Documentation and Repairs of old information, instruction sheets, manuals and books, is a separate art, with a skill and a field of work that is rewarding.
Collecting, identifying, repairing and scanning old information sheets and manuals can be time consuming and takes patience. To fully understand, use and appreciate this you should read, listen, use and go to a professional restorer, and my admiration for them goes far beyond what I could write here. What we cover here has very little to do with restoration but the main purpose is to get you a manual or instructions sheet for your robot, for you to use.
Here is some information:
Not all manuals are the same, they can be similar or close to the same, but depending on the year, country, or revision they can look different and contain different information. By a comparison of the document, manuals and instruction sheets, the information can be categorized to reflect the correct robot and series. When you become aware of how little information you have compiled, and generate more questions, you are on the right track.
If you are collecting this for yourself, you need to be aware that what you purchase or collect doesn’t necessary match up with your robot. You have to do the comparison of the information and the robot yourself.
Examples; In Robie The Talking Robot there is a difference in the frequencies. If you examine the robots themselves, you will find that while the outside is similar sometimes the inside is different. The controller can also be different. The documentation is similar but different.
Once you have collected the information you have to scan, clean up, compress and catalogue the files before creating and printing a page or to publish it on the web site. With these examples you then proceed to repair, catalog and publish the document.
Documentation Repair
While you are working on repairing your robot there is another job that also has to be done. That is; get a manual or reproduce and repair or more important restore the manual or instructions in electronic format.
Step 1. Take pictures of the document.
Step 2. Scan the document into your computer.
Step 3. Store the original document it is valuable. (Preferable in a plastic bag or envelope.)
Step 4. Edit the picture and enhance it to the original shape with a picture editor.
Step 5. Print out the document.
Shown below is an example of some of the steps taken.
