Robot Building for Beginners by David Cook
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Book Reviews of Robot Building for Beginners
Book Review: Excellent work, with great attention to detail
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book and the newer intermediate book (also by Cook) together to start a new hobby. It is very thorough, with great close up pictures, and aims to walk you through the entire process, from beginning to end, of constructing a single, relatively simple robot. If you are truly a beginner, I honestly believe you cannot do better. I have read through most of it once, like a novel, and have referred to it dozens of times since, more like a reference. I have all the major parts now, except the tires and M&M tube, and am about 65% finished. It is really fun, and having the book at your side is second only to having a wise grandfather looking over your shoulder as you work.
I was concerned that it would be overly simplified for me, as I have a master's in CS, and have tinkered with electronics before. It is true that certain parts have been review, but I must admit that after three or four times of saying, "Well that's interesting...", I must now concede that I have learned a great deal, all preconceptions aside. I can only conclude that there must have been several gaps in my knowledge, which I was pleased to have filled by reading this book. My only gripe with the book is that it's difficult to use as a reference. I'm not sure how you'd fix this, I only know I constantly find myself searching for something I read before, only to find it later when I'm no longer looking (and after I had spent several minutes trying). This is quite minor though, and I realize it's probably impossible to have a book that both reads like a novel and functions as a reference (after all, the book is already quite large).
I can't wait to finish construction - the next step is soldering, and I've got this fancy Hakko 936 I'm quite anxious to use. Also, I suspect the next book will be even more interesting, as I've been thinking a lot about how much fun it would be programming the microcontroller. I would guess after I'm done with that book that I'll either continue building more robots on my own, or move on to something else. One thing is for certain though, and that is that this has been great fun, and I would recommend it to any disciplined and curious beginning tinkerer. What better way to simultaneously advance your knowledge of several interesting scientific areas (mechanical engineering, electronics, etc.) while having a great time?
Book Review: I just built my first robot!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm an Electrical Engineer at U.C. I bought this book so I could learn some "real world knowledge" about the physical world instead of just theory. I only asked for (and thankfully received) a multimeter, soldering iron, and a cordless dremel drill for Christmas. After reading this book, I now remember why I chose my major--making a robot is a blast!Being strong on the theory, I didn't learn anything in that regard. On the flip side, David Cook described the basics in a way that anyone could understand. What I really wanted to learn was to be able to put my Christmas presents to use. He spent a chapter just on the multimeter! I loved it. Also, every part of the robot was described in detail. I now know the difference between choosing motors, batteries, transistors, comparitors, diodes, potentiometers, photo-resistors, ect.
When I brought my first creation into my Electromagnetics class yesterday, I of course was asked to give a demonstration. From reading this book (to be honest a total of 3 times), I described everything about it in clear/consise detail. The only part I failed was receiving extra credit. Yes I did try :D.
I couldn't imagine a better book for beginners. There is a website that describes the robot AND the few typos caught (nothing that mattered), ways he took this idea and added a couple more in a similar project, as well as detailing the post construction of robots he's made since then. Cook goes into detail for troubleshooting a potential screw up you may make (If 'X' is happening then you probably did 'Y'). Yes I made one too--thanks for asking.
There is one part I didn't like about the project though--using an M&M's Mini tube to hold the motors. Being so close to Valentine's day, the only selection they had were PINK ones! Oh well, I named in Valentino anyway. I did find myself telling this story though to everyone that commented on my pink robot.
If you want to get into the hobby, buy this book. You can't ask for more. Just be prepared to catch yourself looking in the toy section of Target for lego technic tires when your fiance is wanting to register!!! BTW: you'll also catch yourself babbling on about your experiences in a review about this book too--cause you'll be so D@MN excited about making your first robot!!!
Book Review: Extraordinarily informative and fun, terrific for beginners
Summary: 5 Stars
I am just starting out in robotics, and have read several amateur robotics books. I have some power tools in the garage, I vaguely remember a little bit about electronics from a course I took in college, and I love to build things. But before I read this book, I really didn't know anything about robotics.
This book (and it's follow-on companion, Intermediate Robot Building by the same author) is extraordinarily good. I believe it is absolutely the best book for the beginning roboticist. The author starts at the very beginning (what do resistors look like when you first get them from the store?), explains how to build a robot in wonderful detail (exactly how to solder, precisely what to look for in a multimeter), and makes it great fun with his obvious enthusiasm, the sense of accomplishment that you get when you understand something new, and his quiet humor.
In this book, the author has you build a specific small, wheeled robot called Sandwich. And you can absolutely follow him through every, careful, interesting step to build this exact robot. But in some sense, the specifics of Sandwich don't really matter. Perhaps you want to build a combat robot, an animatronic figure, or a soccer-playing RoboCup contestant. Every basic skill that the author shows you in this book is enormously useful in building any other kind of robot: making a robot base, choosing and mounting motors, designing a circuit, wiring up LEDs. You have to start somewhere, and this is the place to start. He tells you exactly what parts to look for, and where to get them. And he explains EVERYTHING, so that by the time you put the book down, you really KNOW things.
I have seen many other amateur robotics books. Every other book I have read (again, except for the sequel to this book) skips over big details, over gives a broad scattershot overview, or points you in the right direction but leaves the specifics to the reader. Those other books have their uses, once you already have an idea of what building robots is all about. But this book gives you those very important first steps. And it's not the least bit overwhelming.
I can't recommend this book enough. It's a tour de force!
Book Review: Robot Building for Beginners
Summary: 5 Stars
Robot Building for Beginners - What a great beginners book!When I ordered this book I wasn't too sure about what I was going to get but I did know that the author's web site www.robotroom.com is a robot builders paradise, so what the heck. What a great book!!!!! This book covers so much material based on early electronic theory, concepts, components, and breadboard configurations that you feel like you are sitting in an electronics class just soaking it all up! His text is broken into major sections covering electronic basics, equipment you will need to use, then he talks about the major components that will be used in the sandwich project "A line following robot". He lets you build each section of the robot in modules on an electric breadboard, which is great because you can see the circuit work, plus learn how the circuit functions, and make modifications to the circuit while not having to solder or unsolder components. He steps you through each section of the line following robot building each modules in order till you have the whole robot circuitry on the breadboard for testing. Later he shows you have to make the final robot product and put everything together soldered on a single circuit board. There is truly so much information here that the readers get way more than he pays for. It is easy to understand and humorous at the same time. He even covers calculations concerning voltage drops, load drops within the circuit, and power consumption. By the end of this book you will have completed the building of a real, authentic line following robot and have the knowledge to go onto bigger and better robot projects. After this book I recommend buying the Intermediate Robot builder book!! This is another great book from David Cook!
Book Review: Awesome book for begining "robotists"
Summary: 5 Stars
I would give Mr. Cook's book 6 stars if I could. It blew me away. It provides excellent diagrams, pictures, and ideas, as well as manufacturers and part numbers for all of the neccessary components. It assumes no background whatsoever in electronics or robotics.Electronics have always piqued my interest, though I have never really been able to get into them. Some of the books I have bought previously have been absurdly complicated, requiring backgrounds in fields such as linear calculus. I have a head for numbers, but being only a high school freshmen taking Geometry can be limiting.
Robot Building for Beginners really brings the art of constructing autonomous creations down to the basic, hands on level. It starts with the basics, down to what one's workspace should include, etc. You won't find any cryptic series of equations, graphs, or complex diagrams in this book. All of the electrical components are explained on a "what-they-do and how-to-use-them" basis.
For instance, I picked up another book, Teach Yourself Electricity and Electronics, and attempted to teach myself about simple things like how a circuit works, and what resistors do. The book immediatly overwhelmed me with so-and-so's laws, this rule of physics, this logarithmic equation, etc.
Mr. Cook's book , on the other hand, explained resistors simply, essentially saying that they were devices to limit the amount of current to a place in the circuit, because too much current simply fries your components. No fancy equations, no graphs, just simple - like it is.
It is for all of the above reasons that I highly recomend this book to anyone who's ever considered dabbeling in electronics (for robots or not).