The info below needs to be freshened up a bit.

Back in the stone-ages of 1998 I became interested in amateur robotics.
The next six months were filled with frustration as it became apparent to me that info pertaining to amateur robotics just didn’t exist on the internet or in local bookstores. Little did I know that at the time, amateur robotics bore a striking resemblance to the black market: you couldn’t get any information about it unless you were diligent. I continued to strive for information, and finally hit a breakthrough with the discovery of the robotics book: Mobile Robots. Events followed and I was sucked into the huge underground world of robotics. There was no turning back!

In a moment of utter desperation (and I realize now, utter genius) I said “forget this! I’ll start a website.” And Robot Central (latter GoRobotics.net) was born. Development began in the summer of 1999 and Robot Central first opened it’s e-doors to the public in October of ‘99.

Times sure have changed since the good ‘ole days of robot-central.webjump.com! In February of 2000 Robot Central acquired the domain name gorobotics.net and officially changed its name to GoRobotics.net. During this time GoRobotics.net underwent its first redesign. In the ensuing months GoRobotics.net continued to expand its repertoire of robotics projects, resources, books, and links. In 2005, I switched GR.N to a blog format, and moved the site to running on Joomla (a mistake, in retrospect). Another major redesign happened in the summer of 2008, where we moved from Joomla to Wordpress to run the site.

I have been fortunate to see the release of many great new books and other resources for the robotics beginner, but I am happy to say that we were one of the first. Other sites have tried to fill this niche but our visits continue to grow at an amazing rate as more and more people are bitten by the “robotics bug.” I hope to continue to grow and expand the resources here to meet the growing demand in this new millennium! Keep those ‘bots coming!

-William

No So Frequently Asked Questions

Where’d the name come from?

Robot Central was the original name, but the domain name was taken so I had to come up with a different one. I’m glad I did ’cause the name “Robot Central” is pretty stupid … anyways I started asking all my friends and family and such and finally the name ‘gorobotics’ was thrown out among others. The domain name was available and it was short so I got it. There is some debate though on who came up with it. My brother Samuel claims it was his idea while my other brother Dan says it was his … we may never know …

Do you do this for a living?
I wish! No, this isn’t a commercial website. I make some money from it but not much at all. Barely enough to cover costs.

Where is the site physically located?
The site is hosted by the fine folks at Tranquil Hosting in North Carolina.

Who helps you?
Nobody really. I’ve tried to get help, and a few have volunteered, but generally folks interest only lasts a month or two and then I don’t hear from them anymore. So, in the meantime I try to keep the site running while pursuing a PhD at NC State University, among other things.