Robots for fun and profit: A new breed of experimenter is more artist than scientist, yet this work sometimes pays off handsomely

It is an unlikely electronics laboratory that Gene Oldfield runs in downtown Sacramento, Calif. In one corner is an unmade bed. A lanky dog - a sorrel saluki named Algebra - is curled up under a bench, and flanks of toy robots are perched on the windowsills. Abstract paintings and collages adorn the walls, and an espresso maker and board games share shelf space with power transistors, electric motors, single-board computers, and oscilloscopes.