Boe Bot: Cute Name, Great Robotics Project
From the day some of us saw the original Terminator movie, we knew our destiny- to do our part in the war against AI. Despite the numerous delays in the Robot Wars, that’s no reason to put off the preparations. You need to know your enemy. And don’t underestimate the Boe Bot- even if it is likeable and seemingly innocent.
You’ll install the Basic Stamp Editor on your computer, which will allow you to create programs in PBasic, the language of the BoeBot. It’s straightforward, and well-suited even for beginning programmers, but will take a bit of time for those not used to writing code. There are plenty of demos and examples to help get you started though, and excellent tutorials and support online. Since the goal of this bot is primarily education, the company behind the product, Parallax, does a pretty good job of aiming the materials at a wide range of ages and trying to make it fun to learn.
The kit itself also requires assembly, part of the learning experience: it doesn’t take long, maybe an hour or two, and you can choose from a variety of sensors to use. You’ll also end up with hands-on electronics and assembly experience as well, as you need to use wires, resistors, and capacitors to actually create the appropriate layout on the breadboard. For those confused, or hungry, the breadboard here is basically a thick piece of plastic with holes, used to help with electronics kits. They call it the “Board of Education”, and that explains the name Boe. Yet another acronym!
The package includes two drive wheels and the motors, as well as everything you will need to get your robot up and rolling. It’s pretty simple to build the bot, install the software, and transfer a basic program via USB- maybe two and a half hours from unboxing to having a working, roving robot… even one with whisker detectors. There are also plenty of additional sensors and add-ons you can buy for your BoeBot- things like grippers, clawers, and ultrasonic eyes. And we’ll need every piece of information we can collect about our foes’ capabilities, before the Singularity or Judgment Day or whatever they’re calling it these days.
The BoeBot is less than $160, and available online and in some specialty stores. Great for kids, 12 years and up according to their site, but almost no age is too young to learn about the pleasures (and dangers) of Skynet.
