Boe-Bot
Encyclopedia
BOE–Bot is short for Board of Education robot. It is the trade name of a robot kit that is used in college and high school robotics
classes. It consists of a main circuit board (the Board of Education), a plug–in microcontroller
, two small servo motors to drive the wheels, a bread board and a small aluminum chassis
that all the parts bolt onto. Students frequently use erector set
parts, lego
blocks, and additional servos to build custom projects.
. The BASIC Stamp is programmed in PBASIC
. The rear wheel is a drilled polyethylene ball held in place with a cotter pin. Wheels are machined to fit precisely on the servo spline and held in place with a small screw. The BASIC Stamp
is extremely easy and flexible to program. The Boe–Bot is small, approximately four inches wide, and runs on four AA batteries. It is well documented and affordable.
The Boe–Bot can be adjusted to walk on six legs, sense objects, or pick up things by adding extra pieces sold by Parallax Inc
. These include additions like the PING sensor.
One advantage to the Boe–Bot is that there is no soldering required.
The Boe–Bot is a robot that can be used in a variety of ways including combining Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio software with the Boe–Bot to control the robot's movements.
Industrial Technology Education program. The Boe–Bot robot is marketed by Parallax, Inc.
as an educational kit for their "Stamps In Class" program.
The Boe–Bot is known in classrooms for being a child and young adult-friendly robot. It can be assembled by students as young as twelve and it teaches the PBASIC programming language.
This robot requires no previous experience and is constructed from high-quality parts.
The Boe–Bot and Universities
The Boe–Bot is used in many universities including: the University at Buffalo's Mechatronics Program and the California State University, Sacramento's College of Continuing Education's Mechatronics Program. The California State University Fresno, uses the Boe–Bot in their Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering Laboratory course. The Game Institute uses the Boe–Bot Robot kit in their Introduction to Robotics course. Parallax has built custom kits for mechatronics courses and provided them for various universities including California State University, Sacramento, Shasta College and Louisiana Tech University.
, RadioShack, Digi-Key
, and SparkFun Electronics
.
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
classes. It consists of a main circuit board (the Board of Education), a plug–in microcontroller
Microcontroller
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...
, two small servo motors to drive the wheels, a bread board and a small aluminum chassis
Chassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
that all the parts bolt onto. Students frequently use erector set
Erector Set
Erector Set is the trade name of a toy construction set that is popular in the United States.It consists of collections of small metal beams with regular holes for nuts, bolts, screws, and mechanical parts such as pulleys, gears, and small electric motors.The brand name is currently used for...
parts, lego
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
blocks, and additional servos to build custom projects.
Main components of the Boe-Bot
The green detachable main circuit, mounted on the top of the robot and visible in the picture is called the Board of Education . The microcontroller which plugs into a socket on the green circuit board is called the BASIC StampBASIC Stamp
The BASIC Stamp is a microcontroller with a small, specialized BASIC interpreter built into ROM. It is made by Parallax, Inc. and has been popular with electronics hobbyists since the early 1990s because of its low threshold of learning and ease of use due to its simple to understand BASIC...
. The BASIC Stamp is programmed in PBASIC
PBASIC
PBASIC is a microcontroller based version of BASIC created by Parallax, Inc. The language was created to bring ease of use to the microcontroller and embedded processor world. PBASIC is used for writing code for the BASIC Stamp microcontrollers. After the code is written it is tokenized and...
. The rear wheel is a drilled polyethylene ball held in place with a cotter pin. Wheels are machined to fit precisely on the servo spline and held in place with a small screw. The BASIC Stamp
BASIC Stamp
The BASIC Stamp is a microcontroller with a small, specialized BASIC interpreter built into ROM. It is made by Parallax, Inc. and has been popular with electronics hobbyists since the early 1990s because of its low threshold of learning and ease of use due to its simple to understand BASIC...
is extremely easy and flexible to program. The Boe–Bot is small, approximately four inches wide, and runs on four AA batteries. It is well documented and affordable.
The Boe–Bot can be adjusted to walk on six legs, sense objects, or pick up things by adding extra pieces sold by Parallax Inc
Parallax, Inc. (company)
Parallax Inc. is a privately held company in Rocklin, California. Parallax Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells BASIC Stamp microcontrollers, Propeller microcontrollers, microcontroller accessories Parallax Inc. is a privately held company in Rocklin, California. Parallax Inc. designs,...
. These include additions like the PING sensor.
One advantage to the Boe–Bot is that there is no soldering required.
Boe–Bot features
The robot may be programmed to follow a line, solve a maze, follow light, or communicate with another robot. Input/output (I/O) projects can be built on the breadboard which is usually sufficient to hold anywhere from 2–4 components — LEDs, Resistors, ICs etc.). Mounting holes and slots on the chassis may be used to add custom robotic equipment. The BOE–Bot is programmed using the PBASIC language.The Boe–Bot is a robot that can be used in a variety of ways including combining Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio software with the Boe–Bot to control the robot's movements.
The Boe–Bot in classrooms
Dr. Estelle M. Eke is an important proponent of the BOE–bot. Students in her classes at Sacramento State University use it as a starting point to build their class robotics projects. The Boe–Bot was originally developed by Professor Chuck Schoeffler of the University of IdahoUniversity of Idaho
The University of Idaho is the State of Idaho's flagship and oldest public university, located in the rural city of Moscow in Latah County in the northern portion of the state...
Industrial Technology Education program. The Boe–Bot robot is marketed by Parallax, Inc.
Parallax, Inc. (company)
Parallax Inc. is a privately held company in Rocklin, California. Parallax Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells BASIC Stamp microcontrollers, Propeller microcontrollers, microcontroller accessories Parallax Inc. is a privately held company in Rocklin, California. Parallax Inc. designs,...
as an educational kit for their "Stamps In Class" program.
The Boe–Bot is known in classrooms for being a child and young adult-friendly robot. It can be assembled by students as young as twelve and it teaches the PBASIC programming language.
This robot requires no previous experience and is constructed from high-quality parts.
The Boe–Bot and Universities
The Boe–Bot is used in many universities including: the University at Buffalo's Mechatronics Program and the California State University, Sacramento's College of Continuing Education's Mechatronics Program. The California State University Fresno, uses the Boe–Bot in their Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering Laboratory course. The Game Institute uses the Boe–Bot Robot kit in their Introduction to Robotics course. Parallax has built custom kits for mechatronics courses and provided them for various universities including California State University, Sacramento, Shasta College and Louisiana Tech University.
The Boe–Bot in print
While the Boe–Bot is featured in many Parallax workbooks it was also Experiment #116 in the book "123 Robotics Experiments for the Evil Genius" by Michael Predko.Distributors of the Boe–Bot
The Boe–Bot and its separate add-ons and accessories are carried by a variety of electronics distributors including: RobotShop Distributors Inc.Robotshop
RobotShop Distribution Inc. specializes in distributing domestic robots and other robotic products and services...
, RadioShack, Digi-Key
Digi-Key
Digi-Key is the fourth largest electronic component distributor in North America and a broad-line distributor of board level components. It ranks as the 8th largest electronic component distributor in the world. Ronald Stordahl founded the company in 1972 and its name was derived from the digital...
, and SparkFun Electronics
SparkFun Electronics
SparkFun Electronics is an electronics retailer in Boulder, Colorado, United States. It manufactures and sells microcontroller development boards and breakout boards.-History:...
.