NASA Engineers Building Lunar Mining Robot by Kevin Berry Although RASSOR is far from being space-ready, this autonomous machine will ultimately play a key role in being able to process water and fuel from lunar soil. Page 71
Projects
Build the Kronos Flyer- Part 6 by Michael Simpson Part 6: APM 2.5 Per reader requests, this final installment of our quadcopter build will discuss the APM 2.5 controller in detail. Page 36
Robotic Sensors - Part 2 by John Blankenship, Samuel Mishal Part 2: Their Use With Robotic Arms. Using the principles of identification discussed last month, we’ll have our mobile robot find and retrieve objects with an arm and gripper. Page 46
Give Yourself a Weapon! by Zachary Lytle As a follow-up to the hugely popular Give Yourself a Wedgie project that appeared in the October 2012 issue, this article will show you how to add either a clamp or lifter weapon to your robot. Page 54
Columns
Robytes by Jeff Eckert Stimulating Robot Tidbits • Diggin’ It at NASA • Literally for the Birds • A UAV to Track Taliban • And a UAV to Track You • Creepy Times Two. Page 08
Then and Now by Tom Carroll Get That Robot Built the Easy Way Parts to build great robots are all around us. Just use your imagination the next time you’re shopping at the local hobby, hardware, marine, RV, or toy store. Page 74
Is This the Future of Combat Robotics? in Combat Zone: Features There have been whisperings and rumors of a revolutionary new drive system for over a year now, but details have been hard to come by until our photographer got a picture at a recent late night test session in a barn in rural Pennsylvania. Our contact (who wished to remain anonymous) could give us only a few details of what she called “hoverbots.” Page 29
EVENT REPORT: GCRS 11 — Robots, Birthday Cake, and Off-Road Trucks! in Combat Zone: Events GCRS 11 continues its series of events hosted by Jim Smentowski, owner of The Robot Marketplace. The events give Florida Insectweight robot builders a chance to get together for a day of robot battles with some new competitors, as well as to continue some long-fought rivalries! Page 32