Armdroi

d history
notes

Armdroid
I and II
models
were
designed
and built
by Colne
Robotics
Limited,
originally
of
Beaufort
Road,
East
Twickenh
am,
Middlesex
, UK.

The first
Armdroid
s were
available
in kit form
or finish-
built and
included a
hand-held
control
pendant.
The kit
version
was made
popular by
constructi
on articles
in
Electronic
s Today
Internatio
nal (ETI)
 magazive
during
1981.

Initially, Armdoids featured two stacked circuit boards in the base with connections
for both computer and pendant control. These models are relatively common as
they accounted for about the first third of Armdroid production. They can be
recognized by the presence of bare, edge connection tracks projecting into the two
side cutouts in the base. Later Armdroid I and II models used a single circuit board
with a 10-pin IDC connector present at the wider slot - the other narrow slot was
empty as the control pendant had by now been dropped. A software driver program
to suit a range of 8-bit micros was provided with the Armdoid I and this was
'improved' for the launch of the later Armdroid II.

According to a former Colne electronics/software developer, Armdroids have even

starred in a number of low budget movies, including one classic called 'Inseminator'
(don't ask). The link to that info is now dead but, thanks to the magic of the
Wayback Machine's Web archive, I've located a copy of the original text and put it
in the Armdroid 'Siblings' section, as it relates to the Labvolt and D&M derivatives
too.

Watch out. There's 5000 Armdroids out there somewhere!

A press release from Hasfield Systems - subsequent makers of the Armdroid -

claims it had a production run of ten years and worldwide sales of over 5,000
before being replaced by an uprated, PC based version called 'Bidroid'. In fact it
was referred to as 'Birdroid' throughout a pre-production press release in a
publication called Teaching Technology. Whether Hasfield Systems changed their
minds prior to Bidroid's launch, or whether it was just an editorial error, we'll never
know. It did look a bit like a bird though.
Armdroid I (see right) was
driven largely by Kevlar
cords and was notoriously
tricky to set up if the cords
were broken, missing or
displaced - particularly so
if a manual wasn't
available. Armdroid II
replaced the Kevlar cords
with miniature toothed
timing belts and
incorporated a number of
other improvements over
its predecessor.

An upgrade process from I

to II was available from
Colne. Genuine two-tone
Armdroid IIs however are
very rare and most
Armdroids encountered are
likely to be of the earlier
design (or upgraded).

In addition to the UK, the

Armdroid was also
marketed in North
America and became
popular in colleges there.
So much so that when
Colne Robotics went out
of business in the UK,
their American affiliate,
D&M Computing, took up
manufacture and produced
the Armdroid 1000 -
essentially an all-blue
cosmetically rebranded
Armdroid II. Like Colne
Robotics, D&M
Computing has been out of
business for some time
now - bought up in the late
1990s by Lab-Volt Inc.
However Lab-Volt have
continued the Armdroid
line (but not the name)
with new PC based models
that include a top-of-the-
line servo motor version.

The original 8-bit Armdroid is a passively motorised device - it possesses no CPU

or electronic control capability of its own, relying instead on outside computing
power (e.g. a BBC B micro) to supply the correct sequence of pulses to drive its
stepper motors. Armdroid's on-board circuitry merely translates low-level input
pulses into the correct voltage and current levels required to drive each motor in the
chosen direction. One advantage of this simple configuration is that the user can
experiment with different pulse sequences, speed rates and ramping to suit their
particular needs. For instance, Colne were able to improve positional control and
stepping rates for Armdroid II simply by rewriting the software program.

Getting a
grip

Armdroid'
s gripper
arrangeme
nt was
unique in
its day,
thanks to
its
patented
three-
finger
design.
The three
jointed
fingers
had a
spookily
animal
quality
when
operated
slowly -
like a
hand with
three
thumbs.

A more
conventio
nal, two-
finger
model
was also
available
and was
fitted as
standard
to many
US
derivative
s. The two
finger
model
suited
rectangula
r objects
while the
three
finger
gripper
was ideal
for
spheres or
cylindrical
shapes.