Around 1982, when I was 9 and had just started programming, my dad found an old Hobby Electronics magazine which detailed plans and ideas for a robot.


So we built it...



It's not quite as the instructions detailed. We couldn't afford the kit, so had to make do with LEGO motors, and home-bent metal chassis. But it worked!


Although it's a little dusty these days (and it lost both front sensors after a fight with another of my robots!) this is still fondly remembered as my first robot... and the one that got me into trouble at school!


You see, when in primary school I had a head teacher who really didn't like smart kids! So when my parents came for parents evening she complained (!?!?) about me being a fantasist, and that my dreams needed to be curbed. When my mum asked what lies I'd been telling, the head said "he keeps talking about the robot he's building". To which my mum said, "Well, he is!", and proceded to tell the tale above, about my dad & I building Hebot, and all the clever things it does.