Starting my first robot
You might think a geek like me has been building robots his whole life. I haven't never actually built one before. As a kid I wanted pre-packaged kits, and had a few simple toy robots, including Lego's Technic series before they created the Mindstorm robotics series, but never had a "real" robot before.
So lately I've been thinking and reading about hobby robotics (as opposed to industrial robotics) and have identied 4 robots (or partials) that I want to build. The first is from David Cook's Robot Building for Beginners book (that I don't have) called Sandwich, it is a simple automous non-programable line follower that uses a dual voltage comparator the LM393 for its logic (its 'brain'). Last night I stuffed the professional made Sandwich PCB from Solarbotics with nearly all of the components, except I didn't have two 20K variable resistors (trimpots) in my workshop. Through the speed of Digikey (CDN) I ordered them (along with parts for my third robot) early last night, and about 14 hours later they were on desk at work. So I should be able to finish the PCB board tonight and think about general assembly. I plan on using a couple Solarbotics GM2 with red wheels to drive Sandwich.
Then I plan on building a "Junkbots" style recycled MS mouse body with an audio amp, LM386, to drive a couple of simple low voltage DC motors. The project is outlined at Mousebot Revisited (@ Instructables) and Mousey the Junkbot (from Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots website).
The third robot I'm planning is the Roundabout from David Cook's second book, Intermediate Robot Building (that I do have). I think I have all the parts I need now, except perhaps relating to the body or drive train assembly.
The fourth robot I'm thinking about in more of a planning mode, is based on the Ottawa Robotics Enthusiasts's MiniORE controller board. I was lucky enough to get a couple of professionally made PCBs from a bulk order from the group. So far I have a few matched small steppers for its drive train, and a few IR related sensors so far. As my first self-directed robot design, I'm still considering various opinions.