First Robots - Aim High

Product Description

Personal robots are about as advanced today as personal computers were on the eve of the first IBM PC in the early 1980s. They are still the domain of hobbyists who cobble them together from scratch or from kits, join local clubs to swap code & stage contests, & whose labour of love is setting the stage for a technological revolution. This book will deconstruct the 30 regional winning robot designs from the FIRST Robotics Competition in 2006. The FIRST Robotics Competition (held annually & founded by Dean Kamen) is a multinational competition that teams professionals & young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense & competitive way. In 2005 the competition reached close to 25000 people on close to 1000 teams from around the world. The competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events that have gained a loyal following because of the high caliber work featured. This book looks at 30 different robot designs all based on the same chassis, & provides in-depth information on the inspiration & the technology that went into building each of them. Each robot is featured in 6-8 pages providing readers with a solid understanding of how the robot was conceived & built. There are sketches, interim drawings & process shots for each robot.