to establish logic ou tp u t len s. Comme rcial so urces for optical head s are usual:
from the detector. The two compara tors are adjus ted fou nd throu gh the maker s of the lens or th e d etector
to vo ltag e thres hold values above and below the steady It's easy to extend th e capabilities of a robot wi th
sta te of the de tector. In th is way, one of the com para - pyroelectric sensor. A d etector with internal sig na l pn
tors will cha nge sta te w hen th e energy source moves cessin g circuitry requires only 5 volts, ground and
right-to-left, and th e other will cha nge state w hen the spa re A I D cha nnel in your hard w are. The fact that H
energy source moves left-to-ri gh t. robo t can the n exhibit ru d imen tary in teraction w it
Since the energy (8-14 micromet ers) d etected by a people and anima ls can add a w ho le new di me ns ic
pyroelectric sen sor is like visible light (bu t at a di ffer- to th e behavior of your robot.
en t wavelength), optics can be used to focus, bend or
concentrate the ene rgy. You can w iden the d etector 's Pyroelectric Detector Application Hint.
FOV by focusing th e ene rgy wi th a lens. The len s can The infrared waveleng th of 8-14 microme ters does ru
also be used to filter energy from u ndesirable wave- pass throu gh glass, certain plastics or acry lic. Be careft
leng ths, as we ll as to concen tra te the signa l. not to obscu re the detector on yo ur ro b e
The most commo n type of len s used to conce n tra te behind such materials. Beaware that infrared energy use
infrared ene rgy on a pyroelectric detector is a Fresne l by man y IR-rangers will pass throu gh such materials.
lens made from po lye thylene. (Polyethylene allows for Since th e ene rgy in hum ans being de tec ted by
nearly 80% transmission of infrared energy in the 8-14 pyroelectric d etector is infrared ene rgy emi tted by tr
skin, a detector pointing toward the face-level of humar
Block Diagram gives the most reliabl e signal w hen seeking humans.
Pyroelectric detectors measure the voltage crea ted b
v+ the slight heating of the substrate suc h as lith ium tanh
Single or late crys tal. As a result, it is not a good idea to solder (:
Dual Element
Detectors ~ Ground otherwise heat pyro electric detectors as wo uld occur it
wave solde ring . The energy crea ted by the excessiv
Amp >---+----0 Reference
heat ing of the subs tra te can crea te enoug h volts in th
+
L- -+__-O Output internal electro nics of the de tector to blow the detecto
Detectors can have an inverted sig nal if the so urce c
movem ent is cooler th an tha t of the bacl~round . COIf
sider the scena rio of a detector pointing towards a 105 0
(41DC) wall. If a h u ma n was to move ac ross th
Reprintcourtesy of Eltec Electronics Inc. continued 011 page 6
The
l Rug Warrior Pro·
m
rhe Brains...
)
The Brawn. • •
Vt0cessing, memory and sensor circuitry) (wheels, motors, chassis, etc)
owerfulMotorolaMC68HCll Microcontroller
No-line Alphanumeric LCD Display • Two 6 Volt Gear Motor
2 K of Battery Backed RAM • Two 2 1/2" Wheels
· S-232 Serial Port
'ollision Detector • Cu stom Caster Wheel
~JJh otore s i s tor Light Sensors
frared Ob stacle Detectors • Cu stom Chassis Plate
1icrophone • Clear Plastic Skirt Body
iezoelectric Buzzer
Cwo-Channel Motor Driver Chip • Mounting Hardware, Cables,
C'ual Shaft Encoders Tie straps, etc.
· 'ree Interactive C Software
ith Manual • Cu stom Decals
·\.. and more
.ain sold separately: $359!l1l Brawn sold separately: $240!l1l
Buy "The Brains & The Brawn"!

Complete with all the processing, memory, sensor circuitry, motors, wheels, chassis
and custom body parts to build the RUG INARRIOR PRO™: $599 00
Featured in the bestselling book Mobile Robots: In spiration to Implemen tation (see below)
Mobile Robots: In spiration to Implementation Navigating Mobile Robots: Sys tem s and Techniques
by M IT PhDs Joseph Jones and Anita Flynn by Boren stein . Eve rett & Fen g
The authors meld their years of practical robot bui lding and Both pro fession al a nd hobbyi st ro bo t design er s face
extensive know ledge of theory to effec tive ly teach the reader to co m plicate d prob lem s suc h as posit ioning . rea l- wor ld
build an autonomous robot. Mobile Robots guides readers with na vigati on , landm ark recogni tion a nd mo de l ma tc hing .
illustration s, expert photographs and access ible text, With this T hi s tho rough. broad -scope and eas ily- rea d resource
book, yo u' ll build two inexpensive, fully functional robots, and prese nt s pra ct ical so lutions for c hoos ing an d usin g a
understand how to design and construct artificially intelligent w ide ar ra y o f map - ba se d se nso rs , d e ad re ck o nin g
I cyber crea tions. Th is is the widely acclaimed Bible of Robot optic a l e nco de rs, dopp ler s , dri ve & stee ri ng sys te ms ,
uilders. A great introdu ctory guide for novices. a valuable textb ook used with mech ani cal & optica l gyrosco pes , magn e ti cs, ac tive
Jmendous success at M IT, Vassar and other schools. Recom men~ed for nov.ices be ac on s , odo me t ry & man y more meth od s o f po siti onin g . s tee r ing
id educ ators. A K Pet e rs , 1993 , hardc o ver , 368 pages, S IX appe nd ices n a vi gati on . A K Pet e r s , 19 9 6 , p a p e rb a ck , 2 40 p a g e s , t l
iextensive bibliography $ 4 8 a p pe n dices , t w o ind e x e s a nd an ex te ns ive b i b l i o g raph y
Senso rs for Mo bile Robot s Th e A K P et ers c a t a log d e s cr ib e s i n

~oJS(Ri ~ by vetera n milit ary roboti cist H.R . Everett det ail ove r 70 bo ok s a nd jo urna ls o f in -
ter e st to edu c at o rs a nd se rio us s t ude nts
Here is the most co mpre hensive yet ea sy-readi ng ex planatio n of o f sc ie nce a nd te c hn o lo g y : Ro bo t ic s ,
the theor y and operation of both pro totyp e and commercially T op ol o g y . Co m p u ta tio n , Co m p u te r
ava ilable sensor sys tems. Both students and ex perienced deve l- Gr ap h ic s , Visi on . Lan gu a g e s , A lg eb ra ,
opment eng inee rs need this textb ook , packed wi th practica l A ppl ied M at hem ati c s , B io gr aph y, Ge -
lesson s learned from ac tual use on a variety of robotic vehicles . o me t ry. L o gi c . A n a lys is, Ga me a nd
~==~I Th is is a must-have book for ev eryo ne who is se rious abo ut N u m ber T heory. Pr o b abil it y. P hy sic s ,
Ibot se nsors. Recommended for R&D , indu stry. gove rn ment and aca de mia. Medi cin e . Wa ve le ts .. .
IK Peters. 1995, hardcover, 544 pages with as many illustrati on s $68
A K PETERS, LTD.
Publishers of Science and Technology
289 Linden Street, Wellesley, MA 02181
(781) 235-2210 • Fax (781) 235-2404 • service@akpeters.com www.akpeters.com
Order by phone (78 1) 235 -22 10 , M-F, 9-5 , EST or by fax (781) 235 -2404· Visa/MasterCard: Be sur e to include both ca rd nu mber and ex podate.
Checks : in $U.S. or by International Postal Money Order· Shipping: (U.S.) $4 for first title, $2 for each additional title · International: Please inquire aboutpostal charges.
Author's Recommendations:
detector's field of view, the signal would be inverted.
This is due to the fact that the temperature of the Mobile Robots: Pyroelectric Detector:
human is cooler than that of the wall behind him or Inspiration to Implementation Acroname Inc.
her. That is to say, a detector that typically rises in volt- by Joseph L. Jones and P.O. Box 1894
age when you move right to left in front of it would Anita M. Flynn Nederland, CO 80466-1
instead fall in voltage. ISBN 1-56881-011-3 www.acroname.com
Dual-detectors have two elements that must be 303.258.3161
oriented such that the motion being measured is across
the two detectors rather than up and down. The read- Sensors for Mobile Robot Eltec Instruments, Inc.
ings will be anything from insensitive to meaningless by H .R. Everett P.O. Box 9610
if the detector is not situated properly. The documen- ISBN 1-56881-048-2 Daytona Beach, FL 321
tation for the detector in question will likely describe 904.252.0411
the internal organization of dual-detector devices.
Detectors with internal electronics often have a fourth U ing Lithium Tantalate Scitec In truments Ltd.
Pyroelectric Detectors in Bartles Industrial Esta t
output pin that is a constant voltage reference. This
Robotics Applications North Street
reference can be used for further amplification of the
by David Cima Redruth, Cornwall
detector output. Another handy use of this reference Eltec Instruments, Inc. TR15 1HR England
voltage is to couple it with a comparator, which will +44.1209.314608
create a low-battery warning sensor. Check the speci- www.scitec-inst.demon.co.
fications of your detector to see if this is feasible.
Home Robots,
NOT!
Even if a practical home robot could
be built, the maintenance would be
a killer - possibly worse than that
of a photocopier.
A
sk amateur roboticists what kind of rob ot they w he re the robo t wo rks hop is. Notice th at university
wo uld really like to build and most will d e- researchers build robo ts that opera te arou nd th e lab or
scribe some kind of hom e rob ot. Perhaps to un iversity buildings. Anyo ne w ho build s robo ts knows
vacu u m the floor, perf orm security, fetch a beer, or just that the p rocess inv olves end less testing an d tri ps back
an noy the cat. After giving thi s a lot of thou ght, I've and forth to the wo rkbe nch. It's sim ply convenien t to
concluded that building a hom e robo t is not a goo d have the wo rkbench next to the operating env ironme nt.
idea, es pecially for hobbyists. By hobbyist , I mean Only occas iona lly d oes anyone d esign a robot to ope r-
someone w hose profession is not rob otic s and w ho, ate ou tdoors. It takes a ra ther large gra n t, access to a
th er efore, has lim ited tim e, resources and technical p ro fession al machine sho p and a full-t im e s taff (or
background to so lve the man y difficult problem s that gra d ua te stude nts) to bu ild a Mars Pathfinder, a vo l-
mobil e robo ts de ma nd . cano-exploring Dante, or an
The hom e is a clu tte re d au toma tically pil oted car.
and d ynamic env iro nme n t. DOORS OPEN AND CLOSE. No t w iths ta nd ing the in-
There is an un p re d icta ble PETS, SMALL CHILDREN AND convenience of havin g sho p
va rie ty of objects of irregu - and ope ra ting areas in di f-
lar s ha pe, size a nd pl ace- UNENLIGHTENED VISITORS DASH ABOUT. ferent location s, I enco u rage
ment. Man y objects are frag- robo t builders d esign for an
WHAT'S A ROBOT TO DO?
ile and may be ad ded, re- ou t-of-ho me env iro ns . One
m oved or relocated d ail y. venue th at is better su ited
The re are varying floor surfaces and level tran sition s for a mobile robo t is fou nd in most office buildings.
in the manner of steps and thresh old s. So if th e hom e They are usu ally we ll-lighted, highl y structured, un-
environmen t is so hop eless, w hy d o so many hobb y- clu ttered and vaca nt at nigh t and weekends. Hall ways
ists d evelop thei r rob ots to ope ra te in the hou se? tend to be stra ight and intersect at right ang les, d oor s
Ma ny people w ho d esign a hom e robo t d o so for one are of a uniform size, th e floor is level and eve nly su r-
of two rather d ifferent reason s. Some wa nt to sell to an faced , etc. Yet there are m ore th an eno ug h va riations to
imagined large market. I say ima gin ed market becau se, still make it a cha lleng ing job . Other possibilities ar e
altho ugh a hom e robo t sounds like an exciting novelty, wa reho uses or factory floors. Man y of these also have
I d oubt man y will wa nt to pa y a hefty pric e for one. a regular, uncluttered env ironme nt and so have m ar-
And think of the product liability potential! An attrac- ket potential as we ll. If you are really interested in an
tive, nicely designed rob otic lawn mower has been on outdoor rob ot, then I suggest one d esign ed to ope ra te
th e market for a few yea rs and has not yet tak en the on the surface of a lake!
lawn care ind us try by storm . Wh y? Because it' s ten Robust mobility is a diff icult cha llenge in any env i-
tim es more expens ive than a tradition al lawn mower, ronme n t. The hom e requires th at all of a rob ot's re-
yet is less capable. The sa me will be tru e for ea rly hom e sou rces be concen trated on overco ming obs tacles and
robo ts. Robots will firs t have to prove them selves in a moving objects ins tea d of performing interesting or
more struc tured env iro nme nt, suc h as an industrial useful tasks. To me, th e point of a mobil e robot is m ore
se tting, before they will be accepted in the hom e. than mobility itself. By choosing less cluttered env iro n-
The seco nd reason that hobbyists d esign th eir robo ts ments, rob ot d esign er s can build th eir skills befor e
to opera te aro un d the hom e is simply because that's a ttacking their hom es.
P REMIER ISSUE · 63
APRIL 1, Tech Challenge '98
San Jose, Calif. • www.thetech.org
More than 200 student teams from Silico n Valley and the San Fra ncisco Bay Area converged in the San Jose Ci.v
Auditorium April 1 for the 11 th annual Tech Cha llenge. RS&T was th ere.
April2-4, 1998 FIRST Competition

Orlando, Fla. • www.usfirst.org
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, the national FIRST Co m-
,petition takes place at the EPCOT Center at Walt Disn ey World w ith more than 165 FIRST
teams of high school students, along w ith th eir univer sit y and corpo ra te spo nsors.
April 18, UC Davis Picnic Day MicroMouse Competition

Davis, Calif. • www.ece.ucdavis.edu/umouse/
This wide-open competition has fu lly au tonomous "micromice" racin g through a 12x12-
foot maze . This unofficia l scrimmage is fu n pra ctice for th e upcom in g
official IEEE Region 6 micromouse competitio n May 2.
April 18-19, Trinity College Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest

Hartford, Conn. • www.trincoll.edu/-robotl
Strictly autonomous, home-built robots must negot iat e an 8-foo t-square model house, find
a burning candle, and extinguish the flame. See pages 4, 5, 9 and 58 in this issue.
April 3D - May 2, SAE National Robotics Walking Machine Decathlon

Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois • www.sae.org!ns-search/STUDENTSI
One of the toughest walking robot competitions in the nation, the Society of Automo tive Engi-
neers. Walking Machin e Decathlon requires college teams to put their robots throu gh 10 tests,
including a dash, avoiding a crevasse, object seeking, object retrieval and a hill climb.
May 1-2, SME Student Robotics Automation Contest

Saginaw Valley State University, Saginaw, Mich. • www.sme.org
The Society of Manufacturing Engi neers Student Robotics Autonomous Contest offers nine di ffer ent contes
categories. Categories range from sta tiona ry Au tomation Work Ce ll and Pick- and-Place robo ts to mobile Sumo
and remote-control vehicle robo ts.
May 9-14, WAC-FIRA American Cup '98

Anchorage, Alaska • www.fira.netlfira/
The Federation of Interna tiona l Rob ot -Soccer Associatio ns w ill stage
competitions for MiroSot and NaroSot robo ts in coo peration w ith th e
World Automation Congress '98. Winners w ill com pete at the FIRA
Robot World Cup France '98 in Paris, June 29 - Jul y 3.
May 3D-June 1, AUVSI Autonomous Ground Robotics

Competition
Rochester Hills, Mich. • aVdil.gtri.gatech.edu/AUVS/
Small, unmanned and comp letely au to nomo us motor ve hicles must negotiate an ou tdoor obs tacle course -
rain or shine. Sponsored by th e Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems Internati on al.
64 • R OBOT S CIENCE & T ECHN OLOGY

~
II
I
! START BUILDING YOUR ROBOT NOW!
I
\
II
i SV203 Servo Motor Co ntro ller $59
• Dri ves up to 8 R/C type se rvos via RS232
• 5 Ch. 8- bit A/ D port for potent iom eter/joystick co ntro l
1 • Servo port s ca n be reco nfigured for digit al outp ut
• User de finabl e board ID and baud rate
• Simple ASC II string co m ma nds
\ • Wind ow s 95 interface so ftwa re and sa mple co de included
1
I SV203B Ser vo Cont roller $75
I • All feat ures of SV203 plus...
• 8 K EEPRO M for runnin g sta ndalone ro utines
• Includes Basic compiler/downloa de r
\
SV203C Ser vo Cont roller $85
• All fea tures of SV 203B plus...
• IR feature, co ntrol via IR-remote co ntro ller
• Tx & Rx IR co m ma nds
STP100 Stepper Motor Controller $159

i • RS232/RS4 85 inte rface, addressable up to 255 board s
• 2 A mps per ph ase, 5-46 VD C bip o lar dri ve
1 • C hop ping curre nt limit ing
• Over temper ature prot ect io n
1 • Acceler ation/deceler ation ram ping
i • Speed, di rect ion, position change on-the -tly
i • 32 bit abso lute position , 4b it di gita l input for hom e limits
I • Fu ll, hal f or wave step mod es
I
I
• Si ze (4.3 x 2.4 x 1.1 in.)
• Si mp le ASC II string commands /w sample interface so ftware
I
I
I SWM-1 RF Modem $295 (p a ir)
CS600
I
I
\
Jum bo Servo
. ,I 330 O z In.
I $44.95
I
j FS148
I Stand ard Ser vo
I • Per fect for wireless SV 203 and ST P I 00 operation 42 Oz In.
I
I • Man ufactured by SIM A usin g Digit a l Spread-Spectrum
I $16.95
I tech nology with frequ ency hopping
1 • 300 foo t range - throu gh wa lls, tloors
I
I • Up to 85 kbp s tran smi ssio n rates VISA/M C Acce pted, S hippi ng & Handling + $5 (US)
(714) 985-9286 http://www.pontech.com

Fax: (714) 985-9288 2700 E. Imperial Hwy., S uite N - Brea, CA 9282 1
~-_.- - -----. ._..

'I
1
Hyper Peppy R 13-296 $29.95

Bright red. white '" blue with clear r - "7.;:;;;:-- - - __
dome. Runs forward until it bumps
object or hears loud noise. revers-
~OUR SOURCE f ORRUBUl KI1 S.
es'" turns, then resumes, Wilh
complete instructions. 14 em \X' x B ilUUI\,
il ~ S PPR1 S iUUlS. ~IQEO S.
. ' ES &MORE'
13 Lx 9 II. :"0 soldering required. tLEC1RUNIC S. MU SCLE 'tlIR .
Requires 2 AA cells(sold scpa-
rarely). A[un {-fralllicfirst tuhot! -------_J R 81i1der's a .30114 $18.95
~~R4
lJO."....., z....
~';::""~ "
BASIC S 1 .3-201 $34.95
8 input/output lines. EEPRml for 100 instructions. .j .\ IHz.
Soak R ,er R 13-174 $29.95
_-..==-.----, Agreat, low-priced kit. "Bump &
11m" operation like Hyper Peppy
Practical. readv-to-usc circuits. devio-s, mech-
anisms. sourc~s. tools. vision, grippers. navi-
gonion'" more! 336 pgs. illu-t.
BASIC S 2 .3-198 $49.00
16 input/output lines, EEPRO~ 1 for600instructions. 20 MHz
above. Molded body. red/green clock (up to 38,400 baud). touch tones. X-IO. more'
LEIl. great 48 pg manual. 14 em, L r..w.......s GoIdIIiIe .3-129 $24.95 . sse 2 .3-448 $48.95 <§!)
x 12 \1' x 7 H. Requires soldering Unique high-tech p<iojeclS '" hard-to-find Control up to 8 servos viaone serial line. Talk 10 it from
and 2 AA cells(sold separately). info. Robol.s, high mltageTesla '" van de any l'C, .\ Iac. Stamp. etc.. Plus. dais)' chainup to 32 togeth-
A fastm ul'ill~ Ji' ~t robot' GrolotiT generators. Kirlian photos, lasers '" er to control up to 2)') servos, A must for aninutronics'
much more' iOO+ pgs. illu-t.
SpIder W A,aIder R
.3-299 $69.95
Futuristic & maneuverable 6-legged
walker with IR for object avoidanre,
Dual motor drive, front mounted sen-
sor. 13em Lx 13 \1' x 10H. Nosol-
dering required. needs2 AA & one 9Vcell. Season for Mollie R h .3-145 $67.95
\X'hoa! hemhing about sensors: tactile. prox- Hex W erlit .3-434 $150.00
Soccriot KIt .3-391 $34.95 imitv, r;lI1ge, acoustic laser. radar. microwave. Three servos provide full directional walking.
Fast. Furiu-fun . TIlese spunky lillie six- path ,di all ing. dead reckoning.compasses. Programmable from your l'C, All hardware,
",",'!J.,l':al1I legged walkers move up to 6 meters / gyros ,~ more. ')')0 pgs. Fun '" intelligent! electronics. softll'are and instructions includ-
minute. Wired remote control of for- ed. Over20 em long. Solderingrequired.
ward. back and rotate' 12 em Lx 9 W x PractimI R Iia .3-416 $39.95 II' lit '3-423 $375.00
HH. :\eeds no soldering! Each kit (one Ifyou ask "where do I stall'" the It's huge' 12-ervr»drive this platform
'bot per kill requires 2 AA cells. answer is "HERE'" Bill Davies shares ' with full control and major strength.
years of rolx)tics experience, covering Add vour own Min: SSC2·s. a controller
Cyllag Robot .3-466 $49.95 all aspects: 1001.1. techniques. compo- (Stan;p2. BOTboardl and some sensors
Cybug has touch and light sensors 10 , - - -........~~~_ nents. sensors. soldering. etc.. 330 for advanced autonomous behavior:
exhibit active and interesting hehav- p;lges with ;j fine index.
iors, Printed circuit board &' 2 DC IRPD V'asioIlit .3-464 $29.95
motors' 12 em XX' x 10II Xl L IC HobIJyIst's H .3-164 $19.95 Giveyour rol~>l the giti of Vision' This
Soldering and one 9\' cell required. Toss thoseold IC data books' This practical Infra-Red Proximirv Detector can detect an
,\ bchine or Iiling organism' collection has 80 common ICs to make 100s object from 10- 30 em away' Connect to a. . . . . .
of circuits' Amps. linear. logic.G IOS - with Stamp. HCI I. PC parallel port, or your own circuits.
specs. pinouts. sample circuits - evenrompo
nem valuex (gasp!). 120 pgs. A basic resource:
CoatroIIing the Wortc! With Yoar PC .3·165 $35.00
COlli en ordmary xcrial '" parallel
afJl
It l
ports into object-detl'cting. mot,or-
spinning monster.,' ·,2 circuits AXD
- .software in BASIC. C and Pascal! 2)6
pages. illustrated. with DOS disk :
BuiIcI Yoar Owl Uaderwater Robot '3-418 $29.95

Dive in to underwater robotics' The BUJldVou,ow N\:W
authors provide dozens of hand, on W~~rtt~.~,~..~ ,
experunents usmg re.ldll) available :::::--
WAG II Robot .3·280 $74.95 parts 1-j8 pages Great IlIu,\tr,1I10n\
Asophisticated. full function robot kit. r - - - - -_ _ and .1 lot of fun 1)11 e in' ''o'=-'=--'''''Wl'"",,lIfi>'<I:.'l' '
2 motors. programmable ·j-bit micro,
26button keypad. sensor arms for col-
lision or edge detection. ~ I01'es in all
directions. performs if-then decisions ( ) ~I:'S~~' i~S fl~~~~g l~t9;9~m
based on sensorinput. evendo-Imps'
( of ,\ Iuscle \X'ire! Variable speed up to
\ 36 flaps/minute. 15 un tall. With circuit
Requires soldering. 3 AA'" one 9\'
luuerv. Great introto robot programming. board, allpalls & instructions. Requires
soldering & 2 AA cells. Annoys cats'
All idm! tntrnducttonto sluscle Wires.
PC laterfllCl for WAG II .30195 $29.95
Parallelcable '" BASIC DOS disk for easyprogram handling. Shape Memory Actuator DesIgn M '3.092 $69.00
Delinitil-e engineering knowledge about S.\ IAs packed with
NtIIJ vemm. ofa Top 5e1lhlg KftI theories. equations. & referencesfor designing springs. lor-
Rug Warrior Pro Deluxe KIt '30406 $595.00 ~ .lion '" cantilever del'ices '" more' 160 pages. illustrated.
Acomplete. senous research robot ~ Shape Memary Des! Software '3,139 $299.00
platform from .\ IlT. \Vith all hard- L
Now: Interactively soll'ea wide r.mgeof ~
ware. Csoftware, (,RIICIl CPli. S\IAdesign problems: helical springs. ' I --
memory. sensors. lI·heels. motors.
chassiS: insll1lClions '" more. 18
.!. , ,__
torsion '" cantilel'er del'ices.,linear actua- i'i,
tors. more. Work in metric or U.S. Fine- .I' .
cm dia. The ideal companion kit tune your design. then prinl. graph or .
to Ihe ~ I(lbile Robots book (3-098 sal'e results to disk. .j) pg manual. ForWindows. Powerful'
aboleI. .I[ac (- PC compatible'
Check out "Muscle Wires to Mars" on our Website

Premier Issue Dew

Uploaded by

Document Informationclick to expand document information

Document Informationclick to expand document information

Copyright:

Available Formats

Premier Issue Dew

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Premier Issue Dew

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PREMIER COLLECTOR'S EDITION

$4.95 US/$5.95 CAN

Jo in The Price/Performance Revolution

- ~ .' '!"'"-- '. ~"!'""'~ ... Software

The Scout is fully supported by the Nomadic Software

• i/~-" e nvironment used by researchers with the industry

JOHN PICCIRILLO, PH. D.

An intro to programming microcontrollers. First in a series

An intro to working with aluminum. First in a series of "materials" articles.

Resources for Robot Builders .. ........ 13 Advertising 55

Rules for th e 1998 contest are $3.

Good luck with your robot. We'll see you in April!

Seattle Robotics Society, kevi nro@nwlink.com, www.seattlerobotics.org

Fire Extinguishing Autonomous Robot

Robot Construction Instruction

Ever since I was a child, I hav e always been facinated by robots .

6 • R OBOT S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY

What Will Control It?

Here are the nuts and bolts

, bot, which competed in him, I added a rear bumper with tw ,

to build on what I had

We are multiplying the size of the robotics market

What is Robot Science & Technology?

Highlights of Recent Robot Competitions and Events

Preparation Tips for Upcoming Contests

Resources for Educators, Small Robotics-Related Businesses and Robot Clubs

Do you remember how a few techno-nerds

THE PERSONAL ROBOTICS EXPLOSION IS HAPPENING NOW,

Who Reads RS&T?

12 • R OBOT S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY

M ARKS' STANDARD HANDBOOK

R e commend ed s o u rces: M cGraw-Hill a n d o the r maj or b ookstores

, Recommended source: Most ma jor bookstores.

When do you need a business license?

\line Following PinBots Silicon [onsciousnes

'- u m o Critters Explosive Ordinanc

~nthropomorphic Home Object Retrieve r

P REM IER ISSUE • 15

If you can't be there,

ROBIN MURPHY, PH.D.

TERRY KING, COMPUTER ENGINEER

··REPORTS OF THE PROBLEM IN THE

P REM IER ISSUE • 19

How About that Anti-Asteroid Task

LISFAN club members get a discount . - - - « irr ---..

original TV robot from Camera CCO - -----.-0- - -

P REM IER ISSUE • 21

24 • R OBOT S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY

If a candle wasn't found, Marv would go to the next

26 • R OBOT S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY

Right DIR ~~~~~

I began by learning how to work Since this is a rare .6V

comp ared to co m p a r a b le DC sic search pa ttern

By expe rimenting, I found an accel- in-place pivots excep t the

P REM IER ISSUE • 27

28 • R OBOT S CIENCE & T ECHNOLOGY

P REM IER ISSUE • 29

Ilew age pianist