Build Your Own Combat Robot (Paperback)

by Pete Miles (Author), Tom Carroll (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Create your own powerful battling robot from start to finish using this easy-to-follow manual. Robotics experts Pete Miles and Tom Carroll explain the science and technology behind robots, and show you what materials you need to build and program a robot for home, school, and competition.

From the Back Cover
Experience the excitement of building your own champion battling bot!

Build a powerful and invincible robot--for full-blown competition or just for fun--using this authoritative robot resource. This team of experts gives you an inside look at the innovative new world of robotic combat, explaining the origins of the sport as well as all the elements that go into constructing a fighting robot. You'll learn technical basics from motors and wiring to locomotion, and read builders' true stories from the front lines of robot competition. Whether or not you're mechanically-minded, you'll find this book both entertaining and informative. Fully capturing the spirit of the sport, this detailed guide shows you how an imagination and a few bits of metal can start you on your way to constructing your own champion bot.

• Plan, design, and build your own battling robot
• Discover how electric motors work and choose the right type for your design
• Learn about both wheeled and walking robots
• Incorporate creative weapons and armor on your bot--learn the pros and cons of spinning hammers, jabbing spikes, buzzing saw blades, and more
• Minimize radio interference--so you can effectively control your bot to do what you want, when you want
• Understand what goes into building fully autonomous robots
• Save money on parts and equipment by enlisting help from company sponsors
• Read true stories from combat roboteers and learn which types of constructions work and which don't

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia (February 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072194642
• ISBN-13: 978-0072194647
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #930,085 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! Great Book!, March 8, 2002

By	Jim Frye (Pekin, IL) - See all my reviews

This book has everything! If you're interested in information on building a robot for combat then look no further. There are chapters on selecting the right motors, batteries and electronics. Want to get the most from your motors? this book explains tells you how! There are even chapters on Robot Sumo with complete plans to build your own inexpensive Sumo Robot! Great book!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars More hype than substance, May 13, 2004

By	ckott72 "ckott72" (Washington DC, United States) - See all my reviews

This book is basically a big advertisement for combat roboting. Otherwise, the authors never seem to decide if they want to convey theory of mechanics or a rough overview of the pastime.

For example, they include charts that look technical, like torque vs. rpm, but convey no useful information that can't be reasoned out with a little common sense. The book carefully details various battery properties. But, in the very next section the only thing it says about power transfer that it is necessary to make the wheels turn. They include a few useless formulas that can, again, be easily reasoned, but it doesn't mention anything about how to build or acquire a transmission.

The controller sections are also poor. They include electronic schematics that, while not incorrect, are obsolete and overly simplified. Yet, in the same sections the book actually include programming (basic I think) for controller chips.

Maybe the one-star rating was a little low, but I feel that this book was a brain-stormed first draft that mistakenly made it past the editor.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real deal, June 12, 2002

By	Morris E. Rosenthal (Springfield, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is one of the best how-to books I've seen. The authors are true experts in the subject, and it shows in their selection of material. I wish the engineers at Toshiba who designed my notebook computer had read the chapter on batteries. You get theory, practice, materials engineering, mechanics and robotics all presented in one neat package. This is one of those rare books that's perfect for the beginner as well as the expert. It's jammed full of information that would take hundreds of hours to gather from other sources, and most importantly, it's a painless way to shorten the learning curve to become a robot expert yourself.