Day 2 - Moving!

In this week's lesson, we worked on moving the robot around, combining the MOVE block with things we already knew.  It was interesting to see the different teams' approach to solving the problem.

Day 1 of RFG 2011

Today's class went without a hitch.  All seven students showed up, and I think they had a good time playing with the robots.  Everybody got the bot going and made it beep and talk, which is a great start.  I think they're already having as much fun as the 5th graders!

One thing that's a problem is the lighting in the room.  When we switch from looking at the projection screen to looking at laptops it is a problem for some.  I'm going to close the blinds next time.  I sure wish the Mindstorms brick had louder audio.  Maybe I will do something about that.

Next week we'll try to get the bot to move and turn.

Dextre robot works aboard Space Station

This article,

 http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/dextre-robot-repairs-iss-while-astronauts-sleep,

tells about some recent activity with Dextre, the special purpose end-effector that's now in use on the Space Station.  When I first heard about it in 1977, it was thought to be something more complex than just a gripper, but this is *amazing*!  It can ride around on the tram while the Canadarm2 does other things, and it has small tools that it can use to fix things.  It is also capable of teleoperation from Mission Control!  The only limitation I see is that only one of Dextre's arms can be moved at a time, with the other locked in place.  That's a minor limitation in my opinion.  Good work, ROBO team!

Donation - Thank you!

Jon and Wiede Cutshall of San Antonio have most generously donated a Lego Mindstorms NXT set for use in the Robotics For Grandparents class.  They had previously purchased the kit for use in the GEAR (Getting Excited About Robots) program.  For several years, GEAR in San Antonio was operated by the San Antonio BEST organization.

Thanks, Jon and Wiede!

Laptop news.

The SA BEST laptop that I hoped to use was not up to the task.  It lacked USB ports and wireless LAN capability, and was loaded with Windows 95, which is not compatible with the Mindstorms NXT software that we will be using.

Fortunately, I was able to find a laptop on Craigslist that will fit the bill.  It's a bit newer, and has a freshly installed Windows XP as well as USB ports and wireless capability.  It came at a good price, and the seller threw in an installation disk for Windows XP.

Some good news

I have good news!  The Robotics for Grandparents class size limit has just increased from 8 to 12.  This is due to the generous loan of a Mindstorms NXT kit and a Dell laptop computer by the gang at SA BEST Robotics.  We will now have 3 robots to work with, one for each 4 students. 

Field Trip scheduled for the RFG class

On Saturday, October 15, the RoboticsForGrandparents class will have an optional field trip to the 2011 San Antonio BEST robotics competition.  This will be an opportunity to do some basic volunteer work and see how exciting robotics can be.  See www.sabest.org for current information on the competition and for directions to the Convocation Center at St. Mary's University.

This year's competition theme is "BUGS!"