When I was a child, I was obsessed with robots.
I tried every combination of erector set and LEGO block, hoping for some alchemical arrangement that would animate my models into real walkin'- talkin' 'bots. Now I have a five-year-old son, and when he recently announced: "Dad, we should build a robot," I decided once again to take up the quest.
I was curious to see how toy robotics had grown in the past 25 years. To my delight, we discovered that our fully-functioning robot could best be made out of a high-tech version of the LEGOs from my childhood.
In recent years, LEGO Systems Inc. has brought its universal design toy into the digital age with a line of computer-controlled building sets. These sets employ components that expand on the old LEGO brick technology, adding beams, gears, pneumatics, motors, and sensors. A computer interface links the electronic components with the popular Logo programming language. Robots, computer-controlled vehicles, common machines, and numerous other experimental devices can be constructed and linked to programs created in Logo. These LEGO educational toys (marketed by LEGO's "Dacta" division) are proving to be extremely popular in grade schools, colleges, and among Peter Pans like myself. MIT, whose professor Seymour Papert helped develop the Logo-to-LEGO link, even holds LEGO Robot Design competitions.
Currently, the computer-controlled products from LEGO only support Apple II and DOS machines, but several other vendors offer hardware and software that interfaces with the Mac. Paradigm Software's Pearl Controller and Bot's HyperBot system are two examples. All these systems use a cable to connect LEGO devices to a computer, but free-ranging autonomous 'bots can be built using a "Mini Board" designed by Fred Martin at MIT. This mini microprocessor-controller board can store commands downloaded from a computer. Add DC power and your tiny 'bots are ready to take on the world!
The LEGO components, computer hardware, and software are sophisticated, but very easy to use. My son and I were up and running in a matter of minutes. Like the standard LEGO bricks, the electronics, sensors, and motors snap together and can be configured in many different ways. With the Hyperbot Mac interface, my son and I made a simple vehicle that could measure its distance traveled using an optical sensor and a counter wheel, and could signal when it struck an object. With more sophisticated tools, we also made a "smart cart" which could move in any direction and alter its course when it hit something. We ended up making it into a robot artist by building a pen holder on it and then placing it in a corral we made on the floor. With paper fastened underneath, it drew its own pictures. Seeing my son's enthusiasm, as he marched off to bed that night with art made by "his" robot under his arm, was thrilling. He has continued to generate drawings and ideas for future 'bots. The amazing thing is, from my understanding of this LEGO technology, all his fantastic creations are possible. Well, minus of course, the AI brain, the C3PO voice, and the phaser banks. Now, maybe when his child is five....
LEGO Dacta: (800) 527 8339, +1 (203) 763 6932. Paradigm Software: +1 (617) 576 7675. Bots: +1 (415) 949 2126.
