Slashdot Mirror

http://www.societyofrobots.com/

(disclaimer: it's my site)

Start by reading and testing their 50$ cheapo robot : http://www.societyofrobots.com/

50$ isn't something that will make you broke, and you'll have a quickstart on electronic parts.
Then, if you wanna upgrade, go get an Arduino, and put it in your 50$ robots (now 80$robot ;) )
Them you can upgrade and add parts as you like, and all with a SMALL budget.

HAVE FUN!

I can personally recommend these: http://www.dfrobot.com/ http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/robot/robotstore.html http://www.societyofrobots.com/

Why not just get a breadboard and go read http://www.societyofrobots.com/ ?
Under 100$, you have all you need to create your first robot.

I've also done an entire robot voice controlled, with wheels and two arms, and all the hardware and software are open source (done to the smallest detail, and easy to understand).

the video can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=nEOwTzV8qak

all the documentation can be found here:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robot_ERP.shtml

yes. avr c nice. don't forget about c++

http://societyofrobots.com/

Lockheed Martin has been working on something vaguely similar, and while Ray's has that umbilicus, LM's is self powered.

http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=7306.0

One of their versions was powered by a small generator that ran on jet fuel.

You can always find robot help here:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum

(disclaimer, its my site)

I'm probably extremely biased, but I do believe this is the best website ever to learn how to make robots:

http://www.societyofrobots.com/

Yea, I find a lot of Thais would rather pretend politics didn't even exist here . . . but the extremists have definitely created some polarization . . . as for political change, I could use a bit less corporate protectionism and bit more Visa time between runs =P

I'm not involved with the programming/OS/IT community here, although they contacted me to join them. I tend to the robotics community here.

My site is the same as my username, http://www.societyofrobots.com/
Probably not interesting for you unless you like programming/controlling embedded hardware =P

I know the guy, he posts on societyofrobots, a robotics forum I used to frequent. Unfortunately, I have to call rubbish on this one. I don't think he knows much about AI. He claims all sorts of incredible things that his robot supposedly does that are all far beyond what anyone has done in robotics, vision or AI as a whole, but never elaborates on how he did it, and discusses design issues that should, in practice, be non-issues.

Link to his thread on that forum: http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1335.0

A quote of interest, from the robot's creator:

"I am what you called a mad scientist. I don:t believe any documentation, No blue print, No paperwork, No Cad. I have build 12+ large robots (main robots) none of which has any documentation or blue print...

Even the software has NO documentation. The software is about 3Gig and I think I have about 15 lines of comments. The typical variable name I used are.... X, X1,X2, A1,A2,AA1,AA2,AAA1,AAA2 etc..."

Tons of articles already published: http://blogs.spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/2008/08/12/robot_builder_profile_aiko.html http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/19/aiko-worlds-first-sexually-harassed-disabled-fembot/ And if you want to talk with the builder, here you go: http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=1335.0

The inventor writes more about the software, called BRAINS, on this forum:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=4763.0

Probably too late to post this, but actual videos and info on the robot:
http://www.societyofrobots.com/robot_jesus_lizard. shtml