Chapter 1It Takes Two to Tango

The Lost Scrolls of Robotics: #1

No disassemble!

—Johnny 5, Short Circuit

There are no one-size-fits-all robots. No matter how hard we try, we cannot come up with a practical robot design that can be used to build a single robot that can perform any and all tasks. No one robot will ever be able to do everything. This is an important fact. There are many reasons this is true. But here are a few:

• Robots have or have access to a limited number of sensors.

• Robots have a limited number of end-effectors and actuators.

• Power requirements limit robot size, weight, strength, speed, and mobility.

The microcontrollers and microprocessors that robots use have designated purposes, communication limits, and calculation ...

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