Page 27 - The Ultimate Palm Robot

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Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6 / Chapter 1

10 The Ultimate Palm Robot

The Palm: A Good Robot Brain
At the end of The Wizard of Oz, the wizard gives the Scarecrow a degree, and
suddenly the Scarecrow begins thinking great thoughts. It’s a nice idea, but of
course that won’t work for our robot. No matter how many degrees we buy
from those late-night TV infomercials, our robot still needs a brain. (But wait
folks, there’s more. If you buy your degree today, we’ll throw in, absolutely
free, a fabulous set of kitchen knives!)

So, since the degree idea won’t work, we need to find a good brain for our
Palm Robot. There are lots of digital devices to choose from: personal organiz-
ers, mobile phones, cameras, digital toothbrushes, and the list goes on. Okay,
digital toothbrushes don’t exist, but if they did, Dave would have one, but we
still wouldn’t be able to use it as the brains for a robot.

Our robot brain must meet certain requirements.
❏ It must be small enough to fit into the PPRK.
❏ It must be able to store and execute a program that controls
the robot.
❏ It must be able to communicate with the robot.
❏ It must be easy to program.

Does the Palm fit that criteria? Absolutely. Let’s break it down, item by item.

Size
PDAs are the perfect size for our robot. There are smaller robots, where the
size of even a PDA would be too large, and there are bigger robots in which
size wouldn’t matter (although it is still easier to mount a PDA than a PC on a
robot). But the electronics used by the PPRK, and the size of the servos and
wheels, make the PPRK just a little larger than the Palm itself. Unlike aliens in
science fiction whose brains are larger than their bodies, most living things on
earth have bodies that are larger than their brains. The same is the case for our
robot. Trying to put a PC on the chassis of the PPRK would be too difficult, but
the Palm fits just right.

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Monday, May 12, 2003 10:09:07 AM