Well hello there. I am kind of new here, and I got to these forums while searching for forums concerning robotics.

I have a few questions.

Are there any other good sites, especially having an active forum about robotics? While searching in the internet I found numerous but almost all of them were either dead or semi-dead.

Second and most important question. I am currently studying computer engineering in my university here in Greece and plan to graduate ..in 2 years max(hope). I would like to follow the robotics way after that. That is why I have learned the japanese language too so I can somehow get a master's degree in mechano-informatics or robotics over there.

The problem is that even though I am quite comfortable with programming actual programs I have never tried making a robot. How do I start? I was told to buy lego mindstorms NXT, but that seemed too toyish and very expensive too.

Thanks in advance for any answer.

OK so you want to buid a robot but don't know where to start? First go out and buy a robot kit to learn the main things you need to build a robot. I have found many websites that have great robot kits at great prices. After building a couple robot kits, then try building a robot by buying all the pieces you need off of the internet. Some kits can look a little more toyish then others. The ones fro goldmine-elec.com look a little less toyish then the ones from kitsusa.net