Page 16 - Build Your Own Combat Robot

A bout the Authors... About the Authors xv

Pete Miles has been experimenting with robots since the mid 1970s. He used to
scavenge every part he could from dumpsters at radio and TV repair shops, and he
still uses parts that he collected back then in his current robot projects. After serv-
ing in the U.S. Marine Corps as a tank killer, he obtained bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in mechanical engineering. He currently works as a senior research engineer,
developing advanced machining technologies using 55,000 psi abrasive waterjets
for Ormond LLC, in Kent, Washington. As he puts it, “There is not a material in
the world a waterjet can not cut, including diamonds.” Miles is currently an active
member of the Seattle Robotics Society, the world’s largest robotics club, and was
recently appointed to the SRS Board of Directors. He is an avid competitor in au-
tonomous robot sumo, and enjoys building legged robots for various contests to
demonstrate that walking robots can be formidable competitors.
Tom Carroll has been involved with robotics for more than 40 years. He built his
first robot at age 14, and later worked as a robotics engineer on NASA projects with
Rockwell International for nearly 30 years. Carroll co-founded the Robotics Soci-
ety of Southern California in 1978 and is now active in the Seattle Robotics Society.
He designed robots for the International Space Station, to explore the surface of
other planets and to assist astronauts in space. He founded Universal Robot Sys-
tems to design and build robots for such feature films as Revenge of the Nerds and
Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century. He is presently a novel and technical writer,
and spends much of his time developing a truly functional personal robot to assist
the “forgotten generation,” the elderly, and give them pride in independent living.
Carroll moved from Long Beach, California, several years ago and now lives in the
Pacific Northwest, on Orcas Island off Washington’s coast. Tom enjoys kayaking,
hiking, and traveling with his wife.

A bout the Contributors...

Bob Gross became involved with robotics in 1978 by building a working facsimile
of R2D2. For fun, he has built winning autonomous robots for sumo, maze, navi-
gation, wandering, and combat. Later, he produced three autonomous museum
robots that would fetch balls, go to various colored columns, or allow
teleoperated control. By day, Gross works as a rocket scientist and has a small
company that focuses on various aspects of robotics, including machine vision.
Dave Johnson is a technology writer and scuba divemaster. The author of
18 books, Johnson covers popular technology like mobile gadgets, photography,
digital music, and robotics. He’s also an award-winning wildlife photogra-
pher and the author of The Wild Cookie, an interactive kids’ story on CD-ROM.