Sinclair ZX80 Robot 1981

From 1981, a maze-solving robot fashioned from a ZX80.
The ZX80 was a cheap computer manufactured by Sir Clive Sinclair.
It evolved into the ZX81 the forerunner of the ZX Spectrum.
Chris Serle talks to enthusiast Alan Dibley who went on to win a follow up maze-solving competition as reported in the magazine Your Computer June 1982.
Full magazine is available on the Internet Archive.

[@retrorobodog]

I have a similar ZX80 with a "sawed" keyboard. I suspected that this was a driver for something (?) I once showed his picture. haha Many people advised me to raise money for "the whole" computer. ;P

[@americancitizen748]

Gotta love how the screen flashed every time you pressed a key. Too bad they couldn't fix that in the original machine.

[@1337Shockwav3]

They could have easily done that, as seen in the ZX81 *but* that would have likely risen the price for the computer by 3GBP ... totally unacceptable to Clive. Even back then there were additional circuits to make the machine fully compatible with the ZX81.

[@americancitizen748]

I build something similar back in the 1980s but used a Tandy Model 100 portable computer.

[@datasilouk1995]

Micromaze running used to be very popular. I wonder if the bloke who made this has still got it?

[@robzeduk]

Alan was doing Micromouse until very recently! It still runs - see ukmars.org - not sure if he has it still. I'll ask him if I see him.

[@ferobeno9755]

Do you have listing of the program ?

[@robzeduk]

That would be interesting. If I see Alan I'll ask him.

[@ChrisTheGregory]

Well Clive I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that the ZX is going to be featured on The Computer Programme! The bad news is that the person using it is going to call it "absolutely dim."

[@robzeduk]

I'm sure it's his own program he is talking about it - i.e. it's a highly constrained program that can't do anything else apart from walk the maze - not that the ZX80 is dim.

[@americancitizen748]

Yet we don't call washing machine with a CPU "dim". When we make a computer look like a fluffy animal then our perceptions change.

[@SjoerdBeukers]

30 years later and I still haven't got a robot butler

[@freaker126]

so this is where arduino or stem robot came from? :p