Like many of you, I'd imagine, I have at least three old Palm Pilots scattered about my place, collecting dust in drawers and boxes. I just never got into the habit of using one regularly. But all still work, so I've started hunting for alternate uses for them. Look for something in the May issue on this, but as a preview, here's one of my favorites: A kit from Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute for a fully autonomous robot that uses the Palm as a brain. It even has optical sensors to get around walls. Seems like a great way to get started on robotics projects. —Mike Haney

If you've ever thought it'd be cool to make your own robot but didn't because your options were Legos (ho-hum) or fabricating one from scratch (who's got the time?), listen up: RadioShack's new Vex Robotics Design System (vexrobotics.com) is the ultimate compromise. The $300 kit contains more than 500 parts, including steel plates, motors, radio receivers and a six-channel remote. What to build? That's up to you.

Accompanying the Vex Robotics kit, featured in this month’s What’s New section [page 24], is the Vex Robotics Design System’s Inventor’s Guide. The guide is more than just a stapled pamphlet with instructions on how to build a cookie-cutter robot. It introduces and explains basic engineering concepts relating to the Vex system, penned under direction from the Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute.

This October Carnegie Mellon University will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its renowned Robotics Institute and welcome a few new members into its Robot Hall of Fame. The fact that two of this year’s inductees—Astroboy and C3PO—are imaginary is typical in a field that lingers somewhere between science and fiction. One of the ultimate goals for roboticists, a machine that’s as easy to talk to as a human, is still