[WillAdams]

One interesting mention I can recall of one was in a airport-kiosk type thriller/science fiction novel where a humanoid robot developed by the military wound up in the jungles of South America assisting a group of disparate individuals --- it made a small Stirling engine using a lathe to power itself from the communal campfire --- always wondered if the physics of that would work out numerically.

[jacquesm]

Most likely not if it was made from stuff you can find the jungle but it is a very creative bit. I've had one running of a 10' solar concentrator, it was tiny (no more than a few hundred mW) but still, to see sunlight directly converted into motion without any steps in between is quite a neat thing.

[WillAdams]

If memory serves it was made from a truck axle in a lathe found in a garage.

[jamiek88]

I think this is ‘Solo’ by Robert Mason.

[WillAdams]

Thanks!

I'm pretty sure it was the first book in the series, _Weapon_:

https://www.goodreads.com/series/386853-weapon-solo

Didn't know that there was a sequel, so added it to my "Want to Read" list on Goodreads (and the first to my "Read" books).

[jamiek88]

Ah yes sorry I meant to elaborate but went to find the link and got distracted! Yes Solo was also the movie they made but it was based on Weapon despite the title!

I’ve been looking for a decent epub of these!