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In lugnet.org.us.lrgoaa, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
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“could be”, and *have been*, since way back when, actually. 2001 I think.
We’ve (well, our resident robotics wizard, Steve Ringe has) been using RCX’s
and other Technic gadgetry for doing things like turntable automation (press
a button on the remote and the table indexes to the next track position, then
locks into place so the track is perfectly aligned, press another one and it
moves back the other way) streetcar automation (have a linear track with no
bumpers at the ends, streetcar trips a sensor and stops at the station, then
reverses, travels to the other station, repeat over and over) and even,
believe it or not, radio controlled trains. (take an RC unit, and use it to
drive the throttle. Now your handheld RC controller is wirelessly controlling
the speed!)
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SNIP
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In another thread, Jason’s given a pretty good overview of the history of the
club. I hope you, Jona, will get over your perception that we’re not about
robotics. Robotics is more than just robots. And our club is about more than
PD realises, because, as he said, he’s new, and as you’ll learn if you talk
to him for any period of time, he’s pretty Bionicle centric and not very
aware of what else goes on around him. Not that that’s a bad thing,
necessarily, unless it gets in the way of realising what’s actually going on.
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While I do realize that the current definition of robotics (especially in the
automotive capitol of the world) includes many things that are not commonly
thought of as “robots”, I also have to say that automating a train layout with
the RCX doesn’t exactly convince me that the MichLug is “about robotics” as you
put it. Furthermore, something of this nature, while interesting and impressive
in its own right, doesn’t pique my interest. The fundamental problem is that
I have no interest in trains (LEGO or non-LEGO) and so while it may be a fun
thing to attend another group’s meeting, I fear I would have a tough time
justifying the action to myself and my family. I think what Jason says
in a separate post about meaning to
visit other groups, but never actually getting around to it rings very true.
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I’d love to do a joint meeting some time, or just have you or other LRGOAA
members come to one of ours. We do a LOT more than just plan shows at our
meetings.
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I can see myself attending a MichLug meeting if I was bringing a robot to
show-off and maybe solicit new participants to our events. I can not see myself
attending a MichLug meeting because I like to discuss trains and towns and LEGO
in general or with the overall intent of my group becoming a sub-group of the
MichLug. I feel our focus is specific and to get glommed on to an umbrella group
would dilute our identity. Additionally, any benefit that the MichLug would have
by adding us to its roster of sub-groups can easily be achieved by those members
who have robotics interest to start coming to our meetings.
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And, Jason is right. There’s no right or wrong organizational division or
whatever... if you have another club, that’s great. It’s a lot of work to
start and grow a club, so hats off to you!
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Right. And from what Jason is saying in his post, it sounds like he was/is
looking to fill in some down-time that the MichLug has in the summer months.
This is a good thing for a group organizer to do, to be sure, but don’t be
surprised when other groups are not jumping at the chance.
Personally, I would challenge any of the MichLug members who have interest in
(or simply have) Mindstorms to come to our meetings and participate in one of
our challenges. In fact, coming up in September will be Sumo-bot 6 which is the
perfect chance for new comers to try something challenging but totally
achievable and to get submersed in the advanced technics that the more
experienced builders will be bringing. It is often said that sumo is an
excellent starting point for robot enthusiasts.
If you can’t wait until September, you can attend our next event which is on
Saturday, April 17th. We will be attempting an automated trash collection
challenge put forth by one of our members. In this challenge, the robots need to
negotiate the route (LEGO road baseplates) and when they detect a trash bin,
empty its contents into themselves. For all of the event details see this page:
http://www.24tooth.com/CurrentEvent.html. The rules are now official and we
expect 4 or so robots (that I currently am aware of).
Following this we will be having our normal monthly meetings (May and June) and
another event in July. The challenge for the July event hasn’t been decided on
yet so if you are interested, you can put your 2 cents worth in at the meetings.
Jona
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: LRGOAA & MichLUG Joint Meeting?
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| (...) MichLUG is about the LEGO experience in general, not any specific themes. Every member brings something different to the table. It's not just about Space, Castle, Pirates, BIONICLE, robotics, Sea Monkeys, sculpture, large-scale MOCs, or any (...) (20 years ago, 28-Mar-04, to lugnet.org.us.lrgoaa, lugnet.org.us.michlug, FTX)
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