Hack ing ROGER
FIGURE 1. Roger Robot just out of
the box before dissection begins.
by Monty Reed
In the basement of North Seattle
Community College (in Seattle,
Washington), there is a Robotics
Club. Members meet in a room
called the “TECHTRONS LAB” that
resembles a weird science laboratory
from a sci-fi movie. “It is a little
cramped, but it is ours!” says one of
the students as they squeeze into the
room to work on robotics projects.
The room has been in the control of
students for three decades, as far as
any of the old timers who work in
facilities can remember. It’s great for
the students because there is freedom
to work on projects without being
graded. For many students, the Lab is
a refuge allowing a few hours to relax
and work on robots or electronics projects, or just have a cup of coffee. For
others, it is a place to ask for help
on an electronics project, math, or
computer programming. All students
are welcome. Occasionally, students
or visitors from the community drop in
just to see what the others are up to.
We were looking for an afford-
able, simple project anyone could do.
North Seattle Robotics Group (The
official Robotics Club at North Seattle
Community College) is always looking
for inexpensive toys to hack into robot
projects. Roger Robot (Figure 1) from
Big Lots ( www.biglots.com) was
$19.95. It is currently available from
www.eBay.com or other resellers.
The price is right for students and just
about anyone who wants to learn
about robotics and have fun doing it.
“When considering buying a toy to
hack, look for one with a tethered or
wired controller. This way you are not
paying for the wireless capability,”
advises Doug Bell, a Volunteer
Community Advisor to North Seattle
Community College Robotics Club
since the Fall of 2001. He comes to
the lab twice a week
to volunteer, helping
students with their
projects. Many of
FIGURE 2. Parallax
microcontroller
with the Board
of Education™.
NOTE: All codes/programs are
available on the SERVO website at
www.servomagazine.com.
these projects just could not be done
without his advice and help.
We have several microcontrollers
in the lab to choose from and plenty
of support from advisors, faculty, and
staff. The Parallax BASIC Stamp™
microcontroller (see Figure 2) is used
in classes at NSCC and is a popular
choice among students. There is a lot
of tech support, documentation, and
information available. Most of my
experience has been with the BASIC
Stamp, so that was my choice to use.
For this project, I wanted to do as
little hacking as possible to make the
robot controlled by a microcontroller
and I wanted to also be able to
continue to use it as a tethered remote
control, so I planned for a 25-pin
connector to be placed in line with the
tether from the controller. This way,
the microcontroller or the handheld
remote could be plugged in. To make
this more sophisticated, you could
add a switch instead of plugging
and unplugging the remote or the
microcontroller. Also for this project,
we will not install a switch.
44 SERVO 01.2007
