Robot Building for Beginners (Technology in Action) [Paperback]

David Cook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1430227486 | ISBN-13: 978-1430227489 | Edition: 2

“I wrote this book because I love building robots. I want you to love building robots, too. It took me a while to learn about many of the tools and parts in amateur robotics. Perhaps by writing about my experiences, I can give you a head start.”  —David Cook

Robot Building for Beginners, Second Edition is an update of David Cook’s best-selling Robot Building for Beginners. This book continues its aim at teenagers and adults who have an avid interest in science and dream of building household explorers. No formal engineering education is assumed.

The robot described and built in this book is battery powered and about the size of a lunchbox. It is autonomous. That is, it isn’t remote controlled.

You’ll begin with some tools of the trade, and then work your way through prototyping, robot bodybuilding, and eventually soldering your own circuit boards. By the book’s end, you will have a solid amateur base of understanding so that you can begin creating your own robots to vacuum your house or maybe even rule the world!

What you’ll learn

• How to build a robot from scratch
• Where to obtain parts and tools to get you started
• How to build the brain—the intelligence—using the motherboard
• How to create the body and become a Dr. Frankenstein
• How to get your robot moving and ruling

Who this book is for

This book is aimed at teenagers and adults who have an avid interest in science and dream of building household explorers. No formal engineering education is assumed.

Table of Contents

1. Welcome Robot Inventor!
2. Where to Obtain Tools and Parts
3. Safety
4. Digital Multimeter
5. Numbers and Units
6. Robot Line-Following
7. Nine-Volt Batteries
8. Clips and Test Leads
9. Resistors
10. LEDs
11. Power On!
12. Solderless Prototyping
13. Solderless Breadboard Setup
14. Variable Resistors
15. Comparators
16. Transistor Switches
17. DC Motors
18. Adding Gearhead Motors
19. Wheels
20. Coupler
21. Soldering Equipment
22. Soldering and Connecting
23. The Motherboard
24. Body Building
25. Launching the Line-Follower
26. Encore
27. Appendix

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Cook is an engineering manager at Motorola. He has 20 years of experience as a software developer, creating everything from award-winning computer games to mobile background-check applications for police. Self-taught in electronics and basic mechanics, David explains his years of robot experiences to the average backyard scientist in a comfortable and helpful manner, without scholarly intimidation. David hosts the popular robot site RobotRoom.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 516 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 2 edition (January 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1430227486
• ISBN-13: 978-1430227489
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence > Robotics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I've been looking for!, March 1, 2010

By 

J. Thurmond - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Robot Building for Beginners (Technology in Action) (Paperback)

I looked around quite a bit trying to find a robot building book that would take my 14 yr old through the process in a way he could understand. David Cook delivered perfectly. Every other book I looked at seemed either too childish, or alternately, assumed a solid background in electronics. Robot Building for Beginners, like Baby Bear's porridge, is just right!

I studied philosophy in college, so can offer my son no help in building robots. I've seen this book described as a swimming pool that's 5'x5' but 25' deep. That's pretty apt. I like the extensive chapter on components - what they are, how they work - neither my son nor I knew a resistor from a diode before. Also an entire chapter on safety was great from the concerned parent perspective.

The book is long, but covers a lot of ground with very little fluff. In 10 days my son had read up to the chapter where you start building your robot - he had absorbed a ton of information, built a few basic circuits and tested/troubleshot them with a multimeter. Now he's just waiting impatiently for me to set him up with the necessary components to start building (actually he's started scavenging components from dead/unused electronics he comes across; and I'm starting to fear for my DVD player).

I don't think you'll find a better starting point for a novice.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Beginners Book On Building Robotics & Electronic Construction & Prototyping, February 3, 2010

By 

Ira Laefsky "Ira Laefsky" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Robot Building for Beginners (Technology in Action) (Paperback)

David Cook, an engineering manager at Motorola with 20 years of experience in software development, has written the ultimate beginner's book on the construction and troubleshooting of robots and all types of electronic construction. It is designed for the absolute beginner to practical electronic and basic mechanical construction by someone who like myself received an overly theoretical education. It can certainly also be mastered by interested high school student or teenage enthusiast. All phases of electronic construction and troubleshooting as well as a variety of mechanical and shop techniques are described and exquisitely illustrated by high-quality (black and white) photographs. While the book culminates and supplies all necessary information to construct a simple but fully autonomous line-following robot, I believe that the successfully achieved important objective of the book is to develop the range of electronic and mechanical skills necessary for further advancement in any robotic project and almost any electronic construction endeavor. To many books in this exciting and rapidly expanding field either provide step by step details of the construction of particular projects, or are largely theoretical in content.

By contrast, this clear and well illustrated beginners guide develops the skills and basic theoretical understanding of electronic construction and mechanics to achieve initial success and grow in knowledge with any robotic project and in a variety of hobbyist electronics. I would recommend it to any aspiring beginner in robotics and electronic construction as the basis mastering an exciting hobby or practical engineering pursuit.

--Ira Laefsky

MSE/MBA IT Consultant

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Robot Building for Beginners and the follow on book open new doors, July 11, 2011

By 

John C. Wilkinson Jr. "mountain guy" (Hendersonville, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Robot Building for Beginners (Technology in Action) (Paperback)

To me robot kits leave me feeling disappointed and turned off. I mean u buy a kit, assemble it, learn next to nothing, and then the robot just does one thing and u quickly tire of it. These 2 books (especially the 2nd one) turn robotics into an open-ended hobby and a continuous source of education and experimentation. With kits, they do nothing until you are done and then only do one thing. But the way David Cook presents it, you learn all the time, you test little pieces and watch and learn how the parts work and how to make changes in the design. These 2 books are the best robotics books I have ever bought!