Minutes from the September 2006

Connecticut Robotics Society Meeting:

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Total Attendance: 19

Chris, who works as a photographer for Circuit Cellar, gave everyone an overview of some of his work (which included cover art for the magazine) and also discussed how he actually created the art through a mix of digital photography and Photoshop. Thanks for sharing Chris!

The next half an hour was spent watching a video recording of the MIT 6.270 contest.

Jake was up then with the usual introductions.

Following this, Nathanial, who is a senior at GHAMAS, came up asking for some advice on one of his latest projects – a robotic checkers game. Several excellent ideas were passed around at this point including the usage of an XY plotter, cameras, and even resistance loaded pieces. Hopefully we’ll be receiving an updated report from Nathanial on his project in the meetings to come!

Mark then stepped up next with a demonstration of his latest project – a Lego wireless measuring device. This small sensor was capable of accurately measuring something within 1/50 of an inch. He demonstrated its capabilities through the use of a Visual Basic program which printed out the measurement on the screen. Great work Mark!

Next Jake demonstrated his RoboNova for the group to see. He explained that, although the robot was great at performing various stunts on two legs, it wasn’t able to determine whether or not it fell for there were no sensors of any kind mounted on the ‘bot. To solve this deficiency, Jake introduced Ben White, another student from GHAMAS, who wanted to install an accelerometer of some sorts allowing the RoboNova to know if it had tripped. Again, several ideas were passed around by the group leaving Ben with quite a bit to think about. Good luck, and we hope to see you again soon for an update!

Jake then mentioned that he was looking for volunteers to give a small presentation during one of our meetings. He pointed out that you don’t have to be an expert at any particular topic (in fact your topic doesn’t even have to be robotics related), just if you have something you think is pretty cool, please come and share it with us! If you’re interested, you can email Jake at: jake@mendelssohn.name

After this, Scott came up with his presentation on digital multi-meters. Lying upon everyone’s desk were several meters and various discreet components (including resistors, transistors, and capacitors). Then, through a very detailed and interesting speech, Scott not only explained how exactly to use a DMM with these components, but also provided insight on how these meters actually worked and what to look for in one before purchasing. Thanks Scott!

Following this, we held our monthly mini sumo competition with Jim and Walter both competing against one another for the title of club champion. This time both robots performed magnificently and there were many close calls and rather lengthy runs however in the end the score was 5 for Jim and 3 for Walter!

The meeting adjourned around 4:30pm.