BeebControl>>G&F>>Models>>M101 |
"Earthlings, you will build thousands of our M101 robots."
"Obey, or you will be exterminated!"
It's not hard to guess from the casing style that the popularity of 'Doctor Who' was at its height around the time the M101's design was serialised. But rather than thousands being built, I wonder whether the magazine's readers completed any at all. If you know different, please let me know - especially if you've seen one in the flesh.
I imagine the design might have made the M101 attractive to computing or science teachers - it would have been fun to have had one trundling round school creating interest in robotics. Nowadays though, it's the HSE who'd be shouting 'exterminate' - they would strangle such a contraption at birth. Oh well, that's progress.
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A 'DIY' robot arm, grown from a Genesis S101
Based loosely on the innards of Powertran's static S101 model, the mobile Genesis M101 boasted small motorised wheels hidden beneath its 'Dalek' skirt. For power, it lugged what looks in this picture like a full-size 12v car battery around and for operating commands it used an infra-red link to communicate with its controller.
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'M' was for for mobile
Two twelve-volt traction motors were set in the base, with their sprung axles bearing on the rubber tyres of what look like hoover wheels.
As with all Genesis models, the M101 used hydraulics exclusively for its arm movements. The picture above shows the pump motor sitting on the fluid reservoir tank, flanked by a row of ten solenoid operated valves - one feed and one return valve for each of the five cylinders. An M101 kit of parts was available from Powertran, which was just as well with so many esoteric items on the list. You couldn't exactly pop round to Maplin to buy this stuff.
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