Published Monthly By
T & L Publications, Inc.
430 Princeland Court
Corona, CA 92879-1300
(951) 371-8497
FAX (951) 371-3052
Webstore Only 1-800-783-4624
www.servomagazine.com
Mind / Iron
by Bryan Bergeron, Editor
Subscriptions
Toll Free 1-877-525-2539
Outside US 1-818-487-4545
P.O. Box 15277
North Hollywood, CA 91615
As highlighted by the Consumer
Electronics Show (CES), 2008 is
shaping up to be a good year for
robotics innovators who rely on
inexpensive, capable platforms for
their experiments. The most impressive
platform in the traditional D3 (dull,
dirty, and dangerous) camp was the
$99 iRobot Looj ( www.iRobot.com).
The treaded, weather resistant, remote
controlled vehicle (see Figure 1) is
intended to facilitate the D3 job of
cleaning gutters of leaves, pine cones,
twigs, and other light debris. Although
the robot’s movement is limited to
linear forward and reverse and access
to the NiCad battery pack is somewhat
awkward, the robot seems like the
perfect platform for an amphibious
vehicle. I’ll be featuring the Looj in an
upcoming teardown article.
As in previous years, consumer
robots is less about sweeping floors,
clearing gutters, or performing equally
distasteful D3 tasks, and more about
entertainment. WowWee (www.wow
wee.com) promises to be a ready
source of development platforms,
following the popularity of the
Robosapien among the robotics mod
community. Highest on my want list is
the Bladestar indoor flying machine
with onboard obstacle avoidance. The
three-channel digital IR controller is
especially intriguing, in that it implies
control is possible through a wireless
laptop link that can be used to provide
path planning in addition to simple
object avoidance. Other members of
the WowWee lineup — including the
four-legged Roboquad, emotive
Robopanda, and series of Alive pets —
also seem promising.
If you’ve ever developed a WiFi
interface to your robots, then you’ll
appreciate the Meccano Spykee ‘spy
PUBLISHER
Larry Lemieux
publisher@servomagazine.com
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/
VP OF SALES/MARKETING
Robin Lemieux
display@servomagazine.com
EDITOR
Bryan Bergeron
techedit-servo@yahoo.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jeff Eckert Tom Carroll
Gordon McComb David Geer
Pete Miles R. Steven Rainwater
Fred Eady Kevin Berry
John Blankenship Samuel Mishal
Kazuo Kiguchi Robert Doerr
Brian Benson Allison Walton
Nick Martin Michael Bastoni
Bryce Woolley Evan Woolley
Heather Dewey-Hagborg Filomena Serpa
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR
Tracy Kerley
subscribe@servomagazine.com
MARKETING COORDINATOR
WEBSTORE
Brian Kirkpatrick
sales@servomagazine.com
FIGURE 1
WEB CONTENT
Michael Kaudze
website@servomagazine.com
PRODUCTION/GRAPHICS
Shannon Lemieux
Joe Keungmanivong
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Debbie Stauffacher
Mind/Iron Continued
6 SERVO 03.2008
Copyright 2008 by
T & L Publications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
All advertising is subject to publisher’s approval.
We are not responsible for mistakes, misprints,
or typographical errors. SERVO Magazine
assumes no responsibility for the availability or
condition of advertised items or for the honesty
of the advertiser. The publisher makes no claims
for the legality of any item advertised in SERVO.
This is the sole responsibility of the advertiser.
Advertisers and their agencies agree to
indemnify and protect the publisher from any
and all claims, action, or expense arising from
advertising placed in SERVO. Please send all
editorial correspondence, UPS, overnight mail,
and artwork to: 430 Princeland Court,
Corona, CA 92879.