1st Edition

Practical and Experimental Robotics

By Ferat Sahin, Pushkin Kachroo Copyright 2008
    464 Pages 514 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Taking a completely hands-on approach, using cheap and easily available robotics kits, Practical and Experimental Robotics provides a detailed exploration of the construction, theory, and experiments for different types of robots. With topics ranging from basic stamp microcontrollers to biped and propeller based robots, the text contains laboratory experiments, examples with solutions, and case studies.

    The authors begin with a review of the essential elements of electronics and mechanics. They describe the basic mechanical construction and electrical control of the robot, then give at least one example of how to operate the robot using microcontrollers or software. The book includes a reference chapter on Basic Stamp Microcontollers with example code pieces and a chapter completely devoted to PC interfacing. Each chapter begins with the fundamentals, then moves on to advanced topics, thus building a foundation for learning from the ground up.

    Building a bridge between technicians who have hands-on experience and engineers with a deeper insight into the workings, the book covers a range of machines, from arm, wheel, and leg robots to flying robots and robotic submarines and boats. Unlike most books in this field, this one offers a complete set of topics from electronics, mechanics, and computer interface and programming, making it an independent source for knowledge and understanding of robotics.

    FUNDAMENTALS OF ELECTRONICS AND MECHANICS
    Fundamentals of Electronics
    Practical Electronic Circuits
    Fundamentals of Machines and Mechanisms
    Mechanisms

    BASIC STAMP MICROCONTROLLER
    Different Versions of BASIC Stamp
    Development Boards for BS2e
    BASIC Stamp Editor
    PBASIC Programming Fundamentals

    PC INTERFACING
    Parallel Port Interfacing
    Serial Port Interfacing
    USB Interfacing

    ROBOTIC ARM
    Construction and Mechanics
    Electrical Control
    Parallel Port Interface Circuit Using Relays
    USB Interface Using Relays
    Parallel Port Interface Circuit Using Transistors

    ROBOTIC ARM CONTROL
    Programmed Tasks
    Automatic Control Using a Camera
    Robotic Kinematics
    Dynamics and Control
    Some Experiments
    Control of a Six-Degrees-of-Freedom Arm Robot
    Examples and MATLAB Programs

    DIFFERENTIAL DRIVE ROBOT
    Construction and Mechanics
    Robot Speed Control
    Robot Kinematics

    FOUR WHEEL DRIVE ROBOT
    Construction and Mechanics
    Electrical Control

    HEXAPOD ROBOT
    Construction and Mechanics
    Electrical Control

    BIPED ROBOTS
    Bigfoot: The Walker
    The Lynxmotion Biped
    The Robosapien Biped

    PROPELLER BASED ROBOTS
    Wings
    Propellers
    Robotic Planes
    Robotic Helicopter
    Robotic Boats
    Robotic Submarines

    Biography

    Ferat Sahin, Pushkin Kachroo