Tips for Selecting DC Motors for Your Mobile Robot by A. J. Neal When building a mobile robot, selecting the drive motors is one of the most important decisions you will make. Page 33
Optics for Your Robot Using a Webcam by Mike Keesling Learn some basics about lenses, light, and color to get your started using machine vision. Page 38
From Autonomy to Symbiosis: Some Thoughts on the Complexities of Networked Robots by Fulvio Mastrogiovanni Certain actions are much easier for humans than robots, so, how will they ever make it to the workplace with us? Page 42
Self Similar Optimization by Sean O’Connor This new coding idea will change how you design and optimize robots. Page 52
Hacker Dojos offer Collaboration Opps for Robot Hobbyists by Jeremy Kerfs Developer communities help everyone. See what came our of the recent "Random Hacks of Kindness" event at a Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, CA. Page 60
Digilent’s Robot Starter Kit by Fred Eady Once we sort through this new kit, we'll get a joystick, three momentary pushbuttons, and a pair of LEDs up and running. Page 46
Simple Sensor Interface by The CHIPAXE Team See how to implement this new chip on the block into some extremely simple and low cost sensor applications. Page 55
Robytes by Jeff Eckert Robytes Stimulating Robot Tidbits. Page 09
GeerHead by David Geer Artificial Intelligence Brings Humanoid Robots to Life Researchers have a variety of goals for artificial intelligence. Some scientists are examining human biology together with artificial intelligence in an effort to create robots that are as humanlike as possible. Still others examine AI from an engineering perspective, begging the question, what can robots be enabled to do? Page 12
Ask Mr. Roboto by Dennis Clark Ask Mr. Roboto Your Problems Solved Here. Page 15
Then and Now by Tom Carroll The Future of Robotics Competitions There have been interesting threads on the Seattle Robotics Society’s (SRS), the Portland Area Robotics Society’s (PARTS), and the Dallas Personal Robotics Group’s (DPRG) websites lately concerning the state of experimental and home-brew robotics, and the many types of competitions available to amateur robot builders. Page 77
My First Welder (or not?) in Combat Zone: Features Most bot builders, at some time, think about buying a welding system. There are dozens of choices out there, each with their own jargon, culture, and opinions (think Ford vs. Chevy!). Page 28
Debugging Welding Problems in Combat Zone: Features The poster has some very old welding experience, from 15 years ago. He just bought a battered old arc welder, 220V AC, with no DC conversion unit. Page 29
No Gain Without Pain - Franklin Institute 2009 in Combat Zone: Events The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA (www2.fi.edu) holds their “World Space Week” each autumn and hosted the Northeast Robotics Club’s (www .nerc.us) big autumn competition on Saturday, October 3rd. Page 31
