about the technology

Programming Robots is a guide for amateur and professional developers who want to write robotics applications using standard programming tools. Using Java-based examples and an interface layer called Max, it provides the core concepts, tools, and how-to for software developers to build practical and creative robotics applications. Building on the experience of pioneering roboticist Paul Perrone, this book teaches you to write software for robots using familiar and professional software tools and programming patterns.

about the book

In this book, you'll concentrate on what you enjoy: writing software to make robots do cool things. Together, Java and Max provide a rapid and portable robotics application development framework that has been proven to work for everything from basic hobby bots to complex, fully autonomous ground vehicles, including one that participated in the DARPA challenges.

what's inside

• How to think like a roboticist
• Building robotics applications using the Java skills you already have
• The anatomy and vocabulary of robots
• Using the free and highly-productive MAX robotics platform
• Lessons learned by master roboticist and Java Lifetime Achievement Award winner Paul Perrone

about the reader

This book assumes basic programming skills, and presents examples in Java. While it uses the MAX platform to build applications, the principles can be applies to other frameworks and tools.

about the author

Paul Perrone is a seasoned author, speaker, and industry evangelist and founder of Perrone Robotics. He led a team that participated in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge and is an engineer on LincVolt, a high-efficience vehicle project commissioned by rock star Neil Young. Appearing frequently with James Gosling, Paul is a member of the select Java Champions community and has received two Duke Choice Awards including a Gold Duke and Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in applying Java to advanced robotics and automation applications.