[Coco] Analog Micro Systems Robot-1

[Andrew]

All,

I am in the process of compiling an archive to put up on my website 
detailing the history (as far as I can find) of interfacing the 
Tomy/Radio Shack Armatron to a computer.

As a part of this archive, I wanted to include as much information as I 
could, and I couldn't leave the CoCo out of it. Digging out my copies of 
the Rainbow (the majority from when I was a kid!), I found what I was 
looking for:

On page 121 of the August 1984 issue of the Rainbow, is an advertisement 
for the "Robot-1" by Analog Micro Systems. I made a scan for my archive, 
but I had some questions that I thought maybe someone here could answer:

1. Was this a real product (not vaporware)? Did anyone here own one?

2. Did the Rainbow ever have a review for this product?

3. Do any still exist (ok, that one's a long shot)...?

It's difficult to tell from the advertisement exactly how it worked; but 
based on my study of other Armatron interface methods I have in my 
archive, as well as the words of the advertisement, the company may have 
used R/C servos for control, likely with direct connections to the 
mechanical linkages of the joysticks which controlled the arm. If true, 
this would be a variation of other methods, but even so it would be a 
distinct fourth method from the methods I am aware of (the other three 
being use of motor actuators for the joysticks, solenoid actuators, and 
direct individual motor drives, which was the most sophisticated of all 
the drive/interfacing methods).

Not much more is information is available from the advertisement, other 
than there was a mobile option, a camera for vision experiments, and an 
ultrasonic rangefinder available.

I will likely post on my website what I have in my archive; I want to 
get it up there today. If anyone is interested, the URL for my website 
is http://www.phoenixgarage.org/ (it is a generalized personal website 
and blog, not CoCo specific). The archive will be placed on the site 
later today.

Thank you to anyone and everyone for any information they can provide me 
for this project; I always wanted a robot for my Color Computer, but I 
could never convince my parents to purchase the Robot-1 for me (though I 
wasn't as aware of it at the time as I should've been, I know now that I 
was lucky to have a computer, period). The closest I came was something 
I hacked up with the SOUND command and a Tomy Verbot...

One last note - I recently purchased a very abused and derelict Radio 
Shack Armatron from a really crazy guy on Ebay (he was either crazy or 
drunk, but he was a quick shipper!); my intent (though you may not see 
anything for quite a long while; I have way to many projects going on, 
so I don't know when I will get to it) is to interface it to my Color 
Computer in some manner; I will likely use a version of the direct-motor 
drive interfacing, hopefully with joint feedback via potentiometers 
between the Armatron and an Arduino. I will then likely connect the 
Arduino to the Color Computer via Roger's RS-232 interface pak, and then 
write control software in either DECB or BASIC-09 (or maybe both).

Thanks again,

Andrew L. Ayers, Glendale, Arizona