Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6/ Blind Folio i The Ultimate Palm Robot P:\010Comp\Bots\880-6\FM.vp Tuesday, May 13, 2003 12:31:46 PM Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6/ Blind Folio ii About the Authors Kevin Mukhar is a programmer and writer. He has been programming as a hobbyist since the early days of the Commodore 64. He learned COBOL in high school and FORTRAN in college and has dabbled in everything from programming HP calculators to programming Java on the Palm OS. He is currently a software developer for Lockheed Martin in Denver. Kevin has written numerous articles and is the co-author of several books, including Beginning Java Databases and Beginning J2EE 1.4 (both published by Wrox Press). He served as Technical Editor for Dave John- son’s recent book Robot Invasion: 7 Cool and Easy Robot Projects. When not programming or writing, Kevin is working on a Masters degree in Com- puter Science, playing guitar, and trying to learn how to play saxophone. Dave Johnson has a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Rutgers University, and he’s been writing about technology for the past 15 years. He’s the editor of Mobility Magazine and contributes to a number of magazines, including PC World, Handheld Computing, Wired, and Tech Edge. He’s the author of more than two dozen books, including How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera, and he recently wrote Robot Invasion: 7 Cool and Easy Robot Projects. Mostly, though, he’s waiting for a call from Roger Waters to join him in a new rock band. P:\010Comp\Bots\880-6\FM.vp Tuesday, May 13, 2003 12:31:46 PM Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6/ Blind Folio iii The Ultimate Palm Robot Kevin Mukhar Dave Johnson McGraw-Hill/Osborne New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto P:\010Comp\Bots\880-6\FM.vp Tuesday, May 13, 2003 12:31:46 PM Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6 / Chapter 1 Blind folio iv McGraw-Hill/Osborne 2100 Powell Street, 10th Floor Emeryville, California 94608 U.S.A. To arrange bulk purchase discounts for sales promotions, premiums, or fund-raisers, please contact McGraw-Hill/Osborne at the above address. For information on translations or book distributors outside the U.S.A., please see the International Contact Information page immediately following the index of this book. The Ultimate Palm Robot Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of publisher, with the exception that the program listings may be entered, stored, and executed in a computer system, but they may not be reproduced for publication. 1234567890 CUS CUS 019876543 Book p/n 0-07-222882-2 and CD p/n 0-07-222881-4 parts of ISBN 0-07-222880-6 Publisher Proofreader Brandon A. Nordin Claire Splan Vice President & Associate Publisher Indexer Scott Rogers Irv Hershman Acquisitions Editor Composition Margie McAneny Tabitha M. Cagan, Lucie Ericksen Project Editor Illustrators Monika Faltiss Lyssa Wald, Kathleen Fay Edwards, Melinda Moore Lytle, Michael Mueller Acquisitions Coordinator Tana Allen Cover Design Pattie Lee Technical Editor Steve Richards Cover Photograph Copy Editors Dave Bishop Judith Brown, Lisa Theobald, Lunaea Weatherstone This book was composed with Corel VENTURA™ Publisher. Information has been obtained by McGraw-Hill/Osborne from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, or others, McGraw-Hill/Osborne does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained from the use of such information. P:\010Comp\Bots\880-6\FM.vp Tuesday, May 13, 2003 12:31:46 PM Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6/ Blind Folio v For my wife, Anne. —Kevin For the two greatest kids on the planet, Evan and Marin. —Dave P:\010Comp\Bots\880-6\FM.vp Tuesday, May 13, 2003 12:31:46 PM Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6/ Blind Folio 24 This page intentionally left blank P:\010Comp\Bots\880-6\ch01.vp Monday, May 12, 2003 10:09:15 AM Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6 / Chapter 1 Folio vii Contents Acknowledgments . xi Introduction . xiii Chapter 1 Meeting the Palm Robot. 1 What Is a Robot, Exactly? . 2 The Essence of a Robot. 3 The Wide, Wide Worlds of Robots . 4 BEAM Robotics . 4 Stiquito . 5 Project Timber . 5 The Palm Pilot Robot Kit . 6 The PPRK . 7 The Rise (but Not Fall) of the Palm Empire . 8 The Palm: A Good Robot Brain . 10 Size . 10 CPU. 11 Communication. 11 Easy to Program . 12 Palm OS Devices from A to Z (or 1000 to VIIx). 12 The Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 . 13 PalmPilot Personal/Professional . 13 Palm III. 14 Palm V . 15 Palm VII . 15 Other Palm Models. 16 Handspring Visor . 17 The Other Guys: Pocket PC . 18 Where to Find New and Used PDAs . 19 Your Friend the Gadget Freak. 20 The Local Recycled Electronics Store. 21 Pawnshops. 21 Online Sellers. 21 Stuff to Come . 22 2 Getting the Parts . 25 Getting the Kit . 26 Getting Parts from Other Sources . 29 vii P:\010Comp\Bots\880-6\FM.vp Tuesday, May 13, 2003 12:31:46 PM Color profile: Generic CMYK printer profile Composite Default screen Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6 / Front Matter 1 viii The Ultimate Palm Robot If You Only Had a Brain . 30 See Me, Feel Me. 32 Motor City Madhouse . 33 Under My Wheels. 34 Talk to Me. 36 Odd Ones . 37 Carry On . 39 Where in the World… . 41 3 Building the Robot. 43 Building the PPRK with the Pontech Controller. 44 The Batteries . 45 Wiring the Battery Pack . 45 Modifying the Servos . 47 Assembling the Wheels . 49 Attaching the Palm Connector to the Deck . 50 Building the Frame. 51 The Controller and the Deck. 53 Attaching the Deck to the Frame . 54 Completing the Wiring . 55 Attaching the Palm Connector and the Wheels . 58 What’s Next? . 59 Building the PPRK with the BrainStem Controller. 60 The Batteries . 60 Building the Frame. 61 The Controller and the Deck. 62 Completing the Wiring . 64 Attaching the Deck to the Frame . 69 Attaching the Wheels . 70 Attaching the Palm. 70 What’s Next? . 71 4 Using Palm VIIs and Handspring Visors . 73 Using a Handspring Visor with the BrainStem. 74 Parts List. 75 Soldering the Connector and Printed Circuit Board . 75 Connecting the Cable . 77 Assembling the Visor’s Connector. 79 Using a Handspring Visor with the PPRK. 81 Parts List. 82 Building a Cable . 82 Modifying the Pontech SV203. ..