Cristian Rotundu

I finally received all the hardware that I needed for my thesis project. I haven't assembled anything else before but software, so you can image how many things I had to buy: from your standard soldering kit (solder, wick, soldering iron), to standard electronics must-haves: multimeter, pliers, cutters, clips, cables and cable binders, and many more.

However, the star was ASURO, the little mobile robot I bought for about 50 Euro . Here's what its creators have to say about it:

"ASURO is a tiny mobile robot developed for educational purposes by DLR, the german aerospace centre.

It is very flexible and completely programmable in C. Assembly is easy for experienced electronic technicians and feasible for a novice."

I bought two kits, which is almost enough to test some of the social aspects of intelligent agents: interaction, goal pursuing, goal driven negotiations and reactive behaviors. I could have done that in software only, but there's always a greater feeling of accomplishment when you and others can (literally) touch your work.

Here are a few introductory shots I took with my camera while testing the remote shooting mode at the same time.

You'll see much more soon.