Minutes from the March 2005

Connecticut Robotics Society Meeting:

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Total attendance: 20

The meeting commenced with a viewing of Innovations, a PBS show on cutting-edge bionics.

After this Jake did the usual introductions. He also reminded everyone that there will be no meeting in April due to the Trinity College Fire Fighting Robot Contest and also that the May meeting will take place on the 1st due to Mother's Day.

Scott came up next with a discussion on what he's been up to lately. He talked about his recent work with industrial robots and also the different projects he's been working on. Great work Scott, and thanks for coming in!

Next Mark showed everyone his new IR Scope that he recently purchased. The Weaver NightView scope (for $199) allows the user to “see” IR light. He demonstrated its abilities by bringing in a TV remote control. Thanks Mark!

Visar was up next and he talked about his entry in the upcoming Trinity fire fighting contest. He talked about the construction of the 'bot and also what his plans were. Nice work!

Another member showed everyone his very large robot constructed using PVC piping, Legos, and various other parts. He also discussed his advanced encoder sensors used on the 'bot. Good work!

Next up was the co-founder of a privately owned robotics company in China with a discussion of her company and also what it's like to start something like this in China. In the very interesting talk, she discussed the company's employees, sales, and the various products they sell. She also talked about the Chinese education system and some other interesting projects her company is working on. Thank you for this great talk!

Our speaker this month, Walter, was up next with his presentation on programming the PocketPC. In his talk, Walter talked about the tools that are available (for free), and how to use them. Later he demonstrated how the PPC can be used to control a robot over both the serial port and the wireless 802.11b adapter. More information on programming the PPC can be found at this link: www.geocities.com/waltsrobots/PocketPC.html

Jake came up next with a quick showing of a new interactive learning tool that was recently released. More information can be found at www.isupportlearning.com . Thanks Jake!

The meeting adjourned around 3:30pm