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Howdy!
TexLUG Houston will be having a meeting this Saturday the 22nd of April. Feel
free to come on by and have some fun!
Who: TexLUG Houston
What: General Meeting
When: Saturday, April 22, 2006
Where:
19525 Wied Road, Suite #106.
Spring, TX 77379
Why: Why not?
Time: Setup - 11 AM. Start - 1 PM. End - Cook it 'till it's done.
Phone: 281-651-7747
See you there!
--Anthony
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Folks,
The Austin chapter of the Texas Lego Users Group
(TexLUG) is holding a robotic line following contest
on June 11, 2006.
In this line following contest, robots attempt to
complete a specified race course by following
a black line on a white background. The robot
completing three laps of the course in the shortest
time is the winner.
There will be two age groups for the competition,
under 13 years old, and 13 years and up.
Complete rules may be found here:
http://www.io.com/~rueger/lego/texlugaustin/line2006/
as well as helpful links to other line following
robots.
-Tim
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All,
The next Austin TexLUG meeting will be this coming
Sunday, April 9. Come on out and show off what
you've been working on!
If you have questions about Mindstorms NXT, come
by and we'll see if we can help you with the
answers. (The library's wifi is A Nice Thing.)
See you there!
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 4/9/06).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
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Folks,
Attending the 3/12 TexLUG Austin meeting were:
Louis Davis
Lee Rahe
Tim Rueger
Ed Southerland
Ed brought a few more of his custom minifigs, but most
of his MOCs were really nice xpod-based spaceships. I
really liked his stylings in various space themes,
including Blacktron, M:Tron, Ice Planet 2002, Spyrius,
and Life on Mars.
Lee proudly showed off some excellent-condition pieces
from his recent vintage Lego acquisitions. I, for one,
was very impressed with the details that Lego's
injection molding was achieving in the late 50's and
early 60's.
Louis was a first-time attendee; he got a Mindstorms kit
around Christmas, and was looking for help and ideas on
what to do with it.
On that note, I showed a simple line following robot
from Jonathan Knudsen's O'Reilly Mindstorms book to
demonstrate an upcoming line-following robotics contest.
Look for rules and schedules to be posted in the next
week.
Adminstrivia: I'd mentioned to a few folks that the
Little Walnut Creek library was scheduled to be closed
for remodeling in May 2006. However, the remodeling has
been delayed some months, so I'm working on extending
our 2nd-Sunday meeting slot reservation there for as
long as possible.
Please keep in mind that we will eventually have to find
a new place to meet. If you have any good suggestions,
please pass them along (either to the list or by private
email).
Play well,
-Tim
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Brickshelf gallery:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=174175
Lee, Louis, and Ed:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682709
Ed's MOCs:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682715
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682716
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682717
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682718
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682719
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682720
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682721
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682722
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682723
Lee's vintage Lego:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682710
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682711
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682712
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682713
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682714
Jonathan Knudsen's simple line following robot:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1682724
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lmstorms/
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All,
The next Austin TexLUG meeting will be this Sunday,
March 12. It's been a few months since we've
gotten together, so come on out and show off what
you've been working on!
I'll be shortly announcing and posting rules for
a line following and maze solving robotics
contest, just to keep y'all sharp while we await
Mindstorms NXT. Look for a demo at the meeting.
I'll also be bringing the mountains that I
provided for the recent display in San Antonio,
along with my photos from the event.
See you there!
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 3/12/06).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
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Hi, everybody!
For the past 3 months, I’ve been working with folks from Gortons Seafood on a sculpture of the Gortons’ Fisherman (as seen in
their logo.)
Alone, he’s not such a big model -- but I was asked to build EIGHT of them!
See photos on my MOCpages site
Six of the models will be touring the U.S. over the next month, in conjunction
with their new “Build dinner around Gorton’s” campaign. They will be visiting
about 100 supermarkets across six metro areas: Los Angeles, Chicago,
Indianapolis, San Antonio, Harrisburg, and Charlotte. (There’s a
full schedule on my web site.)
The remaining two models will go on permanent display in Gorton’s headquarters
and their marketing firm’s headquarters.
I hope folks get a chance to get out and see the model sometime over the next
few weeks! Unfortunately, I don’t live near any of those cities, so I won’t be
able to see any of the finished models “on site”... If anyone happens to snap a
photo of it while they’re there, I’d love if you could e-mail me a copy!
Each model is 2 feet tall from the waist to the head, and contains about 6,000
LEGO elements. It’s a straightforward “sculpture”, using almost entirely
studs-up construction and just basic LEGO bricks and plates. (I had to giggle,
actually, that one of few places that I actually used some SNOT was... on his
nose.) :)
As some of you know, I just moved back to New York City, after spending a few
years in Texas. What fun it was to move 2000 miles in the middle of a giant
commission! I’ve been working out of boxes and in a very temporary
makeshift-workshop for the latter half of this project... I’m looking forward
to finally being able to set my space back up! :)
Oh, and oddly enough: midway through this project, I was coincidentally
commissioned to build Nemo and Marlin
from Disney’s “Finding Nemo”. What are the chances I would be asked to build a
fish & a fisherman at the same time? :)
I’ll part with a “fun-fact”... If you stacked the LEGO bricks from all 8
Gortons’ Fishermen one on top of another, they’d go higher than the Empire State
Building! :)
Sean
- - - - -
Sean Kenney
LEGO Certified Professional
http://www.seankenney.com/lego
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Folks,
My wife and I will be traveling 12/29 to 1/9,
so I won't be attending the TexLUG Austin
meeting on Sunday, 1/8. (I tried to find an
alternate venue and/or time, to no avail.)
The procedure for the meeting room at the
LWC library is very easy; whoever gets there
first, just ask someone at the front desk for
the key to the meeting room. Also, make
sure the room is back in its prior state when
you lock up to leave.
The next following scheduled time is Sunday,
February 12.
-Tim
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Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 1/8/06).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
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All,
The next Austin TexLUG meeting will be this Sunday,
December 11. It's been a little quiet lately
in TexLUG land, so come on out and show off what
you've been working on!
I'll be bringing photos of this Saturday's First
Lego League meet in Austin. Come by to see
what the teams came up with to solve this year's
Ocean Odyssey challenge:
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/default.aspx?pid=70
I'll also have an 8455 Backhoe Loader to demo.
It's an out-of-print set that I finally got
recently. It's a pneumatic marvel.
See you there!
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 12/11/05).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
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Folks,
Due to an event conflict at the Little Walnut Creek
library, there will be no TexLUG Austin meeting this
coming Sunday.
Our next scheduled time is Sunday, December 11.
-Tim
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All,
Here's a recap of last Sunday's TexLUG meeting in
Austin. Our building theme was castle; we also put up a
Great Ball Contraption and held a robotic sumo contest.
The meeting was well-attended, despite the last-minute
change of venue from National Instruments to the Little
Walnut Creek library. Among the regulars were Ed, Kurt,
Laura, Lee, Mark, Pat, and myself. Also attending were
three sets of kids/parents who entered the sumo contest:
Evan Ryker and his mom, Michael Johnston and his dad,
and Joey and Gavin with one of their dads.
Ed and Lee brought in a nifty set of castle MOCs. Ed had
a number of small scenes with some of his as-always cool
customized minifigs. Lee's black castle was also
stunning. (I wish I'd taken more time to admire and
photograph them, but I was swamped with GBC and sumo.)
Kurt brought in his fleet of Texas navy ships. It was
really cool to see them all on display at once; he has
done a fantastic job maintaining style and detail across
his various sailing ships. His cutter is still in
progress; I and others had a couple suggestions for
working out a few details on his railings.
Laura and I showed off a small Great Ball Contraption,
which got a lot of crowd attention. Laura brought in
her scoop lifter module and James Loftus' ball counter.
I had a rather free-form multipart construction, which
Laura eventually managed to work into a loop with the
other two modules. She was justifiably miffed at my
lack of adherence to GBC module standards; next time
I'll make my things fit.
James' ball counter dutifully registered a total of 1465
balls while we ran the loop. The mpg of the GBC is a
little shaky (I used the movie mode on a small digital
camera), but it captures the ball movement nicely.
The sumo contest was well-attended, and got lots of
great reactions from the crowd. There were four
entries, so there were six round-robin matches in all
(two points were awarded for a win, one for a draw):
Y J M SoF Total
Yokozuma (Evan) - 1 0 0 1
JoJo4000 (Joey & Gavin) 1 - 0 1 2
Michael10000000 (Michael) 2 2 - 0 4
Son of Flatliner (Tim) 2 1 2 - 5
Evan's Yokozuma was a low-speed caterpillar tracked bot,
while both JoJo4000 and Michael10000000 also used
caterpillar tracks and ran somewhat faster. My bot was
an unabashed rework of Steve Hassenplug's Flatliner
sumobot which he showed at Brickfest:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1352550
My enhancement was using rows of teeth (vs. Steve's
flags) as the edge of the wedge surface. I also had to
fit it inside the 30x30 stud dimensions required by the
rules. (I'll post more details shortly.)
The two tie matches were the most fun: Yokozuma held on
for the full 3-minute duration of the match against
JoJo4000, and was pushed off the arena only a few
seconds after time elapsed. Son of Flatliner's match
against JoJo4000 ended quickly when both bots spun off
the edge of the arena simultaneously.
I also gave a brief talk about my Brickfest sumo contest
experience, and demonstrated my super-slow, uber-complex
Remington sumobot.
All in all, a fine meeting, especially considering the
last-minute difficulties in bringing it off. Many
thanks to everyone who helped make it a success.
-Tim
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Brickshelf gallery:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=149377
Castle MOCs:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434156
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434157
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434158
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434159
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434160
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434161
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434175
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434176
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434177
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434178
Baty's ships:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434162
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434163
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434164
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434165
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434166
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434167
GBC:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434168
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434169
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/trueger/Texlug051009/hpim0210.mpg
(1:04 mpeg movie, 12MB)
Sumo contest:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434170
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434171
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434172
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434173
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1434174
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1436549
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1436550
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I'll see all of you interested in participating in the event... at 10 AM.
San Antonio WAHM Expo
What:
San Antonio WAHM Expo
http://www.sawahmexpo.com/
When:
September 17, 2005
11 AM - 5 PM
Where:
Alzafar Shrine Center
901 North Loop 1604 West, San Antonio, Texas 78232
http://www.alzafar.org/
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All,
The next Austin TexLUG meeting will be this Sunday, the
11th of September.
I'll be showing some of my photos from Brickfest 2005.
I took over 600 shots, covering just about everything,
so whatever your interest, come by to see the great
creations people showed off.
I'll be demoing my entry to the Brickfest Super-Mega
Sumo contest, which was easily the most complex of the
entries. (And not surprisingly, also didn't perform
very well. But wait til next year...)
And speaking of sumo, if you have a first-cut 'bot for
the October meeting sumo contest, bring it and give it a
spin. As a reminder, rules and helpful ideas can be
found here:
http://www.io.com/~rueger/lego/texlugaustin/sumo2005-2/
See you there!
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 9/11/05).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
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Folks,
There will not be an Austin TexLUG meeting this coming
Sunday. I'll be at BrickFest in DC this weekend, and
I'm still arranging new reservations for the room at the
library.
Plan on our next meeting for Sunday, September 11, 2005.
(I will inform y'all about any changes.)
In September, we can start planning in earnest for the
October all-TexLUG meeting at National Instruments.
I'll also be bringing my photos from BrickFest, as well
as my entry for this weekend's Super Mega Sumo robot
contest. (It's 3.5lbs of screaming Technic goodness!)
See you next month!
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Tentative schedule for our next meeting:
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 9/11/05)
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
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Folks,
Attending the 7/10 TexLUG Austin meeting were:
Danny Diaz
Clendon Gibson
Laura Hayden
James Loftus
David Perdue
Ed Southerland
Tim Rueger
and others
Ed brought his latest custom minifigs in a scene from
Legend of Zelda. He also showed his nicely-done HG
Wells time machine model, using the clock face from the
Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle.
David demonstrated a three-wheeled line-following robot
with a front-mounted light sensor on the directional
wheel (see photo below). It was built in an elegant
modular fashion, with the light sensor assembly and each
drive wheel built for easy removal.
We assembled a Great Ball Contraption (TM) with modules
by James, Danny, Laura, and Tim. It was great fun
seeing the whole thing in action. The first three, who
work for National Instruments, had previously built
their modules into a GBC at an NI event, while Tim
hastily built his over Saturday night and Sunday morning
to join in the fun, and to try out a module before
Brickfest. (Videos of the NI GBC are available; we're
looking for a place to host them.)
In addition to the GBC module, Tim brought his sumo
contest robot for demonstrations, as well as a drive
train mockup for the 2005 Brickfest 3.5-lb mega-sumo
robot contest. There was some discussion about how to
prevent stalls in RC motors, since the power must be cut
so they can recover (a nasty characteristic for sumo
contests).
Tim also brought the brand-new 8421 Mobile Crane;
everyone there was impressed with its scale and
function.
Laura showed off her Deal of the Month (TM) - a Technic
8454 Rescue Truck which she scored as an open (but
complete) set from Kaybee for around $20.
Clendon asked lots of good questions about the RCX,
while two other members of the general public stopped in
to check things out.
All in all, an excellent meeting. I'll be at Brickfest
in Washington, DC next month, so arrangements will be
made to get the room opened up for the next meeting.
-Tim
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Brickshelf gallery:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=136762
David's line-following bot with front sensor:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303268
The GBC:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303258
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303259
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303260
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303261
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303262
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303263
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303264
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303265
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303266
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303267
Laura and Danny with the 8421 crane:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303269
Laura's Technic fire truck
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1303270
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Folks,
Come on by the next Austin TexLUG meeting Sunday,
July 10.
Bring your latest creations, or share some tips on where
you've gotten good deals lately - Target is putting Lego
on clearance up in Dallas, hopefully the same is true
here in Austin.
I'll be bringing the brand-new 8421 Technic Mobile
Crane. This model is a real beast! For a preview, see:
http://guide.lugnet.com/set/8421
See you there!
-Tim
PS - I'll be at Brickfest in DC during August's meeting,
so we'll need someone to open up the meeting room next
month.
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 7/10/05).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
------------------------------------------------------------
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Folks,
Attending the 6/12 Texlug Austin meeting were:
Kurt Baty
David Perdue
Lee Rahe
Tim Rueger
and many assorted others (see below)
We held the first TexLUG Austin Lego Mindstorms Sumo Robotics
contest. About twenty people were in attendance, from TexLUG
regulars, to robot team members and parents, to robotics
enthusiasts and other generally interested folks. Everyone had
a great time.
There were five robot entries: two from David, one from Tim, and
one each from AustinMetroGifts ("Team AMG", a group of
8-to-10-year-old homeschoolers from Austin and the surrounding
area) and Evan Ryker, age 14, another Austin homeschooler.
David's first entry used a novel light sensor configuration to
detect opponent collisions and the black sumo arena border with
the same sensor. His second was a lightning-fast, but erratic,
variation of a Zip-Zam bot from his "Competitive Mindstorms"
book.
Tim's entry implemented a two-speed transmission (a fast speed
for searching and a slow speed for torque/pushing), with two
front bumpers for turning toward a detected opponent.
AMG's robot was a two-tread design with a light sensor in front.
They had trouble getting their robot working consistently, but
we worked the matches out anyway.
Evan's robot was also a two-tread design, with a very slow,
very high-torque drive train. An arm assembly in front was
designed to raise an oncoming opponent off the arena.
(Photos of all the entries may be found via the links below.)
The contest was structured in two rounds. First, a round robin
tournament matched each robot against every other one. The
total wins in this round determined the placement in a final
single-elimination bracket to determine the winner. (For the
rule set, see the URLs below.)
After the round robin matches, the scores were:
Tim - 4 wins
Evan - 2 wins
AMG - 2 wins
Perdue #1 - 1 win
Perdue #2 - 1 win
The elimination bracket was thus:
Play-in: Perdue #1 vs Perdue #2
Semifinal 1: AMG vs. Evan
Semifinal 2: Perdue1/2 vs. Tim
Final: Semi 1 winner vs Semi 2 winner
David's #1 robot beat his #2 in the play-in round; #2 had
difficulty staying on the arena due to its high speed.
In the first semifinal, Evan handily pushed AMG off the arena,
ending a very enthusiastic run by the AMG team.
In the second semifinal, Tim hung on to beat David's #1 robot.
A spectacular entanglement occurred during this match: one of
David's large motorcycle wheels got ensnared in the yellow
elastic band which held Tim's front bumpers open. David's
wheels kept turning, so the elastic caught and wound around the
wheel *multiple* times, while, astonishingly, *not* breaking - a
true testament to the resilience and quality of Lego components.
An entanglement was eventually declared, and David's robot had
to be disassembled to release the elastic band to finish the
bout. (And I didn't bring any spare elastics - yikes!)
In the final match, Evan's superior tread friction won out over
Tim's complicated high-torque transmission. Tim twice became
immobilized when trying to push Evan's bot off the arena: Tim's
transmission changeover catches were driven by clutch gears,
which didn't hold the catches in place when the transmission was
subjected very high opposing force.
Evan took home the grand prize, a Technic 8435 4WD set. The
runner-up prize of a Technic 8415 Dump Truck will be given away
at a future TexLUG event (Tim donated the prizes).
Many, many thanks to all who came out and helped make this a
very fun, exciting day. I'm looking forward to seeing more
folks at TexLUG meetings in the future, and to other robotic
competitions.
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
TexLUG Sumo Robotics Rules:
http://www.davidjperdue.com/competitivemindstorms/upcomingevent.html
Prize links at LUGNET:
http://guide.lugnet.com/set/8435
http://guide.lugnet.com/set/8415
Tim's contest photos Brickshelf gallery:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=132763
Team AMG setting up:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260807
The main competition table:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260808
David Perdue checks things over:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260809
Evan vs. Team AMG:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260810
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260811
Evan vs. Tim:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260812
The obligatory sumobot melee:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260813
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260814
Details of Evan's robot:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260815
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260816
The elimination round bracket:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1260817
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Folks,
Come on by the next Austin TexLUG meeting Sunday,
June 12.
We'll be holding our Lego Mindstorms Robotic Sumo
Contest, so bring your 'bot(s) and we'll see whose
machine reigns supreme! Or come by to cheer on
the competitors and catch some ABS carnage!
If you're entering the contest, please email me
as soon as possible so I can schedule the matches.
For more details on the contest, visit:
http://www.io.com/~rueger/lego/texlugaustin/sumo2005/
http://www.davidjperdue.com/competitivemindstorms/
See you there!
-Tim
PS - If you want to learn about recent rules
changes and other TexLUG Austin news, subscribe
to the TexLUG-Austin mailing list at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/texlug-austin/
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 6/12/05).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
------------------------------------------------------------
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All,
Attending the 5/8 Texlug Austin meeting were:
Kurt Baty
Ed Southerland
Tim Rueger
A low-key meeting this time (the weather was highly inclement, and it
was Mother's Day), but we still had a fine time.
Ed brought a neat minifig forestman with a cart-mounted crossbow, and
reported acquiring a space monorail set with expansion track on eBay for
the princely sum of $88 (!). Between Ed, Pat, and myself, the next
all-Texlug meeting layout should be completely infested with monorail
track.
Ed and I discussed a Disney/Epcot-like theme park layout theme, with
each section of the layout accommodating a monorail stop built according
to a moonbase-like spec. Possibilities abound: castle people could do a
medieval fantasy park, space folks could do a sci-fi park, etc., so
just about anyone can be involved in the layout.
Kurt brought a carrying case of technic parts and built out part of an
adder-subtractor that works with three motors to generate a "A1+A2-B"
output. A1+A2 is summed with a differential, with its output going
where the "A" input would go in a "A-B" adder-subtractor. A partially
completed mockup is found among the photos below.
Kurt also brought a stock 8419 Excavator, which packs an impressive
amount of mechanics into a small volume.
Due to the bad weather, I didn't bring my recently-completed sumobot
arena (I need to tie it to the top of my Civic to transport it).
Instead, I improvised an area border on one of the library tables with
black duct tape (see photos below). It worked really well, so if you
can't make your own sumo arena, put some black duct tape on a white
table for a fast and cheap alternative.
Kurt and I broke down my rendition of a David Perdue Zip-Zam Bot to
lower its center of gravity for improved sumo arena performance.
Laura had asked me to coordinate a TexLUG MOC display at this Saturday's
Robolab Mania gathering at National Instruments. Kurt, Ed, and I are
planning to bring MOCs: one of Kurt's Texas navy ships, some of Ed's
space models and custom minifigs, and my sumo arena with one or more
sumobots, and maybe the monorail mountain if there's room. I'll bring
sumo contest signups and TexLUG handouts on Saturday as well.
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Brickshelf gallery link:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=128844
Ed's forestman with crossbow cart:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1219962
Improvised sumo arena:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1219963
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1219964
Kurt at work, with Excavator in foreground:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1219965
A partial A1+A2-B adder/subtractor:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?i=1219966
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Folks,
Come on by the next Austin TexLUG meeting this coming
Sunday. (And yes, it *is* on Mother's Day. Show your
Mom you love her by getting out of the house for a
couple hours!) Particulars are below.
If you have a creation to show, bring it. We can also
coordinate our creations display for the Robolab Mania!
gathering on May 14 at NI.
I'll be bringing my very own brand-new sumobot arena
(the paint is drying as I type this), so if you'd like
to try out your sumobot before the 6/12 contest, now's
the time.
See you there...
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 5/8/05).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
------------------------------------------------------------
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Folks,
Come on by the next Austin TexLUG meeting this coming
Sunday (tomorrow). Particulars are below.
Bring your creations and show off what you've been
working on!
I'll bring my pictures from the recent all-Texlug
meeting, and set up my monorail tunnel mountain one last
time before breaking it down to build Mountain 2.0.
This is also the first of two optional test/debug
sessions for the June sumobot contest. Let the smack
talk begin!
See you there...
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 4/10/05).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
------------------------------------------------------------
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Folks,
The Austin chapter of TexLUG is holding a Lego Robotic
Sumo contest!
Win valuable Lego prizes when your robot outwits and
outpushes its opponents out of a circular arena!
Rules, schedule, and entry details may be found here:
http://www.io.com/~rueger/lego/texlugaustin/sumo2005/
The contest will be held Sunday, June 12, 2005 (an earlier
posting misstated this date), with optional test and debug
sessions on April 10 and May 8.
Many thanks to David Perdue (author of "Competitive
Mindstorms") for help on developing the rule set and
with running the contest.
Get ready to rumble!
-Tim
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Folks,
Come on by the next Austin TexLUG meeting this coming
Sunday. Particulars are below.
Bring your creations and show off what you've been
working on!
Once again, I'll be demonstrating two bots from David
Perdue's sumo robotics book, with more depth of detail
on construction and coding. We'll also go over the
rules of the sumo contest, and set the date.
See you there!
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 3/13/05).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
------------------------------------------------------------
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I have finally got around to posting the vignettes that I made in honor of Dr.
James H. "Red" Duke a few years back. These were given to Dr. Duke as a
Christmas present from our research team back in 2002.
The folder (when moderated):
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=117735
Favorite Images are:
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/informaticist/Caricatures/RedDuke/trauma.jpg
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/informaticist/Caricatures/RedDuke/teacher.jpg
http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/informaticist/Caricatures/RedDuke/dreams.jpg
From the accompanying text file:
I created these vignettes / models to depict the "stages" of the life of James
H. "Red" Duke, MD (who I worked for at the time). These were mounted in a
shadow box and given to Dr. Duke as a Christmas present in 2002. They are
making their first public appearance. All of the vignettes / models are
original designs with the exception of the helicopter ("Lifeflight").
Timeline:
Born November 16, 1928, Ennis, Texas
Texas A&M University 1946 – 1950 ("Aggie" -- no photos of final model with A&M flag behind horse)
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, BD 1955
Military Service 1948 — 1952
1948 — 1950 43rd Infantry Battalion, 36th Division, Texas National Guard
1951 — 1952 First Lieutenant, Armor, U.S. Army, 67th Medium Tank Battalion, 2nd Armored Division
Still Looking for That Last Bighorn Trophy.
University of Texas Medical School at Houston Faculty 1972 — present ("Teacher")
Physician and Surgeon 1960 – present ("Trauma")
Life Flight, Founder and Medical Director, August 1, 1976 — present
Co-PI DREAMS Digital EMS Project (next-generation digital advanced life support
ambulance) 1997 — present
Matt Sailors
2005-02-18
Houston, TX
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Folks,
Come on by the next Austin TexLUG meeting this coming
Sunday. Particulars are below.
Bring your creations and show off what you've been
working on!
I'll be demonstrating two bots from David Perdue's sumo
robotics book (I'll be borrowing his 4' circular sumo
arena for the weekend). I'd also like to set the ground
rules for a sumo robot contest, so come on out if you
want to help decide how it will go.
I'll also bring a few of Lego's Ferrari sets, because
they're just cool to look at.
See you there!
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting 2/13/05).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
------------------------------------------------------------
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Folks,
Here's an update on recent Austin-area Lego goings-on...
On Saturday, 1/8/05, the first Central Texas FIRST Lego League
competition was held. About 20 middle-school teams competed; they came
from Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and as far away as Louisiana. Teams
ranged in size from over a dozen kids down to a single home-schooler.
National Instruments was a primary sponsor of the event; the bulk of the
event volunteers came from NI, with a few others from HP and Cirrus
Logic. Laura Hayden was a team adviser, and Lee Rahe and I were
volunteers.
It was a crazy, hectic, exhausting day. My photos from the day can be
found here:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=112255
Attending the 1/9/05 Austin TexLUG meeting were:
David Perdue (author of "Competitive Mindstorms", age 16)
Jay Perdue (David's dad)
Kurt Baty (chip design consultant)
Tim Rueger (instigator)
David talked about how he got his book published through Apress. He
said the bonus chapters on the Apress website were ones that were cut
from the book for length. David had hints and tips for sumo
competitions, including rule sets and arena sizes. He demonstrated his
zip-zam bot chassis with a Mindstorms remote control (with the
motorcycle wheels mounted directly to motors, it zooms along and spins
*very* fast). I personally am looking forward to taking David on in a
future sumo-bot contest.
Kurt showed two models. First was his two-digit rotary encoder, which
provided some nice math problems for some local kids who randomly
dropped into the meeting. Kurt envisions building a Difference Engine
someday.
Kurt also showed his highly impressive circa-1840 Texas naval warship.
It's roughly four feet long and three feet high. It's a great example
of minifig-scale modeling. My photos of it can be found here:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=112250
I brought a tiny amount of Lego, the pullback racer Ferrari model 8362.
It moves quite impressively, running up to 30 feet on a single pull.
And even without stickers applied, it's a nice design. I received it,
and the big Technic Ferrari model 8386, from my wife as an anniversary
gift. (This tells me I'm either a huge geek, or that I have a
way-too-cool wife, or probably both, actually.)
http://guide.lugnet.com/set/8362
http://guide.lugnet.com/set/8386
The next Austin Texlug meeting will be Sunday, February 13, 2005. Same
place and time, 2:30pm at the Little Walnut Creek library in north
Austin.
-Tim
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Folks,
Come on by the next Austin TexLUG meeting this
coming Sunday. Particulars are below.
Yes, this is one day after the FIRST Lego League
competition in Austin. Such is the nature of the
regularly-scheduled meeting: randomly-
scheduled events sometimes cluster.
I hope to use the FLL gathering as a springboard
for TexLUG membership.
-Tim
------------------------------------------------------------
Date: The second Sunday every month (next
meeting 1/9/05).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
(has map link)
Come on out and join in the fun!
------------------------------------------------------------
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Folks,
TexLUG Austin will be starting monthly meetings
this month (woo-hoo!). Here are the particulars
(follow the URL for a map link):
Date: The second Sunday every month (next meeting
11/14/04).
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Location:
Austin Public Library, Little Walnut Creek Branch
835 W. Rundberg Ln.
Austin, TX 78758
(Just west of the Lamar/Rundberg intersection)
Phone: (512) 836-8975
URL: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/little_walnut.htm
Please note: Children under 17 must be accompanied
by a guardian.
The agenda is pretty wide-open; we're just now
getting ourselves organized. Come on out and
join in the fun!
-Tim
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In lugnet.space, Matthew Roberts wrote:
> Hello, I'm new to LUGNET. I've had an account at Brickshelf and MOCpages for a
> while now, though. Check out my gallery, hope you like it! It's mostly .space
> and military. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=Kapuklak
Hey Matthew,
I dont suppose you could point us to which folders have something in them. I
clicked three folders and they were all empty.
Generally speaking, it is better to point your audience to a specific
creation(s), rather than to your entire gallery. Even if it is a large number
of creations (Jeff Szklennik often does this) - it makes it easier for me to
appreciate and give comments.
Thanks
-Lenny
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In lugnet.castle, Laura Hayden wrote:
> I finally got my first three castle projects up on MOCpages, and would like to
> share them with you.
>
> http://www.mocpages.com/home.php/89
>
> Please let me know what you think!
> Laura
Looks great Laura... I love the detail.. I thinks that what makes a great
model... The Cathedral looks superb... I used to live righ next to a gothic
catheral when I lived in England... you have captured the structure of it well.
The mill and the keep are also so well done... nice realism... love the water
falling too.
Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Kev..: )
andrastavia@ozbricks.com
www.ozbricks.com/andrastavia
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In lugnet.castle, Laura Hayden wrote:
> I finally got my first three castle projects up on MOCpages, and would like to
> share them with you.
>
> http://www.mocpages.com/home.php/89
>
> Please let me know what you think!
> Laura
Hi Laura!
Looks great. I really like the Keep and village. Very detailed and thought out. Your mill is excellent as well. I recall seeing it in a thread on Classic-Castle.com. It was spotted on Brickshelf and we talked about it. Very impressive. The waterfall is very cool. Keep up the good work!
Build On,
Josh
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I finally got my first three castle projects up on MOCpages, and would like to
share them with you.
http://www.mocpages.com/home.php/89
Please let me know what you think!
Laura
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Howdy All,
I've posted a few details (including directions) on our website about the
upcoming fall meeting:
http://www.texlug.org/fall2004.html
The meeting will be held at National Instruments in Austin on October 9 and 10
(Saturday and Sunday). If you have any questions, please post a reply here and
someone will answer you.
I look forward to seeing everyone again (and some new faces!) and your great
creations. Remember, we're building a Moonbase and space-themed layout!
best,
TJ Avery
www.texlug.org
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