Robotics Resources: The resources described below were originally available only to Educational Institutions ordering on an official Purchase Order. A number of people have been disappointed they could not purchase anything as a private individual. Thanks to a local business I am now able to offer the Simplified I/O Board , the Relay Sub Board , the Simplified Output Interface and the 2000 release of the 8Way Relay Board World Wide on a retail basis. For the latest purchasing information see: prices.htm

Simplified Output Interface - A simple battery-driven interface with eight Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). Each LED is driven by one of the eight output lines at the Printer port. As each line is taken HIGH the corresponding LED lights. It doesn't get any simpler than this. If you make it yourself it can cost under $50 including the cable!
Four-Way I/O - This is the culmination of years of modifications. The 4-way I/O is the centre piece of a new "Complete Robotics Kit" to be offered to schools on a Site License basis.
Simplified I/O Board- 8 LEDs, control for up to 2 stepper motors, 4 input lines - all running off a nine volt battery!! (You will need to use a 12 volt supply to drive stepper motors.)
Relay Sub-board - This board connects to the "Simplified I/O Board" via sockets, or directly soldered wires and provides up to 8 relays. These two boards together provide the functionality of the main board included in the Robotics Kit.
12 Way Multiple Line Interface Board - Control Interface for a Three-axis robot arm based on stepper motors.
The 8 Way Relay Board - If you want to control lots of devices and don't need input, this is the best way to go. There are 8 relays with indicator LEDs you can connect to just about any low-voltage device. I intend using one to control my garden reticulation system using an old XT
OWI-007 Robotic Arm Trainer - How to attach the OWI Arm to a computer
Single-Line Output - A simple output driver with relay and LED.

Everything you need to get Robotics up and running in your school for a fraction of the cost. Buy a couple of those fancy commercial kits to show students what is possible and then base the rest of your course on these inexpensive alternatives. Give EVERY student an interface and software to work with!!

The average saving for a large secondary school in setting up a Robotics course is in the order of $10,000 to $20,000. Point that out to your Finance Committee and watch them smile :)

Work in conjunction with your Electronics students to make the boards yourself and SAVE even more!!

SEE: robokit.html for details

Related Resources and Downloadable Booklets

8452 Support Documents - Course Outline, Assignments and Tests which can be used as a starting point for introducing 8452 into your school. NOTE: Much of this material is still evolving. It should not be seen as ideal, just a starting point.
MswLogo - This is a fantastic piece of FREE software (not "shareware") the core of which was originally developed by Berkeley University and then greatly enhanced by George Mills. This product will do just about everything the other logos will do AND it can be used to control interfaces connected to the printer and serial ports. It would be a sad mistake to assume that this is not worth looking at just because it is free!!
Robotics#3 Booklet - A 40 page introduction to inexpensive interfacing using the Printer and Games ports. This booklet forms the nucleus of the soon to be released "Complete Robotics Kit". It is made available here as a professional reference for interested teachers. Duplication and use without a Site License is a breach of copyright.
Macbotics Interface - For those who want to experiment on the Macintosh. This material outlines an approach for converting the serial output of the Macs into a parallel configuration which can then be used to drive the interfaces described above. Includes all circuit diagrams and information needed to get your interface up and running. You will need some electronics skills and a knowledge of Macintosh programming. (Give it a go. Don't throw away those old Macs - put them to use!!)
Science Experimenters' Kit - A downloadable booklet outlining how to use the Games port to read 'Real World' data. Now in Spanish! - Download Spanish Version

Other Sites of Interest

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/7156/ - An 'Australian' site with resources and sample code on Robotics and general interfacing.
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/8302/ - The most exhaustive discussion of interfacing you are likely to find anywhere! Covers the Printer port AND Serial ports.
http://freedom.artm.ulst.ac.uk/~robot - Web cams, Robotics, CGI, etc. - A GREAT Site!!
http://www.lvr.com/ - Lakeview Research - dlls, notes, etc on I/O including USB.
http://149.69.43.7/jason/stepbystep.htm - How to make a TeleRobot Site
http://thor.senet.com.au/~cpeacock/ - Interfacing the PC
http://www1.tpgi.com.au/users/p8king/ PROCON TECHNOLOGY - fischertechnik
http://www.k-team.com/ K-Team - The famous Khepera miniature mobile robot.
http://www.555electronics.com.au/   - 555ELECTRONICS (UNILAB, Science, Robotics and T&E Teaching Kits)
www.southwestsystems.com A supplier of surplus motion control and ccd equipment - Among other things.

Acorn users ... You're not alone. Keith Wright from Denmark DHS is working on software to allow you to use the interfaces described here. His resources are posted on the ECAWA site at: http://www.ecawa.asn.au/resources/technology/. Also see: http://www.treknet.is/wb/ for an Acorn BASIC.

Parallel Port Utilities and DLLs This is where you will find the DLLs for use with Visual Basic, Authorware, etc. - all FREE! Also a Printer Port 'monitor' which shows the state of lines at the printer port. These routines were written by Fred Bulback and are provide FREE!! His latest (July 2002) IO.DLL and PARMON.EXE work with everything up to and including Windows XP. They may be downloaded from: http://geekhideout.com/downloads/io.dll
http://geekhideout.com/downloads/parmon.exe

An alternative set of dlls ("WinIO) is available from:  http://www.internals.com