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BrainibotsAuthor: Oliver Carson A recent addition to the horde of electronic gizmos and gadgets to be found in the Lab has been an interesting challenge of our soldering and programming skills. The brainibot kit can, with a bit of skill, be transformed from a pile of components into a chirping and energetic little creature in just a couple of hours. But the fun doesn’t stop there, oh no! The bots are also fully programmable and using the supplied software and a cable, which is also made from the kit, they can be ordered to do anything you wish from attacking your mates ankles or running under the bench in a bid to find darkness.  The bot is run on a simple system of two motors, left and right in a tank like fashion giving it the ability to turn on the spot…however unlike a tank it isn’t equipped with a gun for annihilating teachers. No doubt somebody in the club will design one! It is equipped with a light sensor though, which sneakily doubles as the connection for programming it and this allows the bot to search for dark or light areas and to back away from walls and other obstacles which cast shadows. Two copper antenna protrude from the front and act as bumpers to warn the bot of any smaller objects such as table legs and the occasional foot. Overall the bot has an intelligent look about it and if it weren’t for the constant beeping emanating from it you could probably be fooled into thinking it was something quite alien!
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Visitors since 19/6/2003 |
