Starting in the late 80’s, CyMan was more than a robotics project to make the kitty-cat bug-eyed and nervous. I wanted it to be able to do practical work.
Then the question asked was, "Why build a robot?" One fantasy answer was, “It’s going to help you around the house.” My wife, Irene, looked at me from her wheel chair with a look that said she might be physically handicapped, but certainly not mentally handicapped. “It’s going to make us lots of money.” Again my wife looked at me. In actual truth I did it because it was a learning experience and I enjoyed it.
CyMan was featured at the 1990 Micro Cornucopia Texas SOG (Semi Official Get-together), and helped run a booth at a Texas Hospital Association trade show. On a few Halloween nights he greeted children at the door and at a Christmas party, he recited Luke 2 in his electronic accent.
Building a robot combines the skills of mechanics, electronics, and learning to live with failures. The purpose here is to pass along my successes. It is not intended to be an All Purpose Universal Inter Galactic Handbook on robotics but I hope that you will find it useful and enjoyable. With that in mind, here is CyMan made (hopefully) simple.
To Jim H, a good friend and the finest software engineer I know. His help with the machine code was invaluable
Most of all
to my late wife and the sunshine of my life, Irene, who tolerated living with aluminum shavings in the carpet and put up with me.