Subject:
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July 2002 Meeting Notes
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.org.us.smart
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Date:
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Wed, 31 Jul 2002 06:50:14 GMT
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Viewed:
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1501 times
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Another awesome SMART meeting! Lots of new attendees, lots of robots, lots
of discussion, lots of great ideas!
The mini-challenge:
The mini-challenge was to build a robot that would walk over or around a
bunch of 2x4's set on edge. Every robot brought for this event had a
completely original approach to the problem. Everything from robots that
walked over the 2x4s, walked around them, tried to push them over, and even
a 'launching tower' that sent a yellow 2x4 with the words "RCX 0" penned on
the side over the entire pile!
Here are some meeting pictures:
(pending Brickshelf approval - so you might need to come back in a few days)
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=22425
Some of the things we discussed:
Exhibit robots - For NWBrickCon we'd like everyone to think about building a
robot that would be cool to display as an exhibit to the public, and other
convention attendees. These will be useful for other times as well, not just
as a one-time thing. Gus brought a few examples - his helicopter (still
evolving), a 'Simon' game, and an RCX variation on 'whack-a-mole'. I brought
a swinging robot. We'll discuss this more over the next few weeks. By all
means feel free to post ideas on this site if you have any.
Simon Says - a very easy mini-challenge, something else that will be really
cool to display for NWBrickCon, we'll build robots that take commands from a
leader, and watch them do silly things. More details to come soon.
BrickHeap Wars - our September meeting focus will be BrickHeap Wars. I'll
bring the Lego; you just need to show up. We'll have an earlier (and longer)
meeting than normal to give enough time for this. Starting at 12:30, when
you enter the room, you'll get into a team, and will find out what kind of
robot to build. Then you'll have a couple of hours to build, test and
program your robots. Finally we'll let them compete. It will be important to
show up on time for this. There are a limited number of people that can
participate. Also, we'll need a few volunteers to provide laptops for
programming the robots. I'll post more details about this as we get closer
to the meeting.
Spybotics - I showed the complete set of the new Spybotics sets. The younger
members of the club definitely liked them a lot. That's being a bit
understated. They couldn't keep their hands off them! Many of the older
members were also enthusiastic about the possibility of using them as a
'smart sensor' for the RCX -- assuming that can be done. Several of the kids
seemed very enthusiastic about the possibility of modifying these and having
"robo-wars" or other sorts of competitions with them. They were disappointed
that there wasn't a way to hook up bashing hammers, active claws, etc.,
though. I also wish that TLC had included an extra input or output on them.
Maybe we'll see a future generation of Spybots which includes this ability.
I hope TLC becomes aware of how much kids would like to build their own
robots with special abilities like this!
Alternatively, maybe the next version of the RCX (3.0, I suppose) might
include a more feature-rich IR (or radio) controller with several different
frequency settings. That would also be extremely useful and cool. (It would
help reduce the possibilities of people wiping out each other's programs at
competitions. AND it would enable a whole new level of remote control
competitions that would surely drive sales of these units!
Having brought all four Spybots, there was also a lot of confusion amongst
the kids about controlling them all at the same time. Why, if there are four
unique spybots, did TLC only provide three channels? Would they assume that
no kid would want to have all four going at the same time?
RC Racers - I also demonstrated one of these at the meeting. This new Lego
set is amazing! It moves! (Though I wish it was a little less expensive!) It
has an extra motor out, which can be used for all sorts of things - a shovel
that can be lowered and raised, a gear shifter (as if it needs to be even
faster!) or whatever. The really cool thing is that the racer isn't a large
monolithic block. All the parts are pretty much separate. The new technic
motors are FAST, they have technic pin connections (YEAH!) and axle-holes
instead of axles (double YEAH!). They are an odd shape, though. It will be
interesting to see how these are used in future creations. I hope these
become available in other sets as well.
One thing I wish had also been separated into it's own component is the
steering-servo mechanism. That would be SO cool to be able to use in robots!
Hopefully we'll see this in the future. (I wonder if Lego reads this group?)
NWBrickCon - SMART, as one of three LUGs in the area, (the other two being
Sealug and PNLTC) is sponsoring the NWBrickCon. This will be a convention
similar to BrickFest and BricksWest. Many people will bring various
creations, there will be talks given, and best of all, the cost is right!
($10! For all weekend!) Gus will give a talk on Lego geometry, and maybe
I'll give an introductory robotics talk. We'd like as many SMART members as
can to attend this event, and even moreso, we'd love to see each SMART
member bring an exhibit robot or two. More details will be posted here,
especially as we only have one more meeting scheduled before the convention!
See http://www.sealug.org/nwbrickcon.html for more details.
Thanks to everyone who attended. I'll post more details about the BrickHeap
Wars, the Simon Says robots, and NWBrickCon as they become available.
--
David Schilling
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