Customer Reviews

Robot Building for Beginners

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm an Electrical Engineer at U.C. I bought this book so I could learn some "real world knowledge" about the physical world instead of just theory. I only asked for (and thankfully received) a multimeter, soldering iron, and a cordless dremel drill for Christmas. After reading this book, I now remember why I chose my major--making a robot is a blast!

Being strong on the theory, I didn't learn anything in that regard. On the flip side, David Cook described the basics in a way that anyone could understand. What I really wanted to learn was to be able to put my Christmas presents to use. He spent a chapter just on the multimeter! I loved it. Also, every part of the robot was described in detail. I now know the difference between choosing motors, batteries, transistors, comparitors, diodes, potentiometers, photo-resistors, ect.

When I brought my first creation into my Electromagnetics class yesterday, I of course was asked to give a demonstration. From reading this book (to be honest a total of 3 times), I described everything about it in clear/consise detail. The only part I failed was receiving extra credit. Yes I did try :D.

I couldn't imagine a better book for beginners. There is a website that describes the robot AND the few typos caught (nothing that mattered), ways he took this idea and added a couple more in a similar project, as well as detailing the post construction of robots he's made since then. Cook goes into detail for troubleshooting a potential screw up you may make (If 'X' is happening then you probably did 'Y'). Yes I made one too--thanks for asking.

There is one part I didn't like about the project though--using an M&M's Mini tube to hold the motors. Being so close to Valentine's day, the only selection they had were PINK ones! Oh well, I named in Valentino anyway. I did find myself telling this story though to everyone that commented on my pink robot.

If you want to get into the hobby, buy this book. You can't ask for more. Just be prepared to catch yourself looking in the toy section of Target for lego technic tires when your fiance is wanting to register!!! BTW: you'll also catch yourself babbling on about your experiences in a review about this book too--cause you'll be so D@MN excited about making your first robot!!!

I don't dislike this book, but I don't find it all that useful in terms of robotic design. It does have good coverage of very basic electronics for the beginner, with crystal clear photos to show you the ropes. Don't know how to use a multimeter or know what a resistor is? This book is for you. However, if you want to know how to control, say a servo, you only get a brief paragraph telling you what one is. The book seems to do a lot of that--telling you what something does, but not giving you enough information to do something with it.
For most of the book, you get a sense that the author simply looked through an electronics catalog, selected some key parts, and wrote a brief discription of what kinds there are, and what they do. Along the way, he shows how you can use those parts to make a simple robot.
This would be a good book to accompany another more applications-based book (or online site) on electronics (e.g. Radio Shack's Forrest Mimms Enginner's Notebooks, Practical Electronics for Inventors, etc.).
In terms of robotics, unforunately, you get one simple example and that's it. Very frustrating for those who want to make something more than a simple sandwhich box that follows a line. (It's a clever little design, nevertheless).
With all bad things said, I do think the book has positives. It has many helpful hints for selecting parts, tips for prototyping, and is writen in a friendly, easy-to-read style.
For those who know nothing at all about electronics and aren't too interested in robots, but more interested in basic electronics--5 stars. For those who have more than rudimentary knowledge of electronics and looking for a variety of robots projects--1 star.

This is a terrific book. I read it as it was novel. It is written in such way that you can start from the first and go to the last page without being bored once. It is also beautifully divided so you can use it as a reference book.

David Cook did a great job while writing Robot Building for Beginners. It is perfect for an initiation to the robot building. I've read other interesting books but this one has something special: everything is entirely covered for a single project. Other books tend to present a lot of projects but can't seem to concentrate on giving complete information. Robot Building for Beginners does provide all the information you need. Each time I was wondering "well, how about that?", David Cook was answering my question the next paragraph.

There is a great amount of work in "what will a first-timer would be willing to learn after that". If you don't know anything or are willing to refresh your mind on electronics, the book is perfect. David Cook helps us getting to choose the right part, understanding what they do, how to correctly assemble the whole thing and so on. I just finish reading it and I'm ready to build my first robot knowing how to avoid the common pitfalls and how to keep my first project simple, but complete and working.

It's a perfect gift for someone who wants to build his/her first robot. Thanks to David Cook.

I have bought other robot building books in the past for my teenage son, yet I quickly got lost in each of them. Not sure how much he retained. Then I found this book. It's wonderful!
A little background: I have a college degree in science- health science. My electronics education is pretty much limited to the Physical Science I took in 9th grade- and I remember my Dad helping me struggle through that! However, I have two sons who are interested in learning robotics. There were no classes or organizations nearby, so we decided to start our own group so the boys could learn with a group of friends. Needless to say, I had to teach it! Over the past year, I've tried several different books/curriculum- including Lego Mindstorms material. I quickly got bogged down in each of these due to my limited background on the subject. I bought this book on a whim as a Christmas present for my oldest son, and was amazed the moment I opened it. After reading each chapter, I truly understand the concepts Mr. Cook is presenting. Our Robotics group decided to use this for our Spring "semester", and we are working through this a few chapters each week. The kids are really learning, and I even have a couple of kids as young as 10y/o who are reading the chapters and enjoying it! We decided to buy the kits that go with the books from Solarbotics to simplify things somewhat due to our group size, but we are loving it! I already have the next book- Intermediate Robot Building- ordered for my son to start when we finish this one.

I would give Mr. Cook's book 6 stars if I could. It blew me away. It provides excellent diagrams, pictures, and ideas, as well as manufacturers and part numbers for all of the neccessary components. It assumes no background whatsoever in electronics or robotics.

Electronics have always piqued my interest, though I have never really been able to get into them. Some of the books I have bought previously have been absurdly complicated, requiring backgrounds in fields such as linear calculus. I have a head for numbers, but being only a high school freshmen taking Geometry can be limiting.

Robot Building for Beginners really brings the art of constructing autonomous creations down to the basic, hands on level. It starts with the basics, down to what one's workspace should include, etc. You won't find any cryptic series of equations, graphs, or complex diagrams in this book. All of the electrical components are explained on a "what-they-do and how-to-use-them" basis.

For instance, I picked up another book, Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics, and attempted to teach myself about simple things like how a circuit works, and what resistors do. The book immediatly overwhelmed me with so-and-so's laws, this rule of physics, this logarithmic equation, etc.

Mr. Cook's book , on the other hand, explained resistors simply, essentially saying that they were devices to limit the amount of current to a place in the circuit, because too much current simply fries your components. No fancy equations, no graphs, just simple - like it is.

It is for all of the above reasons that I highly recomend this book to anyone who's ever considered dabbeling in electronics (for robots or not).

The author, David Cook, naturally steps inexperienced readers through the robot building process. A lot of books unsuccessfully assume you already know something about electronics, or expect you to go buy a different book to learn how. Instead, this book alone informs the reader about each step and part necessary, from electronics, to mechanics, to aesthetics, through testing.

Another thing I like about the book is that it encourages readers to make their own robot from scratch out of commonly available parts. Unlike the low-quality kits (from which you learn nothing) being hoisted upon budding scientists, the robot presented in this book really becomes the reader's creation.

A practical and useful feature of the book is that each circuit is first shown as a schematic (or wiring diagram) and then a labeled photograph on a solderless breadboard. It makes it simple for me to reproduce the circuit on my board by counting the holes or comparing locations to the photographs in the book.

A terrific book!

Robot Building for Beginners - What a great beginners book!
When I ordered this book I wasn't too sure about what I was going to get but I did know that the author's web site www.robotroom.com is a robot builders paradise, so what the heck. What a great book!!!!! This book covers so much material based on early electronic theory, concepts, components, and breadboard configurations that you feel like you are sitting in an electronics class just soaking it all up! His text is broken into major sections covering electronic basics, equipment you will need to use, then he talks about the major components that will be used in the sandwich project "A line following robot". He lets you build each section of the robot in modules on an electric breadboard, which is great because you can see the circuit work, plus learn how the circuit functions, and make modifications to the circuit while not having to solder or unsolder components. He steps you through each section of the line following robot building each modules in order till you have the whole robot circuitry on the breadboard for testing. Later he shows you have to make the final robot product and put everything together soldered on a single circuit board. There is truly so much information here that the readers get way more than he pays for. It is easy to understand and humorous at the same time. He even covers calculations concerning voltage drops, load drops within the circuit, and power consumption. By the end of this book you will have completed the building of a real, authentic line following robot and have the knowledge to go onto bigger and better robot projects. After this book I recommend buying the Intermediate Robot builder book!! This is another great book from David Cook!

I bought this book and the newer intermediate book (also by Cook) together to start a new hobby. It is very thorough, with great close up pictures, and aims to walk you through the entire process, from beginning to end, of constructing a single, relatively simple robot. If you are truly a beginner, I honestly believe you cannot do better. I have read through most of it once, like a novel, and have referred to it dozens of times since, more like a reference. I have all the major parts now, except the tires and M&M tube, and am about 65% finished. It is really fun, and having the book at your side is second only to having a wise grandfather looking over your shoulder as you work.

I was concerned that it would be overly simplified for me, as I have a master's in CS, and have tinkered with electronics before. It is true that certain parts have been review, but I must admit that after three or four times of saying, "Well that's interesting...", I must now concede that I have learned a great deal, all preconceptions aside. I can only conclude that there must have been several gaps in my knowledge, which I was pleased to have filled by reading this book. My only gripe with the book is that it's difficult to use as a reference. I'm not sure how you'd fix this, I only know I constantly find myself searching for something I read before, only to find it later when I'm no longer looking (and after I had spent several minutes trying). This is quite minor though, and I realize it's probably impossible to have a book that both reads like a novel and functions as a reference (after all, the book is already quite large).

I can't wait to finish construction - the next step is soldering, and I've got this fancy Hakko 936 I'm quite anxious to use. Also, I suspect the next book will be even more interesting, as I've been thinking a lot about how much fun it would be programming the microcontroller. I would guess after I'm done with that book that I'll either continue building more robots on my own, or move on to something else. One thing is for certain though, and that is that this has been great fun, and I would recommend it to any disciplined and curious beginning tinkerer. What better way to simultaneously advance your knowledge of several interesting scientific areas (mechanical engineering, electronics, etc.) while having a great time?

This book is great, whether your a beginner or an expert just wanting to go back to your roots. Every part is described and you have websites that you can order them from. It's all very good. But there are just some things to keep in mind. First of all, there's a section on motors where he describes them and what they're used for. I assumed that we needed to buy them, so I bought the 5 pack that he mentions. Now on the next chapter afterwards, it turns out that we dont need those motors, but we need gearhead motors. So to me I was a little bummed because the motors he describes are basically for you to test and have fun with. It wasn't expensive but I was a little misguided and didnt like the shipping expense I made on motors I wasn't even going to apply to the robot. This brings me up to my next point: BUY ALL THE PARTS YOU NEED IN ONE ORDER. I had the idea of slowly ordering my parts as I read the book but the problem is that places like Digi-Key charge you a ridiculous amount for shipping, and when you need only 3 resistors and the shipping is about 10-20 times its cost, it gets a little annoying. So I would suggest just skimming the whole book to see what parts you will need and then getting them all together. This will also save you time as you go through the book since you will have all the parts that you need.

One other thing is that if your a beginner, make sure you have somewhat of a small fund for this. Even though it is true that everything is cheap, it depends on what you have. I didnt really have the tools such as soldering irons, crimpers, etc. so I needed to get all of these things. But I know I will continue with other books to become better in the field of robotics so I had no problem spending the money. If you intend on doing the same, then it will all be worth it and after you make your first robot, your second and future projects will be much cheaper since you will have the tools.

I guess as a last note I didnt enjoy the idea of using lego wheels for the robot mainly because for some reason I couldn't easily find axles for them. Another problem was also the tiny diameter copper tubing that you need to purchase to make the coupler. The smallest I could find was 1/4'. It wasn't impossible to do it in spite of these problems, it made me think, so I guess it wasn't all too bad. Oh, and when you do solder the parts together, PLEASE TRY TO BE CAREFUL WITH HOW YOU SOLDER. I did it a bit messy since I just started soldering things together but by the time I was done with the circuit, it was hard to add more circuitry, or to check if everything was well connected.

All in all, its a good buy. Be patient and have fun with it!

I have never written a review, but this book is really so good that I decided I just have to give it a go. For beginners in electronics and robotics, this book is a must. Also get the kit and learn while you build.