This evening I've been trying to improve the robot, and I've come up with this work of art.

http://wired.st-and.ac.uk/~wong/robot1.jpg
http://wired.st-and.ac.uk/~wong/robot2.jpg
http://wired.st-and.ac.uk/~wong/robot3.jpg

I find the eyes slightly spooky, but it's meant to give an idea of where it's meant to be facing.

The head section can rotate independently of the body - and it's faster than you might think, as well - so this ugly creature can easily face one way and travel in another. I haven't yet tried writing a program to control it, so its only function as yet is to move backwards and forwards at random and maniacally spin its head round in circles.

The workload isn't that bad this year so far - the practicals feel more like tutorials, except rather harder - and with the disadvantage that they have to be handed in rather than bluffed through.

(On the subject of robots, someone on the TDC mentioned a site about the old Sonic cartoon today. I've been reminded that in it there was a machine that turned normal creatures in to robots, which seems a midly disturbing thought to me now.)