Minutes from the October 2003

Connceticut Robotics Society Meeting:

Total attendance: 16

The meeting started with a 20 minute viewing of a robotic flight competition. There was then another 20 minute show that talked about learning robots.

After that, Jake did the usual introductions. He also had several giveaways items including copies of Circuit Cellar, and some very cool posters. Jake also announced that he resigned from the Trinity College Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest. For more info, you can visit www.jake.mendelssohn.name .

Mark was up next and he brought in a large demonstration of his newly built thrusters. He's planning on using these thrusters for his one-wheeled fire fighting robot. The demonstration that he brought in today was a working thruster that produced a large amount of thrust. He then went on to explain how the thrusters work and how he plans on implementing them in his robot. Good job Mark!

Next Walter did a talk about some of the different tools that are available to develop applications for the Palm OS. One of the tools he mentioned was PocketC ( www.orbworks.com ) which is a cheap C compiler for the Palm. He also explained how to use PocketC and various other tools. He then demonstrated how a Palm can control a robot. Great talk, Walter!

Dan then asked for some help with a PocketPC of his that no longer works. The club members suggested that he bring it in to the next meeting so that hopefully someone can fix it.

Next, Mark W. talked about his Odometry Contest entry. This robot used the Lego RCX and was able to accurately traverse the required distances. Good Job Mark!

David was up next and he showed everyone his entry for the Odometry Contest. This robot (also using Legos) sported an advanced drive system which David designed mostly himself. This drive system allowed one motor to drive all four wheels. Good Job!

Mark then demonstrated a free CAD program called QCad. He demonstrated how CAD programs work and how to use them. Thanks Mark!

The meeting adjourned around 3:30pm