Linux Journal: Do-It-Yourself Robots with Linux

“Robots have been a passion of mine since I was a child, so
imagine my excitement when I was given the opportunity to add a
robotics class to our high school’s computer curriculum! We
recently celebrated our second year of offering robotics at Greater
Houlton Christian Academy (GHCA), the school where I teach. During
this time, we’ve produced three different robots, each based on a
PC running Linux. We work with a tight budget, so we have to be
creative in our design, use of materials and tools. This results in
robots that any do-it-yourself hobbyist can build.

“The first robot to roam the halls of GHCA is K9, a robot dog
based on the British sci-fi show, Doctor Who. I created K9 myself
as a way to jump-start our Robotics program. K9’s main purpose is
to ‘ooh and ahh’ students, hopefully encouraging an interest in the
field of robotics. I used common angle iron and 1/4 nuts and bolts
to assemble K9’s ‘skeleton,’ much like an Erector Set from years
gone by. In fact, K9’s head was built using an Erector Set from
1971! Sheet metal provides the finished look for our class
mascot…”

Complete
Story