May 13, 2006
Attendance: 20
Class:
Tim Lewis - Soldering Techniques
Tim has prepared a CD of his class material including video demonstrations of the proper techniques.
Business (12:30):
1- Planned Classes:
June: H-Bridges (Alex Brown)
July: Mechical Drive (Jess)
August: DARPA Grand Challenge (Martin)
September: Visual Basic control of servos (Tim Lewis)
2- Planned Robot of the Month
May : Derek Jones
June : Jeff Dunker
July : Tim Lewis
August: Jess's Hall contest robot
3- 501c status for the club not yet complete.
4- The Talent Show is being planned for November, Bill is asking for a coordinator volunteer.
5- A professionally built "Greeting" robot was donated to the club. It is 4.5 feet tall weighing approx 120 lbs. It has numerous motors and electronics; if anyone is interested in restoring or working on it contact Bill Douglas
6- Misc:
a) OC IEEE Robotics meets 3rd Wed and is open to non-members,
b) Radio Shack is selling BOE's for under $100,
c) IMAX film of the Mars rovers is recommended,
d) DARPA Grand Challenge 3 will be in an urban environment,
e) Robolympics in S.F. will be held fathers day weekend,
f) Hall contest entries planned are Jeff Dunker, Russ, Derek. Jim and LEAF's are also expected.
[Business closed: 1:00]
Presentations:
1. Robot of the Month: Derek Jones (45 min)
Derek demonstrated his home robot that included several interesting features:
a) Bluetooth communications between the robot and PC,
b) PC Simulator of the robot code,
c) Map drawn on PC with waypoints and obstacles downloaded to the robot and the robot drove to the waypoints avoiding the mapped obstacles. More info can be seen at Derek's Web Site
2. Russ Newman (30 min)
Russ's CMU scholarship fell through and is now entering Cal Tech on a different scholarship (congrats Russ!) He has been upgrading "Big Blue" after frying previous parts. New 6812DX512 processor, header boards for sensors, spring mounted rear castor.
3. Steve Vorres (15 min)
Demonstrated the VEX kit being liquidated at Radio Shack for $150. Comes with a 6 channel transmitter, 8 motor ports, Interupts, 16 ATD ports, motors, etc. The kit can also be expanded to include programmable controllers.
4. "Robo Pet" was demonstrated (sorry I missed the name)