Penguin Tech Issue 2

Humanoido

PENGUIN TECH Magazine Issue 2
The first independent electronic magazine all about Penguin
Robots, Basic Stamp microcontrollers, sensors, hobby projects,
PBASIC programming, and fun projects!



Download the new Penguin Tech Magazine PT2 you’ve been waiting for.
Download Penguin Tech Magazine PT2 Index.
Download the software:
finger.bs2
penguin_tune_creator.bpx
penguin_ascii.bpx
penguin_humanizer.bs2
penguin_lcd_ascii.bpx
pengun_fast_lcd.bpx
pengun_on_lcd.bpx
Download [url=http://]PT2 Promotional Image[/url] PT2_PROMOTE.jpg (coming soon...)
Collect All the issues – PT1 Here

Post Edited (humanoido) : 9/17/2008 2:19:20 PM GMT

Humanoido

continued posting of software

Post Edited (humanoido) : 9/17/2008 2:06:39 PM GMT

erco

Humanoido:

Your excellence and enthusiasm continue! Congrats on another fine magazine. You've maintained momentum from issue #1, and your layout, content & writing are first rate! Thanks for caring enough to do this. I don't even have a Penguin and I look forward to issue #3.

erco

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
·"If you build it, they will come."

Humanoido

Here's the promotional image.

Erco, thanks for the kind words. I see where you've proved
that you're a master writer with your articles, and very helpful
to many people on this forum - we thank you very much,
and any comments coming from you are most appreciated.
I wonder if you're working on any smaller projects now?

I'm sure stuff appearing in issues of PT will work on Penguins,
Boebots, Scribblers, developments boards, and whatever
you've got laying around in the attic. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

New projects are exciting and I'm with you - can hardly wait
for issue 3.


One of the ideas I'm tossing around is to see some
of the most frequently occurring questions on the forum
and mold a kind of reply into a circuit or a software program.

I've seen numerous times where teachers want projects
and students want ideas. Do you think PT could be structured
to serve that purpose too?

humanoido

SRLM

You should make a website/file download area for these and future issues of the Penguin Tech so that there is a central resource (or ask Parallax to host it...) and then provide the link in your sig. Just thinking. Love the stuff that you put out, very useful for all sorts of BS2px stuff.

vrossi

Hi, humanoido

I really appreciate your great work. I've been using Boe-Bot with BS2 and a JavelinStamp for two years now. I've often visited this forum even if I had never posted, since my projects are not so advanced as yours, and the time I can spend on this hobby is not enough. I was considering buying a penguin, and after looking at your programs I am now so excited that I have just ordered one.

As SRLM suggested, you should publish all your stuff (Penguin Tech issues and any other code, advice, etc.) on a website. If you are interested, I have a site dedicated to robotics, where I could create a new section, just for this purpose (for free, of course). You can visit it at www.robotinfo.net

I would be really happy to host your magazines at my site. Let me know what you think about it.

Thank you again for all your good work !

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Humanoido,

It's always a joy to see content presented as nicely as you have done. You obviously have some professional layout experience with an eye for good graphic design, and it shows. Keep up the good work!

-Phil

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
'Still some PropSTICK Kit bare PCBs left!

Humanoido

The magazine’s purpose is to have a source of information until the web site is in operation. Early on, I began designing the Penguin Bible, with all the initial knowledge. As you can see from the illustrations here, it has progressed and evolved offline. (though it needs some updating)

When it came time to upload it, internet with access to overseas servers was prohibitively slow. Chinese ISP representatives came to my home and said they have no infrastructure to guarantee stability.

The web site project was temporarily set aside, and information was transferred to magazine format. From publishing experience and perspective, the magazine offers stability, control over what appears, how it appears, and it can be tweaked relatively effortlessly using simple means offline.

Evolution of the Penguin Robot Web Site
Penguin Early Web Page





Thanks, Phil, you’re right about the experience, some 9 years or so in publishing, but the most important point to me is keeping your interest.

Until the Penguin web page is up, other host sites for offering magazine downloads and associated software are welcome.

SRLM, we were thinking the same about this, and thanks much for the comments.

Vrossi, you may contact me by email for additional discussion about the web site hosting. Thanks for the comments and glad you decided to go for a Penguin. The stuff we have coming down the pipe should make all Penguin/robot and Basic Stamp owners very happy campers.

humanoido

Post Edited (humanoido) : 10/6/2008 3:34:40 PM GMT

vrossi

Hi, humanoido.

Just in case you didn't read the mail I sent you yesterday, the web site is ready. I just need some more time to complete the list of all your program links. Please give it a look and, if you like it, I can post here the address, so that everybody can access it.

Humanoido

Vrossi, thank you, as I can see you did a great job on the web site! ...which includes a lot of successful work with easy to access designs. You can certainly post the url here so everyone can access it.

Another thing I like about the Penguin Robot Society pages is that they effectively load from a slow server in this neck of the woods. What many people don't realize is that accessing USA servers from outside countries can be agonizing slow due to a large number of routers that must carry the signal. If the page is designed with too many fancy programming techniques and graphics, load time can be slow and in many cases the page will just time out and not appear. Some types of text formats are even blocked by certain countries. However, it looks like you've created the perfect combination and the web site is working well even outside the country, attesting to your fine talents.

In particular I like the way you designed the pages with the index at the left and the large image on the right. The overall web site is helpful because it allows me to concentrate on creating Penguin Robot and Basic Stamp projects, administrating PRS, and developing issues of Penguin Tech Magazine. I'm sure everyone will appreciate your fine work, and Penguin Robot owners who have waited for an easy to access Penguin web site will go wild over it with some kind of euphoric happiness.

humanoido

vrossi

The site is now up and running. It may still need some adjustments.

If anybody finds some missing or wrong link, please let me know.

You find the new site at:

www.p-robot.com

Post Edited (vrossi) : 8/21/2009 6:02:36 PM GMT

Humanoido

Request:

Penguin Tech Magazine #3 needs proofreading.
It's only 8-pages and mostly photos - the reading is fun material!
Interested? Contact me. PM or email.

humanoido
penguin(dot)robot@yahoo(dot)com

Humanoido

Just to bring everything up to date with Penguin Tech Magazine, issue 3 is going up shortly, along with new software and files. It will be posted at the Penguin Robot web site and here at the forum so you won't miss anything, more on that later.

With the first two main projects, one makes full use of the Basic Stamp Homework Board. This makes an ideal school learning project because it involves many aspects, such as LCD, PBASIC, LEDs, push button switches, etc. We're going to gear up on projects so they can be adapted to a school curriculum in addition to being really great hobby projects. Educators that were asking for more projects, are you reading Penguin Tech???

By the way, it's going to help if you have a Basic Stamp Homework Board, or any one of the Parallax project boards to build some projects. It will also help if you have a Boe-Bot, Sumo-Bot, Scribbler or especially a Penguin Robot. We put Penguin on a "high platform" as you already know... We're also into homebrew, so access your stash of perfboards, solderless breadboards and parts.

The next cool project is for all robots and Penguin. One of the big problems with nearly all robots is when the batteries start to go low. Suddenly the robot has erratic behavior, programs go awry, and you start to think something is wrong with the mechanics or the motherboard. Hey, don't go taking everything apart! Wouldn't it be nice to have an on-board battery monitor to let you know when to change batteries before they go dead? And what if this was a free project for Penguin Robot? No added parts. Just magically touch the motherboard to enable the circuit (we'll show you the magic involved in the touching), and run some simple code.

Next up we have a PBASIC memory program that has become greatly extended with features. Now you can go to multiple pages and see specified ranges of memory - a really great program! The first time I ran this program, I discovered a Penguin Robot that was not servo calibrated!

There's an article by one of the robotics guru's talking about which materials to use, and not use, when building a robot. It's also good to know which materials affect your health, short out the motherboard, or put holes in the kitchen table!

Plus Penguin lovers will see the next homebrew Penguin! Remember, you can DIY one of these waddling cute creatures using drawings supplied by Ken Gracey.

It's all in fun. Fun projects. Good sound ideas. Learning material and interesting code kept as simple as possible with comments and articles so you can enjoy the learning experience and avoid the frustration sessions. As always, keep your cards, letters, and comments coming this way, because it's your support and interest that's the driving force in the world of Penguin Tech.

Post Edited (humanoido) : 10/25/2008 4:14:09 AM GMT

vrossi

Penguin Tech # 3 is online!

You find it at www.p-robot.com/index.php/penguin-tech-3.html

Post Edited (vrossi) : 8/21/2009 6:00:01 PM GMT