John Baichtal.Robot Builder: The Beginners Guide to Building Robots

ePUB is an open, industry-standard format for eBooks. However, support of ePUB and its many features varies across reading devices and applications. Use your device or app settings to customize the presentation to your liking. Settings that you can customize often include font, font size, single or double column, landscape or portrait mode, and figures that you can click or tap to enlarge. For additional information about the settings and features on your reading device or app, visit the device manufacturers Web site.

Many titles include programming code or configuration examples. To optimize the presentation of these elements, view the eBook in single-column, landscape mode and adjust the font size to the smallest setting. In addition to presenting code and configurations in the reflowable text format, we have included images of the code that mimic the presentation found in the print book; therefore, where the reflowable format may compromise the presentation of the code listing, you will see a Click here to view code image link. Click the link to view the print-fidelity code image. To return to the previous page viewed, click the Back button on your device or app.

The Beginners Guide to Building Robots

John Baichtal

800 East 96th Street,
Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA

Robot Builder: The Beginners Guide to Building Robots

Copyright 2015 by John Baichtal

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-5149-2
ISBN-10: 0-7897-5149-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014944096

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing: November 2014

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Que Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

LEGO and MINDSTORMS are registered trademarks of The LEGO Group.

Warning and Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an as is basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book.

Special Sales

For information about buying this title in bulk quantities, or for special sales opportunities (which may include electronic versions; custom cover designs; and content particular to your business, training goals, marketing focus, or branding interests), please contact our corporate sales department at or (800) 382-3419.

For government sales inquiries, please contact .

For questions about sales outside the U.S., please contact .

Editor-in-Chief
Greg Wiegand

Executive Editor
Rick Kughen

Development Editor
Ginny Munroe

Managing Editor
Sandra Schroeder

Project Editor
Mandie Frank

Copy Editor
Barbara Hacha

Indexer
Erika Millen

Proofreader
Anne Goebel

Technical Editor
Pete Prodoehl

Editorial Assistant
Kristin Watterson

Designer
Mark Shirar

Compositor
Studio Galou

ONLINE:

ONLINE (WWW.INFORMIT.COM/TITLE/9780789751492):

John Baichtal writes books about toys, tools, robots, and hobby electronics. He is the co-author of The Cult of LEGO (No Starch Press) and author of Hack This: 24 Incredible Hackerspace Projects from the DIY Movement; Basic Robot Building with LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0; and Arduino for Beginners (all from Que Publishing). Most recently he wrote Make: Lego and Arduino Projects for MAKE, collaborating with Adam Wolf and Matthew Beckler, and he is the author of the upcoming Que book, Building Your Own Drones: The Beginners Guide to UAVs and ROVs. He lives in Minneapolis, MN, with his wife and three children.

To my grandmother, Marion Lillie, for her continued inspiration and support.

To my wife Elise and kids Eileen Arden, Rosemary, and Jack, for putting up with and participating in a lot of nerdy stuff.

Finally, to my cousins Sean Fields and Will Fields, the next generation of robot builders. I hope this book intrigues you!

Thanks to (in no particular order) Jude Dornisch, Steven Anderson, Adam Wolf, Michael Freiert, John Wilson, Susan Solarz, Akiba, Mark Frauenfelder, Chris Berger, Michael Krumpus, Alex Dyba, Brian Jepson, Becca Steffen, Dave Bryan, Actobotics, Eric Wang, Mike Hord, Makeblock, Pat Arneson, Erin Kennedy, uFactory, Windell H. Oskay, Creative Robotics, Johngineer, Matthew Beckler, Riley Harrison, Limor & Phil @ Adafruit, Tyler Cooper, Beatty Robotics, Arcbotics, David Lang, Trammell Hudson, Pete Prodoehl, Daniele Benedettelli, Bruce Shapiro, Alex Allmont, John Edgar Park, Miguel Valenzuela, Pete McKenna, Steve Norris, and, well, obviously, Rick Kughen.

A special thanks to my mother Barbara for assembling the Glossary, and for all her support.

And to my gaming group, without whom I might not be sane: Big Ryan, Little Ryan, Drew, Gabe, Ned, Dave, Graham, and Jess.

As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator. We value your opinion and want to know what were doing right, what we could do better, what areas youd like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom youre willing to pass our way.

We welcome your comments. You can email or write to let us know what you did or didnt like about this bookas well as what we can do to make our books better.

Please note that we cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book.

When you write, please be sure to include this books title and author as well as your name and email address. We will carefully review your comments and share them with the author and editors who worked on the book.

Email:

Mail: Que Publishing
ATTN: Reader Feedback
800 East 96th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46240 USA

Visit our website and register this book at quepublishing.com/register for convenient access to any updates, downloads, or errata that might be available for this book.

Robots are incredible machines. The more complicated ones are entrusted with building cars and digging tunnels, projects that require lots of moving and lifting power but also precision. You may even have heard of experimental robots that are used for surgical procedures and can sew sutures or make incisions.