Page 17 - The Definitive Guide to Building Java Robots

Preston_5564Front.fm Page xvi Friday, October 7, 2005 5:14 AM

xvi ■INTRODUCTION

How This Book Is Structured

I’ve structured this book as if I were sitting down to build a Java robot. I start out by reviewing
the basics of communication, and then discuss how to get the robot to move, hear, see, and
navigate, before exploring how to optimize code and create shortcuts.
I’ve divided each chapter into subtopics that progress from easy to difficult. Each subtopic
includes the following:

• An introduction to the topic
• A detailed discussion of the code example

• A code example demonstrating the topic
• A section or chapter summary, if needed

What You Will Need

While you can use this book quite effectively without every item named in the following table,
the required and optional items shown will help you facilitate the examples in this book.
I also provide a list of what you need in each chapter’s introduction.

Table 1. Items Needed for Book Examples
Required Optional
Java 1.4 SDK DLink DBT-120 or other Bluetooth adapter

Java APIs (comm, advanced imaging, speech, etc.) EB500 Bluetooth Transceiver from Parallax
Parallax Javelin or BASIC Stamp Pan and Tilt Camera Kit from Lynxmotion
MiniSSC-II Servo controller Lynxmotion SSC-32 Servo controller
Parallax Board of Education (BOE) or other carrier Lynxmotion Extreme Hexapod 2
board

Web camera
Sound card and microphone
Small mobile robot
Miscellaneous robot sensors (sonar, infrared,
bump, etc.)

Platform and Version Notes

I developed this book and its examples with the Sun Java Standard Edition 1.4.2 SDK, using the
Eclipse 3.02 IDE running on Microsoft Windows XP. However, if you don’t have a Microsoft
operating system, you can easily port the examples in this book to Linux, Macintosh, or any OS
running a JVM.