I'm continuing to focus on visually confirming the specific illustration of the water-based machine with a video camera eye on a tripod of pontoons. My previous research has strongly pointed to
Edward L. Safford Jr.'s robotics books, 'The Complete Handbook of Robotics' (1978) and 'Handbook of Advanced Robotics' (1982), both published by TAB Books, as the most likely candidates for the remembered book. The descriptions of these books align well with the user's memory of complex, pen-and-ink robot illustrations.
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I tried for you with google gemini:
I'm continuing to focus on visually confirming the specific illustration of the water-based machine with a video camera eye on a tripod of pontoons. My previous research has strongly pointed to
Edward L. Safford Jr.'s robotics books, 'The Complete Handbook of Robotics' (1978) and 'Handbook of Advanced Robotics' (1982), both published by TAB Books, as the most likely candidates for the remembered book. The descriptions of these books align well with the user's memory of complex, pen-and-ink robot illustrations.
TAB books does seem to be the publisher of the book of the month series, thank you for that!
Seems to be downvoted for using AI, but ironically (or expectedly?) OP has confirmed knowledge gained from it