I realize my vision of the robot you've always wanted might not be the perfect choice for everyone. Based on discussions with a lot of hobbyists, students, and educators, though, the robot described throughout this book has many of the capabilities many people are looking for in a robot. Knowing this, I decide to simplify the construction by utilizing off-the-shelf parts wherever possible and to greatly simplify the programming needed by utilizing RobotBASIC - a language I helped develop (visit www.RobotBASIC.org to download your free copy). My robot has multiple microcontrollers performing various tasks, but the overall operation of the robot is controlled by a real Windows 8 Tablet Computer (not Windows RT). The tablet's small size lets it serve as the robot's head and face and having a full featured computer in control makes it far easier to create exciting robotic behaviors. Furthermore, the power of Windows provides the text-to-speech and voice recognition needed to create a more natural man-machine interface.

I have tried to create a robot others can duplicate, but any machine this complicated can always be improved. I look forward to seeing how my efforts are expanded. Some readers may want or need to utilize different sensors, processors and/or programming languages, so I will do my best to explain the choices I made and the algorithms used to control the robot's behaviors. Hopefully, this book will allow others to build on my work to create the robot they have always wanted. There are many example programs throughout the text that explain the principles used to build the final programs used to control Arlo. The final versions and all the necessary supporting files can be downloaded from www.RobotBASIC.org.

You can view Arlo's YouTube videos by searching YouTube for Arlo: The Robot You've Always Wanted (Parts 1 and 2) or just follow these direct links. http://youtu.be/ohpLRN-y2wYhttp://youtu.be/5Ogc4lvGRcc.