Robots in Your Palm - Technology Information

Most of us limit our PDAs to phone numbers and schedules. Others have chosen to think outside the box. Robotics fans, academics and grassroots inventors are turning their handheld devices into creeping, crawling robots and other whimsical devices that give computing legs. And arms.

The Palm is by far the most popular handheld with the tinkering class. Among the various devices, it has good input-output capabilities, a user-friendly interface and an operating system easily controlled with a little C++ coding -- all helpful attributes for creating a small robot, says Matthew Mason, a computer science and robotics professor at Carnegie Mellon University. "People are starting to see that their own little FDA is capable of having its own life outside of their pocket," he says.

Mason's colleagues at CMU offer a Palm robot kit for $300 that resembles a wires-and-wheels erector set. And what was first a device to test a holonomic robotic base -- that is, wheels that move in any direction and also turn in place -- became an innovative little handheld on the go.


While Palm itself hasn't jumped on the robokit bandwagon, the company acknowledges the grassroots phenomenon. "[Palm] has taken on a life of its own, and it astounds us," says Christy Wyatt, director of strategic alliances.

Until Frye's Electronics offers an off-the-shelf Robopalm kit, here are a few homemade handheld inspirations to tide you over (and no, none of them would survive two minutes on BattleBots). Even without the technological tinkering, there are plenty of creative uses for handhelds. As one senior programmer noted, the tip of the Palm stylus makes a nifty fingernail cleaner that never needs a recharge.

Solar Charger For Pocket PC

Soaking up the sun before his freshman year at the University of California at San Diego, electrical engineering major Hart Woolery decided to work on more than his tan. In less than a day, Woolery constructed an efficient set of small solar panels that plug into any Windows-powered Pocket PC.

PPRK

Grigoriy Reshko, a 17-year-old freshman at Carnegie Mellon University, created the Palm Pilot Robot Kit prototype. It will be sold off the-shelf for Palm or Visor owner

Lego My Robo

For a JINI My technology exhibit at last years JavaOne conference, two Sun Microsystems engineers bolted together Palm Ill's, a Sun workstation and Lego tanks shooting at each other. "People thought it was a really neat thing," says engineer Kay Neuenhofen.

PileyBot

Auckland, New Zealand, software engineer Simon Jansen first used an Apple lie to control a robot for a science fair project. Now, he has turned a Palm V into a mini-tank. Like General Patton, the Palm rides on top and issues commands.

Palm Robo

Yusuke Sugawara, a security guard and robot researcher in Tokyo, claimed title to the world's first Palm-powered robot in 1998. His next step: Connect the Palm and the robot wirelessly.

Robopilot

"You have to do a bit of cable hacking, but it does plug right into the robot," says Everett "Skip" Carter, RoboPilot's creator. With Carter's software, the Palm becomes the controller that sends commands to the bot's serial motor. His son designed the software interface.