Customer Reviews

Amphibionics : Build Your Own Biologically Inspired Reptilian Robot

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Finally a book that gives complete, concise details for building real working robots.

This book starts out with the basics of metal working and test equipement that will be needed to build the robots. There is a very informative chapter on PIC programming that makes understanding and programming microcontrollers very easy. The book has great mechanical drawings for cutting, drilling and bending the aluminum. The schematics are easy to follow and printed circuit board templates are also included so you can make your own circuit boards. There are also diagrams that show you exactly where each of the electronic components should be positioned on the boards. Once the circuit boards and mechanics have been constructed, complete wiring diagrams are included showing you how to wire everything up - this book does not let you down!!

The first robot project is a frog that achieves locomotion by jumping. This is a really cool design and it uses the same circuit board that was used for the Insectronic robot (his first
book).

The second robot is a snake and is very cool. This is my favorite robot in the entire book and the only one that I have built so far. It is so amazing to watch this robot move around
the room. Once again, the book is complete in the details for building and programming this robot along with building an infrared sensor board. Lots of great pictures. The author also has a website with movies of the snake...

THe Third robot is a four legged walking crocodile. This robot uses a dual motor gearmotor and an interesting mechanical design. This chapter also focuses on the implementaion of a wireless data link, remote control, DC motor control and leg sensors. The pictures and diagrams are excellent.

The fourth robot is a wheeled turtle robot that can move in any direction. It shows you how to use an ultrasonic range finder for precise measurement and an optical shaft encoder implemented for room mapping. This chapter is a lot of fun because the history of Grey Walters' historic robot turtle experminents are described.

Each chapter starts with a description of the robots biological counterpart and its inspiration.

This book is worth twice what it is selling for!

...

In response to the last review I have to say that all of the files listed in the book actually ARE available on the authors website - just follow the links that are listed for the book support!! I downloaded all the files without any problems. Craig must have been confused about the PicBasic Pro compiler - you do have to buy that from a software company (microengineering labs) but getting the compiler makes PIC microcontroller programming painless and the author would be liable if he put it on his website for free. You don't even really need the compiler if you are building the robots as they are described in the book because the book lists the hex files needed to program the microcontroller. The great thing about this book is that it stands alone because all of the programs and the hex files are listed in the book so that you don't actually need to access the authors website at all - the book is complete on its own.
The projects are really amazing and so well described that I could do it without a lot of electronics knowledge to begin with. I've built the robot snake and the first time it slithered across the floor was a very exciting achievement. This is the kind of ground-breaking book that could inspire a whole new generation of AI robots!

I purchased this book because I love robotics. I can't find anything wrong with this book other than it is too short. The projects are well laid out and clear directions are given for their construction and assembly. The book has four projects that range from easy to more difficult, so a wide range of builders will find something useful. The author says one thing in the book that has stuck with me for along time now, I can only paraphrase the quote. If you build a robot that has electronics that work well and a mechanical design that is flawed and stops working you are left with a lump of electronics that blink and buzz. Not very useful. However, if you build a robot that has a great mechanical design and the electronics fail for some reason you still have a great little mechanism that can be used again or kept as an interesting addition to your collection. Because of this the author has some of the best mechanical designs for robots which I have read, and I collect robot books. The book takes you through the tools and equipment needed and then shows you how to print your own circuit boards which I have not found covered very much in robotics books. The book however, does not go into component electronics at all. Component electronics is not necessary for these robots so it would only add extra girth to the book and it can be learned from countless other books. Also check out Insectronics.

This is an excellent way of learning about the PIC microcontroller and continues on from Karl Williams Insectronics book. A bit more organized and more robots you can build from scratch. Karl Williams shows you everything about assembling a robot. Great job, keep them coming! ...

Another great book to add to my collection. Fantastic mechanical and electronic design ! Explains everything in an easy to understand style. Looking forward to the next one !

I have sent 3 e-mails to Mr Williams asking when the sample programs and other files in the book would be available as stated in the book and so far have received no response and the files are still not available on his web page I purchased the book in July of 2003 so at this point I would not purchase another book by this author.

Want to assemble some robots from scratch and learn about electronics and the PIC programmer then buy this book. Continuation from his first book -Insectronics. No other books out their makes it more easy and simple.

you buy a book and hope that teach you something ,but this is a step by step cook-book and will never teach you cook just make some food
Just for biginners , if you a looking for learn about electronics and the PIC programmer use a dedicated book