Intermediate Robot Building 
David Cook
Apress
<p>For readers of <em>Robot Building for Beginner</em> (Apress, 2002 and 2009), welcome to the next level. <em>Intermediate Robot Building, Second Edition</em> offers you the kind of real-world knowledge that only renowned author David Cook can offer.</p> <p>In this book, you’ll learn the value of a robot heartbeat and the purpose of the wavy lines in photocells. You’ll find out what electronic part you should sand. You’ll discover how a well-placed switch can help a robot avoid obstacles better than a pair of feelers. And you’ll avoid mistakes that can cause a capacitor to explode.</p> <p>Want a robot that can explore rooms, follow lines, or battle opponents in mini-sumo? This book presents step-by-step instructions and circuit and part descriptions so that you can build the robot featured in the book or apply the modules to your own robot designs. </p> <p>Finally, you’ll find the complete schematics for Roundabout, a room explorer that requires no programming and uses only off-the-shelf electronics. With Roundabout, you’ll use many of the same techniques used by professional robotics engineers, and you’ll experience many of the same challenges and joys they feel when a robot “comes to life.”</p> What you’ll learn<ul>     <li>How to build a robot from scratch </li>     <li>Digital electronics and moderate machining </li>     <li>How to use and integrate modern modules useful to all robots: power supplies, motor couplers, motor drivers (including H-bridges), opponent and obstacle detectors, and floor sensors. </li>     <li>How to embrace and extend the base robot design </li>     <li>How to use Roundabout, which operates with off-the-shelf brains, so that no programming is required </li>     <li>How the additions of a microcontroller, configuration switches, and even a music module all come together as a final two-tier automaton showing a versatile Robot who is seemingly the master of its domain. </li> </ul> Who this book is for<p>This book is aimed at intermediate builders: adults, college students, and advanced high school students. It requires background experience in electronics, at least to the extent covered by <em>Robot Building for Beginners</em>.</p> <p>Because the hobby involves soldering, electricity, and light machining, the writing is targeted toward individuals with those capabilities.</p> <p>The book has been referenced in a number of high school and college courses.</p> Table of Contents<ol>     <li>     Assembling a Modular Robot     </li>     <li>     Comparing Two Types of Homemade Motor Couplers and Common Errors to Avoid     </li>     <li>     Making a Fixture and Drilling Solid Rods for a Coupler     </li>     <li>     Finishing the Solid-Rod Motor Coupler     </li>     <li>     Building a Motor Inside a Wheel     </li>     <li>     Understanding the Standards and Setup for Electronic Experiments     </li>     <li>     Creating a Linear Voltage- Regulated Power Supply     </li>     <li>     Making Robot Power Supply Improvements     </li>     <li>     Driving Miss Motor     </li>     <li>     Driving Mister Motor     </li>     <li>     Creating an Infrared Modulated Obstacle, Opponent, and Wall Detector     </li>     <li>     Fine-Tuning the Reflector Detector     </li>     <li>     Roundabout Robot!     </li>     <li>     Test Driving Roundabout     </li>     <li>     If I Only Had a Brain</li>     <li>      Building Roundabout’s Daughterboard     </li>     <li>      Adding the Floor Sensor Module     </li>     <li>     Cooking Up Some Robot Stew     </li> </ol>