He has it fixed now, where all you need is to turn on the power and everything can start automatically. You might even be able to hook up a wireless remote for the power.

I'm thinking a digital timer, like the ones that switch on and off the power to appliances in your home. I understand all the things that can happen once you power the robot with a switch, wireless remote etc. A small timer switch would be great - any ideas ?

I'm just thinking, in my case I would need a timer for power to the board and one for power to the H-Bridge. Our version of Radio Shack called JCAR has a few 12 volt dc versions but in my case it would need to handle 7 - 12 volts dc. I wonder if there is something I can hack that can make connections at set times ?

This is what I'm thinking but I would need 2. Once Bob switches on in the morning I would have the computer in the computer room set to hook up to the board after the time the Robot switches on and have it give a command for weather and traffic forecast etc..if I get it working it will be pretty cool..I think robots can be more than toys that roam around your house. Total autimation...the way to go ..

This is an example I found of a power timer. They retail for $20 as a kit.

Here are some more examples of 12 volt timer switches. They look fairly inexpensive and easy to use. Robosapien turns himself into sleep mode to save power when not used - that would be a great add-on if we had something that could plug into the EZ-B ,

12 volt timer switches

OK..I've ordered 2 digital timers for $16 to power up and de-power Bob. I'm amazed out of 2000 or so builds on this site, no-one has tried this...should be fun :)