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PALMPOWER SITE OF THE MONTH
A boy and his PalmBot
By Emily Lopizzo
Justin Osborn is a senior in the Magnet Program at Montgomery Blair High School. Do you remember what you were doing your senior year? Well Justin isn't cow tipping or streaking. For the last three months, he's been diligently working on what he refers to as the PalmBot.
He's created a site to show off this fantastic invention at http://www.mbhs.edu/~josborn/palmbot/index.html, and I've chosen it as April's PalmPower Site of the Month. It's pictured in Figure A.
FIGURE A
 
The tank-like PalmBot is powered by a Palm IIIe. Roll over picture for a larger image.
After coming across the "Palm Pilot Robot Kit" (at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pprk/index.html) developed by Greg Reshko, Matt Mason, and IIIah Nourbakhsh of Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, Justin decided that he, too, could create a robot. Justin figured he could do it without expensive materials and sensors, so with a Palm IIIe and a dream, the PalmBot was born.
On Justin's Web site, he gives detailed instructions on how to build a Palm powered robot. These directions detail exactly what materials you'll need. He even has a links page that will direct you where you need to go in order to purchase the proper materials.
The base of the robot is built out of a simple wooden box. In the rear view of the PalmBot, pictured in Figure B, you can see how the Palm IIIe connects to the rest of the hardware via a simple HotSync cable.
FIGURE B
 
Here's a view of the back of the PalmBot with the Palm device inside. Roll over picture for a larger image.
He encourages you not to follow his instructions to the letter. Rather, he suggests you use his general setup to create your own kind of robot. You can check out the basic algorithm that he wrote and packaged into a Palm application on his Web site under the section entitled Software.
Justin gives credit to friends and family, and to Greg Reshko for coming up with the original idea and for answering lots of questions. If you're interested in some further information on the Palm Pilot Robot Kit, check out the article that was written for PalmPower Magazine by Greg Reshko, Matt Mason, and IIIah Nourbakhsh in the December 2000 issue at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200012/robot001.html.
Justin's site is as interesting as it is informative, so check it out and learn how to build your own robot. You'll also get the inside scoop on the up-and-coming AtariBot. You heard that right. Justin plans to build his next robot out of an Atari 800!
Kids these days. What will they think of next?
Product availability and resources
For more information on Justin Osborn's PalmBot, visit http://www.mbhs.edu/~josborn/palmbot/index.html.
For more information on the "Palm Pilot Robot Kit," visit http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pprk/index.html.
For the article, " Build your own Palm powered robot," by Greg Reshko, Matt Mason, and IIIah Nourbakhsh in the December 2000 issue, visit http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200012/robot001.html.
For more information on Montgomery Blair High School, visit http://www.mbhs.edu.
For more information about Palm computers, visit http://www.palm.com.
Your site can earn this special banner
Do you run a special site, one that provides a great resource for Palm device users? If so, your site may be eligible for consideration as the PalmPower Site of the Month. If chosen, you'll even be entitled to display the snazzy banner shown in Figure C.
FIGURE C
Is your site cool enough to be the PalmPower Site of the Month?
If you'd like your site to be considered for the PalmPower Site of the Month, send email to steve_niles@palmpower.com. Please specify "PALMPOWER COOLSITE" in the subject field of your email, and include a paragraph or two about what makes your site special.
Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
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Emily Lopizzo is an editorial assistant at ZATZ:Pure Internet Publishing and can be reached via email at emily_lopizzo@zatz.com.
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