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<br> <strong><font size="5">KIDBOTS.COM</font></strong><br>
<b><img src="html/roboto2.GIF" alt="" height="240" width="288" border="0"><br>
USING FREE COMPUTERS,<br>
and </b><b>FREE INFORMATION,<br>
</b><b>TO MAKE FREE ROBOTS<br>
</b>for kids, while teaching kids computers, and robotics.<br>
<br>
<b>( THIS MAY BE THE ONLY<br>
WEBSITE ON THE ENTIRE <br>
INTERNET, THAT HAS A "USE" <br>
FOR "ANY" OLD COMPUTER! )<br>
<br>
</b>
PURPOSE<br>
By using the FLOPPY drive on almost ANY old, discarded<br>
computer of the typical " CLONE " " PC " variety, you can<br>
start programming DOS and BASIC , allowing you to<br>
make a ROBOT controller, very, very quickly and cheaply<br>
using inexpensive, common, available parts.<br>
<br>
Using " Dollar Store " cars and toys, you can get motors and<br>
parts to quickly demonstrate ROBOT programming and<br>
control. I use motors, gears, switches, LED lights, cables,<br>
and common electronic parts such as 7805 (5 volt ) power<br>
regulators, diodes, resistors, and capacitors from discarded<br>
cassette tape VCRs, tape Decks, Microwaves, CD players<br>
and other electronic devices that are now being thrown out by<br>the tens of millions. I will list a source retailler for these parts<br>
as well, and they can be shipped world wide.<br>
<br>
This website is deliberately designed so that a typical grade<br>
5 student ( in North America ) has enough mathematics and<br>
skills to build a simple circuit, on a small square of cardboard<br>
( available everywhere in the world, free ) that allows them to<br>connect to a common "printer port " or " Parallel Port " <br>
located on the back of most common computers.<br>
The typical computer being thrown out often has the Hard<br>
Drives, or the CD readers, and other options REMOVED, so<br>
that I deliberately use only the basic components - NO<br>colour MONITOR needed, NO CD needed, NO DVD needed, <br>
NO Hard Drive needed, NO sound card needed, <br>
NO mouse needed, NO speakers needed, NO 56K dial up card<br>
needed, NO USB needed, NO Internet Card Needed,<br>
No COMM Ports A or B needed, NO extensive Memory,<br>
needed, so that the smallest amount of " RAM " memory<br>
used to boot the computer is all that is required, :<br>
<br>
ALL THAT IS NEEDED<br>
<br>
Is the COMPUTER with enough "RAM " memory to start<br>
one FLOPPY drive of ANY kind,<br>
one KEYBOARD, and<br>
one MONITOR , of almost ANY type.<br>
<br>
The ENTIRE ROBOT program can run from one floppy.<br>
<br>
As well, I will be concentrating on OLD LAPTOPS<br>
which have ALL the parts needed in one small package.<br>
This is IDEAL for a portable Science Project.<br>
<br>
This website explains in very simple words, step by step<br>
how a typical computer works, how the mathematics work,<br>
and how the electronics work. Some tools are needed to put<br>
the parts together, and these should be available locally -- if<br>
not, then I will list the parts, and the cost, from a local supplier<br>
who is willing to ship world wide at a reasonable price.<br>
<br>
The simple design that I use can be expanded and modified to<br>
control just about anything you want, and is an excellent place<br>
to start, for a ROBOTICS project, typically for a SCIENCE<br>
FAIR, or School Project. With almost no effort you can<br>
upgrade some parts to control serious projects such as Solar<br>
Panels, or experimental "Energy " efficient switching controls.<br>
The key is to APPLY the principles shown here, to whatever<br>
project you have in mind.<br>
<p>THIS WEBSITE is deliberately designed to be small, easy, simple, fast to download, and fit on a 640 by 480 old VGA monitor ( typical of a 386 or 486 ), in older browsers like Netscape 3 or 4, on old 56K dial-up modems used on old computers... After all, this is the type of computer I am trying to save in the first place! The website is designed so that a patient 10 year old can learn the basics.<br>
<br>
( KISS - Keep It Simple Strategy )<br>
<br>
____________________________________<br>
<br>
If you CANNOT see the toolbar with the MENU on the LEFT<br>
side of this page, then you should <a href="http://www.kidbots.com" target="_blank" title="kidbots.com">CLICK HERE </a><br>
go to the correct HOME PAGE, www.kidbots.com <br>
<br>
I recently discovered that most MOBILE CELL PHONES cannot understand PULL DOWN LISTS that I use on the LEFT hand MENU BAR, (which uses Java Script and FRAMES) so I am including LINKS to my web pages below, for BLACKBERRIES , and other HIGH-END Cellphones that CAN handle the larger formats. It never occured to me 10 years ago or so, that the "WEB" would be mostly used by Cell Phones! Statistics show that Cell phones out- number Computers over 100 to 1, and in technologically advanced areas like Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, etc., the number increases to 1000 to 1 or higher. All my small cellphones will not even show the first page, and I will have to re-write the entire website in WML (Wireless Markup Language ) and CSS, ( Cascading Style Sheets) , deliberately for tiny, non-qwerty, and now, obsolete, phones, since TEXTING is now more important than voice. ( After using 3 Blackberries, I will NEVER buy another teeny PQRS cellphone ! Now I see why President Obama would NOT give up his Blackberry! Its not presidential, its practical !)<br>
<img src="html/OBAMA.jpg" alt="" height="225" width="180" border="0"><br>
MATH <a href="http://www.kidbots.com/MATH/MATH.html" target="_blank" title="KIDBOTS MATH">CLICK HERE </a><br>
TYPES <a href="http://www.kidbots.com/html/types.html" target="_blank" title="KIDBOTS TYPES">CLICK HERE </a><br>
HOW TO <a href="http://www.kidbots.com/howto/how_to.html" target="_blank" title="KIDBOT HOW TO">CLICK HERE </a><br>
BOT TOON <a href="http://www.kidbots.com/cartoon/tinman.html" target="_blank" title="KIDBOTS Robo Cartoon">CLICK HERE </a><br>
ROBOTS <a href="http://www.kidbots.com/html/real_bot.html" target="_blank" title="KIDBOTS Robots">CLICK HERE </a><br>
RoboBASIC <a href="http://www.kidbots.com/html/robotbas.html" target="_blank" title="KIDBOTS Robo BASIC">CLICK HERE </a><br>
IMAGES <a href="http://www.kidbots.com/pgs_html/pg1.html" target="_blank" title="KIDBOTS IMAGES">CLICK HERE </a><br>
About kidbots <a href="http://www.kidbots.com/html/about.html" target="_blank" title="KIDBOTS ABOUT">CLICK HERE </a><br>
______________________________<br>
Kidbots.com is a Free website, with Free<br>
information, on how to USE Free computers<br>
to make Free ROBOT controllers and<br>
Free ROBOTS for kids.<br>
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