Product Description

Learning robotics by yourself isn't easy, but it helps when the encouragement comes from an expert who's spent years in the field. Not only does Author David Cook assist you in understanding the component parts of robot development, but he also presents valuable techniques that prepare you to achieve new discoveries on your own. Cook begins with the anatomy of a homemade robot and gives you the best advice on how to proceed successfully. General sources for tools and parts are provided in a consolidated list, and specific parts are recommended throughout the book. Also, basic safety precautions and essential measuring and numbering systems are promoted throughout. Specific tools and parts covered include digital multimeters, motors, wheels, resistors, LEDs, photoresistors, transistors, chips, gears, nut drivers, batteries, and more. Robot Building for Beginners is an inspiring book that provides an essential base of practical knowledge for anyone getting started in amateur robotics.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #291919 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 600 pages

About the Author
David Cook - David Cook is an engineering section 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. Having self-taught himself electronics and basic mechanics, he comfortably relates his recent years of robot experiences to the average backyard scientist, without scholarly intimidation.

Customer Reviews

When he says "beginners", he really means it.
This book is very seriously focussed at the beginner. Not beginners of robot building, but beginners new to electronics completely. Cook spends a lot more time talking about electronics fundamentals and how to use multimeters etc. than he does talking about robots. On the plus side, this book is well written and very well presented.

Brilliant this is the first book on robotics you should read
This book is brilliant for beginners to robotics. Since I bought the book I haven't been able to close it. The author explains everything in the book to perfection, there are loads of pictures and every thing is understandable. By the time youve finnished the book you will end up with a cool little robot that follows lines and the knowledge to go away and make your own robot. The only negative thing I have to say about this book is that all the suppliers listed in the book are american, so you will have to look arround for the bits you need rather than just copy the order number from a list, but that can help you to understand things better so its not that bad.
If you want to get into robotics then I think this is the best place to start.

Fantastic place to start
This book is an excellent introduction to electronics and small-scale robot building, and shows you how to contstruct a line-following robot in a step-by-step manner without resorting to jargon or technospeak. I bought it for my son who wanted to build a battle robot (which it isn't really aimed at), but I found it fascinating and went the whole way with building the line following robot. The book is extremely well presented with numerous pictures showing you exactly what to do at each stage. The parts lists are all sourced from US suppliers but I found that everything was available at in the UK through Maplin (or a trade electronics supplier if you are used to their comprehensive catalogs)