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How Do You Get Into Robotics?
Chosen Reject asks: "With Voyager I passing the 100 AU mark, and the Mars Rovers continuing to work longer than expected, there's been a lot of talk about robotics. There are cars that can park without humans, the DARPA Grand Challenge, the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition, and even the X-Prize. NASA has the pros, the others have all levels of amateurs, but where does a newbie go to learn about robotics? Obviously I can't start out with the next Mars Rover, but where do I go to learn how to make a simple robotic arm that can hold my can of Root Beer?"
My best advice is to start with some 80's toys from Galoob. Mr. T, Hulk Hogan, and Jem and the Holograms are excellent examples of how to put together robots. From the voice box triggered by arm movement to the blinking hair jewels triggered by proximity sensors, these things are real marvels.
The big thing you want to keep in mind is that robotics is no different from any other sort of engineering field. The same physical laws that work in Structural Engineering will work in Robotics. The same development guidelines that govern software projects also govern Robotics projects. And just like any other embedded system, Robots are driven by sensors and the algorithms which react to inputs.
Get your hands on some of those old toys and tear them apart to see how they work. If it's a hassle to get those toys, look into getting a GumStix development board and try embedding Linux or WindowsCE (or NetBSD, RIP). It will help you along the path to Evil Robot Overlord much more economically than trying to learn anything from Mindstorms.
I picked up a book on building tiny robots out of old electronics (walkman tape players and such). Some of the huge book stores carry these types of books in the miscellaneous computer section. I haven't built any yet but plan to start tinkering soon.