My experiments in Robotics

I've always been interested in making cool stuff, especially in tweaking instruments and planning the construction/invention of some hi-tech gadgets. Many are the days, when I've pored over the description of how some particular gadget/device works, and I've spent a lot of time/energy wondering how that particular device could be improved. However, most of the solutions I think of have an electronic leaning, so even though the idea has been clear in my mind of exactly how to improve the device, I've never managed to turn that idea into a concrete implementation. I even went to an electronics repair course in BDPS, but the course really sucked. It was just mechanical rote of some particular circuits, and I did not think that that kind of course would enlighten my designs.

I've always wanted to make a robot. One of the first robots that I've ever seen was R2D2, a cute and really smart robot, featured in the Star Wars Trilogy. I spent countless childhood days copying the outer shell/look on paper, and was intent on cramming all the features in this galaxy into it's body. But I never did get around to making it into a reality.

However, recently I was just looking into some robotics sites, and I found out that MIT (Massachussets Institute of Technology) regularly hosts a robotics competition. And guess what! Most of the robots are made from.... Lego! I went at once to the Lego Bricks website.
where I found that a lego robotics kit costs around 10,000 Rs. to buy. Whew! that's expensive!
But I found that the types of robots that you can build with this kit are really good, and more than the actual functionality, the logic that you can program into these robots is just as challenging/interesting. I was sold on the kit...

As luck would have it, my very good friend Naren was in Boston, Massachussets at that very time. I immediately mailed him to ask whether he could order the kit for me, and bring it along with him when he returned. He immediately did the needful, but there was a seven month wait for me to land my hands on the kit.

However, now I've finally done so, and here are some pictures of my first robotic model. It's a Walkerbot, and I really love it. Somehow, in my opinion, a Robot with tracks/wheels just doesn't capture the essence of robotics. Walking. Now that's something else.

Here's a video of my WalkerBot.



Some photos of my WalkerBot for those who want a good static look at the Robot.