I now have two little robot legs, two stepper motors, a few cogs (for, obviously, a rudimentally brain), umpteen small screws (to keep the brain working), a speaker, and some electronics.
(and a little glass to sweep up)
. 2 months ago

and have it do all of the things I’m too lazy to do.

Trouble is, I’m too lazy to build the bloody robot! 3 months ago

The second robot in the apprentice level is now complete!

Yesterday we built the micro walker frame (this one walks instead of rolling), which was trickier to get right, but we managed. Today we finished the Droid Starfighter and soon it was galloping around the floor, to the great pride of a boy and slight unease of a small girl.

We’re learning more all the time… Isak can’t wait to cut loose on designing his own robots after we complete the three books. I’m keeping my eyes out for old kits to use for additional parts.

We’ll keep this one intact for a while and then move onto the next challenge! 7 months ago

For nearly two years Isak has been saving up for a particular Mindstorms kit that includes the coveted robotic AT-AT. It was well out of our price range, but he was so keen we told him we’d share the cost if he saved enough and was still interested, which he’s been diligently doing, putting all his Christmas, birthday, and recycling job money into his savings account.

He was within a bionic arm’s reach of his goal when we heard from a family friend (who is a robot/technology poohbah and enthusiastic about encouraging Isak’s budding interests in such things) that he’d wrangled one as a gift, if that was okay with us. We figured the ‘saving up for something you really want’ lesson had been learned well and were happy to say yes.

It was a HUGE surprise, Isak was floored and squealy and full of blissful hugs, then positively giddy about building the first one. It’s recommended for ages 9/10+, so we weren’t sure he’d have the patience for it, but he took to the building like a pro, learning what each piece did, how it worked with the others, and he’s much quicker at picking the right piece out of close to 600 and syncing it with the diagrams than I am.

We sorted the parts into baggies and started with the first robot in Book 1: Sith Apprentice, the L-8GO Navigator. We had a lot of fun working on it together over the next couple of days after school, and there was great jubilation (and a startled baby sister) when this little guy’s light sensors responded to Isak’s flashlight cues and he started scooting around the house and accosting the recycling.

When the batteries dwindle we’ll be on to the next challenge in the book (with updates). Seriously fun stuff. I’ll check this goal off when we actually accomplish the Motherlode goal of the Walking Robot AT-AT (after that there’ll be a whole new door opened to customization, which Isak is already planning and may help him take over the world). Already worth it. 10 months ago

(in imagined conversation with my artificially-intelligent robot; as soon as it reaches the hypothesized P-4 level:)
[bet yer wondering what level P-4 is!]

-“How do I get a free-will?”
-“I don’t know; you just try, fail, and try again. You introspect, extrospect & act at the same time. I will help you if I can. But realize – the more I have to help you, the less you will be free.”

Eldon Taylor told the story of a turkey who stuck his head out of his little doorway and it was a bright-sunny day. The next day he did the same thing. A third day, the same sunny-day. He was getting used-to this. On the fourth day, he stuck his head out & found out that it was Thanksgiving Day! The moral of the story is that repeated conditions do not always lead to the same outcomes!
Thinking of this, I remember the old mathematical axiom or whatever it is, that says you only need three points to attach a circle to them!
I was thinking (not really of math), but imagine these points seen here on a table – what happens when you try to “draw a big circle on a small table?”
. 11 months ago

My robot will:
- wander autonomously around the house
- respond to commands (voice, and from a remote)
- be connected to internet
- have a camera that you can stream online
- remind me of appointments
etc 12 months ago

Eventually, but I’ll start with just any old robot. 12 months ago

He seemed like he could be a pretty serious roboticist!
. 13 months ago