| I have a nifty book which I bought used entitled "How to Build an Android" (I
think). It's put out by TAB, which in my experience has put out some pretty
crummy computer books in the past, but this one is a gem. It covers several
different areas: mechanical; electrical; software (simple and AI, along with
an interesting concept called the "probability shell"). It also includes
parts suppliers; this is a real do-it-yourself tinkerer's book.
The robot (the author uses the term "android", but that's just semantics)
is not extremely sophisticated, but it is a lot better than the typical toy
bumper-car or radio-controlled robot. It looks like an excellent platform for
experimentation. It includes Polaroid sonar ranging for locating objects,
as well as vidcon sensors. One of the big requirements for life in the real
world is the ability to climb stairs; the author covers several mechanical
configurations, including one pioneered by NASA. I haven't read through the
whole thing yet, but the probability shell is a bit of AI applied to the
room mapping capability (you turn the thing loose in a house and it maps out the
boundaries and objects for future reference), the basic idea being "what is the
probability that this object will be here the next time I come through?" A
coffee table would probably be there, but a kitchen chair would probably have
moved, as would any people or animals it might encounter. If you want to
explore the real-world issues in mobile robot design (or if you like build one
for real), I would recommend this book. Note that while it does get technical,
it is definitely geared for the hobbyist.
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