Another impressive performance!

Tremont's rookie First Lego League team "Mindstorms Montage" wrapped up its 2008 season with an impressive performance at the 9th Annual FIRST LEGO League Tournament held at the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.

The team brought back two awards:

Project Award - 2nd Place: Presented to the teams whose quality research, innovative solutions and creative presentation best reflect an in-depth understanding of the various scientific disciplines and issues involved with the Challenge Project.

The Tournament Champion's Award - 2nd Place: The most prestigious of the awards; presented to the team best representing the true meaning of FLL and FIRST in its enthusiasm and inspiration to others. This team carries the honor of serving as a role model for FIRST and the FLL program in demonstrating respect, encouragement, and continued gracious professionalism in the heat of competition, both in and out of the arena.

FLL Competition Coverage in the Bangor Daily News

http://bangornews.com/detail/94781.html

The Project - Presentation to the Judges

FLL Competition Dec. 7th 2008 - Castine, Maine

Devin and Luke's Match - Don't forget the plow!!!

Audrey and Kai's Match - Team Cheers On

FLL Competition Dec. 7, 2008 Castine

Mindstorms Montage's Pit Area

FLL Competition - Dec. 7th, 2008 - Castine, Maine

Luke and the team explain their robot to the judges

FLL Competition Dec. 7th 2008 - Castine

Tremont's Robotics Team in the Bar Harbor Times

Link to the article about Tremont's Mindstorms Montage Team that appeared in the Bar Harbor Times:
http://mdi.villagesoup.com/Education/story.cfm?storyID=137017



Link to the Public Service Map:

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/wwwfishboy/320397

Presentation Practice in Front of Parents

The Blackout Showdown!

It's the day before Thanksgiving, no school, no power but a whole lot of fun - the Blackout Showdown!

Map Showing Impact of Sea Level Rise on Tremont

Tremont is considered one of the top 20 towns in Maine that will be affected by raising sea levels due to climate change. This map shows the areas that will be affected.

Click here to see the map

Erosion Patrol's Public Service Map

Full of tips and awareness about erosion, Tremont's FLL Team "Mindstorms Montage" interactive map of MDI is a learning tool.


Click here to view the map

Machine Madness - Montshire Science Museum 2008

Luke Tests His Robot

Holiday Shopping Guide - Beginner Robotics

Tarmi 3 - Line Follower Robot - $24.95

The Tarmi 3 is the entry level line follower for the Tarmi line. Tarmi 3 takes the simplicity of the SumoBot and adds in the ability to adjust sensors. There are two adjustable potentiometers which allow children to adjust the speed and the IR detector sensitivity. Children will get the chance to learn about sensory input and motion control introducing them to the exciting world of robotics and technology. Classrooms can use the oval track provided with each kit or experiment by making their own. All you need is a white surface and black tape or black marker.

* Recommended for ages 7 and up
* Under 7 will need adult assistance
* Build in 30 minutes or less
* Can be rebuilt into multiple designs
* Printed English assembly guide
* Oval line track on back side of guide
* Adjustment potentiometers for speed & IR detector sensitivity
* Simple brain using logic IC's, BJT's
* 2 IR emitter/detector pairs for edge detection
* Batteries not included - requires 4 AA


-------------------------------------

Sumobot - $24.95



This little SumoBot delights young children without being too complicated. The bright friendly pieces are easy to assemble and kids get to cheer their robots on as they battle for dominance inside the combat ring!

The SumoBot is equipped with two IR sensors underneath that sense the edges of the battle zone. The robots speed around the ring trying to stay inside as they hunt for their opponent to push out. Classrooms can use the combat ring provided with each kit or experiment by making their own. All you need is a white surface and black tape or black marker.

Another exciting way for children to have fun is to allow them to decorate and dress up their robots to give them more personality. Turn the competition into a creative project as well with crafts and imagination.


* Recommended for ages 7 and up
* Under 7 will need adult assistance
* Build in about 30 minutes
* Comes with competition ring on back of instructions
* Atmel Attiny26 microprocessor (not reprogrammable)
* 2 IR emitter/detector pairs for edge detection
* Batteries not included - requires 4 AA

-----------

Other Beginner Robotics Kits:

Elenco iBOTZ line

SolarSpeeder

Herbie the Mousebot

More robotic kits

Montshire Science Museum Machine Madness

Robotics Club member Caffrey Fielding is planning to enter this contraption in next week's "Machine Madness" event at the Montshire Science Museum.




More info:

Saturday, N O V E M B E R 8
Sixth Annual Machine Madness
Calling inventors of all ages! We're building a really big machine at the Montshire, and we need your help. Build a contraption at home that can be linked to creations made by fellow participants and the result will be an incredible chain reaction that starts at one end of the Montshire's Community Room and ends at the other! 1-4 p.m. Registration not required. Free with Museum admission.

Link: http://www.montshire.org/

Dean Kamen's Slingshot Water Filter System

EPA Climate Change

More climate links

Description of Acadia national parks climate:

http://www.us-parks.com/acadia/climate.html


Confronting Climate Change in Maine:

http://www.climatechoices.org/assets/documents/climatechoices/maine_necia.pdf

Climate Connections - Project Resources

Fun & Interactive Sites

Climate change game from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/hottopics/climatechange/climate_challenge/

Earth Day Footprint Quiz - an interesting activity for kids to try on their global footprint
http://www.earthday.net/Footprintfaq

EPA Global Warming Kids Site: Focuses on science and impacts of global warming or climate change and on actions that help address global warming
http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/index.html

General information about climate and weather
http://www.weatherwizkids.com/climate.htm

Climate Change Club Web site from the conservation corps of Newfoundland and Labrador
http://www.conservationcorps.nf.ca/ccc/index.html

Game from IBM and TryScience/NY Hall of Science
http://www.powerupthegame.org/

A site created by WGBH about green living and sustainability
http://www.meetthegreens.org/

An article about how making decisions that reduce your carbon footprint is a great way for kids to get involved in reducing the impacts of climate change
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/specials/articles/1,28285,1613313,00.html

Search terms: climate plus anything from the glossary of terms, plus carbon footprint, data, game, kids

Climate Change Skepticism

List of climate change skeptics
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Climate_change_skeptics

Article about a recent conference
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2008/01/what-if-you-held-a-conference-and-no-real-scientists-came/

A site encouraging debate and discussion about climate
http://www.demanddebate.com/

Search terms: climate plus skeptics, global warming, climate change

Scientists & Their Research

Byrd Polar Research Center - studies of various ice core drilling expeditions around the world
http://bprc.osu.edu/Icecore/front-page.html

Notes from the field – a polar scientist talks about a research mission he participated in
http://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/40/07/notes/

Julie Brigham-Grette (2008 FLL Game Challenge Consultant) shares information about her career and research
http://www.geo.umass.edu/faculty/jbg

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab Polar Playground Ice Buoy: The Argos Buoy is shown on deformed seasonal sea ice in the Weddell Sea
http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/polar/toys.html

A great resource including the science around climate change, the impact, and solutions
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/

Links climate change to energy consumption
http://www.iisd.org/climate/

What is Causing the Dramatic Decline in Honeybee Populations in the U.S. & Elsewhere in Recent Years?
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5485.cfm

Access to a wealth of Earth science data sets.
http://viz.globe.gov

Search terms: climate plus habitat, data, migration patterns, research, scientists

Climate Data, Governments, & Policy

Find climate data
http://www.worldclimate.com/
http://outflux.net/weather/noaa/
http://www.BestPlaces.net/climate/

Learn more about the concepts of latitude and longitude and find locations around the world
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/latitudelongitude.htm

Climate data from around the U.S.
http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/ushcn/ushcn.html

Site from Environment Canada includes a report on the status of emissions and plans to curb them
http://www.ec.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=FD9B0E51-1

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the Nobel winning, international collaboration that has objectively studied and reported on all aspects of climate change.
http://www.ipcc.ch/

The NASA Earth Observatory includes data, images, experiments, missions, and much more.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/

EPA’s Climate Change Page: This is a wide-ranging overview of climate change, from science to policy.
http://epa.gov/climatechange/index.html

Search terms: climate plus policy, data, government, collaboration

Update

So a far "Mindstorms Montage" has gone over the FLL challenges and split into two sub-teams that will compete with each other before the actual FLL match on Dec. 6th.

The two teams with be spurring each other on to create the best robots. There will then be a practice competition and the highest scoring robot or elements of both will be incorporated in the final entry.

If both robots are close in score there is the possibility of both robots being brought to the match as a different robot can be used in different matches.

The team has also begun doing research on the project "Climate Connections".

At this point basic robot chassis have been built and attachments started. We hope to start programming next week as well as continuing the project research.

Skills for the New Economy

Thinking outside the box. Jobs in the new economy--the ones that won't get outsourced or automated--"put an enormous premium on creative and innovative skills, seeing patterns where other people see only chaos," says Marc Tucker, an author of the skills-commission report and president of the National Center on Education and the Economy. Traditionally that's been an American strength, but schools have become less daring in the back-to-basics climate of NCLB. Kids also must learn to think across disciplines, since that's where most new breakthroughs are made. It's interdisciplinary combinations--design and technology, mathematics and art--"that produce YouTube and Google," says Thomas Friedman, the best-selling author of The World Is Flat.

More from Time Magazine: How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century

Ten T Error

I was having trouble with my computer. So I called Richard,
the 11 year old next door whose bedroom looks like Mission
Control, and asked him to come over.

Richard clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.

As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what
was wrong? He replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'

I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless
inquired, 'An, ID ten T error? What's that? In
case I need to fix it again.'

Richard grinned. 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?'

'No,' I replied.

'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.'

So I wrote down: I D 1 0 T

2008 FLL Kick Off!

Tremont's FLL Teams kicked off the 2008 First Lego League season with their first meeting. Coach Edward Fielding's presentation gave an overview of the FLL competition and the group watched a 20 minute video showing the Zoom Kids competing in a FLL competition.

The team will meet every Monday and Weds after school with the competition on Dec. 6th in Castine. The teams will be judged on their teamwork, research presentation, robotics competition and robot building skills.

------


Building a Global Game Plan

Whether the climate be cold, or whether the climate be hot
The climate is different all over
What is it like in your spot?
In Climate Connections
Solutions and questions - of many dimensions
Wait for FLL teams and robots!

When Computers Laugh

Psychologist Edward De Bono – “The Mechanism of Mind”, “Six Hats of Thinking” - stated in the 1960s:


“We have to worry about the day when computers start to LAUGH.”

ORIENTATION DAY - Weds Sept 3rd

The first meeting of the 2008 FLL Team will be on Sept 3rd after school in Mrs. Turner's Sixth Grade Classroom. The FLL Team will meet each week on Monday's and Weds.

FLL Tournament Date Announced

December 6th: Northern Maine FLL Tournament

Maine Maritime Academy, Field House, Castine, Maine

Open to 30 teams

Starts at 9:30 am (doors open at 8:30)

ElastoLab - free

Make virtual contraptions and games with this free software!

ElastoLab is a fun program for kids that lets them play with sound, images and motion in a simulated physics environment.

ElastoLab has been released as an open-source free-ware program.

http://www.simberon.com/elastolab.htm

NetLogo - Computer Modeling

http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/faq.html

NetLogo is a programmable modeling environment for simulating natural and social phenomena. It was authored by Uri Wilensky in 1999 and is in continuous development at the Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling.

NetLogo is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time. Modelers can give instructions to hundreds or thousands of independent “agents” all operating concurrently. This makes it possible to explore the connection between the micro-level behavior of individuals and the macro-level patterns that emerge from the interaction of many individuals.

NetLogo lets students open simulations and “play” with them, exploring their behavior under various conditions. It is also an authoring environment which enables students, teachers and curriculum developers to create their own models. NetLogo is simple enough that students and teachers can easily run simulations or even build their own. And, it is advanced enough to serve as a powerful tool for researchers in many fields

Cool Toy - Cat-A-Pult

Now here's a toy I know my young roboticists friends would enjoy -- the Cat-A-Pult.
The Cat-A-Pult was invented by Arthur M. Ganson, a sculptor who a decade ago invented a popular toy called Toobers and Zots - bendable, brightly colored foam pieces in whimsical shapes that children can manipulate to create sculptures.

"The idea grew out of a serendipitous thought of just imagining what would happen if you brought together a catapult and a mousetrap and dominoes," Mr. Ganson said. The toy includes a little foam cat, to play on the idea of a catapult.

You set up the five catapults in a series and try to get the foam cats to jump from catapult to catapult setting off a chain reaction. The toy retails for $35 and is a bit hard to find except for at independent toy stores and science museums but its worth search for this cool, challenging toy.

More

New Toy: PicoBoard

Playful Invention Company or Pico just released its "PicoBoard" which is a cool way to interface with the easy to learn programming environment "Scratch". Just like Lego Mindstorms, the Picoboard has all kinds of sensors and inputs but instead of creating a robot that interacts with its environment with the Picoboard you can write stories and games that interact with the real world. For example you could turn the pages of your story by blowing on the sound sensor. Or you could create a pressure pad so when someone sits down in front of the computer screen, the story begins. We can't wait to test one out!

-- Ed

Learning by Discovery with Mindstorms Robotics

Video of Mindstorms NXT in use in schools. Learning by discovery.

Vibro-Bots!

As a final robotics club event we did a "Vibro-bot" workshop. Using tiny cell phone motors, button batteries, Altoid tins and a lot of hot glue and other junk, 20 kids managed to create some rather cool vibrating bots that wiggled along the table.

The best toys are the ones you create yourself!

Bionic Arm Wins Top Engineering Prize

See the video

The world's most advanced, commercially available, bionic hand has clinched the UK's top engineering prize.

The i-LIMB, a prosthetic device with five individually powered digits, beat three other finalists to win this year's MacRobert award.

The technology has been fitted to more than 200 people, including US soldiers who lost limbs during the war in Iraq.

The device started life in Scotland in 1963 as part of a project to help children affected by Thalidomide.

The complex device finally went on sale in July 2007. It is produced by a company called Touch Bionics based in Mid Calder, Livingston.
See how the hand works

"It's such a fantastic invention," Ray Edwards, a quadruple amputee and one of the first people in the UK to be fitted with the device, told BBC News.

"When the arm was put on, I had tears rolling down my face. It was the first time in 21 years that I had seen a hand open.

"I can do a thumbs-up, I can hold a pen and I can do many things that I couldn't do before."

See how it works

NEXT UP: FLL

*Planning ahead:* First Lego League - Starting Wed. Sept 3rd!

*/What is First Lego League?/
*
FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is an exciting and fun global robotics program that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in kids ages 9 to 14 (16 outside of the U.S. and Canada).

Each year FLL teams embark on an adventurous Challenge based on current, real-world issues. Guided by a team coach and assisted by mentors, the kids:

* Research and solve a real-world problem based on the Challenge theme
* Present their research and solutions
* Build an autonomous robot using engineering concepts

Using the yearly Challenges, FLL:

* Entices kids to think like scientists and engineers
* Provides a fun, creative, hands-on learning experience
* Teaches kids to experiment and overcome obstacles
* Builds self-esteem and confidence
* Inspires kids to participate in science and technology

No matter what the child’s subject interest, FLL offers an opportunity for engagement. Whether it is by creativity, technology, or research, FLL dares kids to test, explore, expand, or completely change thoughts and approaches for different sciences each year.

*/The 2008 Challenge: Building a Global Game Plan/*

Embark on an exploration of the earth's climate in the FIRST LEGO League's 2008 Climate Connections Challenge! Discover the links between science, people, resources and communities. Unearth how we learn about past climates and delve into questions surrounding our current and future climatic conditions. Join FIRST LEGO League teams in creating a global game plan as they make these Climate Connections!
*
Meetings:* Monday & Weds after school
*
Competition:* Dec. 13th at the MMA in Castine

*More info:*

Official Site: www.usfirst.org
Maine Robotics: http://www.mainerobotics.org/firstlegoleague.html
Tremont Roboitcs: http://tremont-robotics.blogspot.com/

*FLL ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING WEDS SEPT 3rd*

The value of learning to program

Why Learn to Program?

Five years ago, the answer to "why learn to program" may have been simple: to get a nice, cushy job with beanbag chairs and a six-figure salary. Recently, the job market for programmers has lost some of its previous luster--no longer can anyone and his dog start a tech company, get venture capital, and pay programmers a combination of stock options and worth millions and a high salary.



This seems to have taken its toll on the number of prospective programmers; at some colleges, intro computer science classes are at all-time lows in attendance. This is a real shame because programming isn't really about making the big bucks. Though you will certainly be well paid if you are very good, your doctor friends are unlikely to be jealous of your finances once they pay off their medical school loans.

They will, however, be envious of the intangibles.

You Can Play God

When you program, you are a creator. You go from a blank text file to a working program with nothing to limit you but your imagination (and maybe some issues like how long your program takes to run). Programming is like having access to the absolute best set of legos in the world in almost unlimited qualities. Even better, you can get all of your building materials completely for free (once you own a computer) on the internet. Amazing!

It's also great fun to see someone using something that you made. Your ability to improve your life and the lives of your friends and family is limited only by your ideas once you can take full control of your computer. Moreover, your work can be extremely high quality because the limiting factor is not manual dexterity or other non-mental attributes. If you can understand a programming technique, you can implement and use it.

Automate Away Daily Drudgery

Programmers are famous for being lazy--in fact, being lazy is one reason people are drawn to programing. After all, why do something routine and repetitive when you could have your computer do it for you? Programmers have written all sorts of simple-to-use tools that make life easier for them--especially tools to manage the complexity of creating software (for instance, tools to help keep track of all the ways of making a program, or debugers to help improve their understanding of a running program).

But more than that, every programmer has a collection of simple tools that he or she uses on a day-to-day basis, from custom calendar reminder programs to processors for large data sets (especially useful for scientists!). Indeed, the physics community has a history of writing powerful tools that make their lives easier--one tool, HTML over HTTP, created by Tim Berners Lee, eventually became the world wide web. It was originally designed by a physicist programmer coming up with ways of simplifying his life.

Improve Your Computer Literacy and Know the Answer to the "Why" Questions

People are often frustrated by technology when it fails. Although operating systems such as Windows have become much more stable, there are still many security holes exploited every day. For a non-programmer, these issues are mysteries: the machine that never makes mistakes is full of problems, and who knows why?

Programmers, on the other hand, are familiar with the limits of the machine--what happens inside the computer when it takes several minutes to open large files, why a particular security hole is a problem, and why it's so difficult to get large-scale software projects right.

They understand it because they've dealt with most of these issues in their own programs and work with the ``stuff'' of the machine (to varying degrees across different programming languages). This can lead to some exciting finds, such as realizing how you can earn thousands of dollars in Windows solitaire set to Las Vegas style. Maybe not as good as earning real money, but how many of your friends have made $32K on under an hour playing cards?

In sum, programming lets you work with your mind to free yourself to create things that are interesting or useful instead of being limited by the confines of what others have done before, and even when using those other things, you'll find that you can better appreciate and understand them.

Some Amazing Mindstorms Robot Videos

"The NXT Generation" Spring 2008 Robot Track Meet Winners!

Wildcat Robotics Take First Place in the Spring 2008 Robot Track Meet!

The Wildcat Robotics Team "The NXT Generation" recently took part in their very first robotics competition and managed to bring home the overall first place trophy! Stand out performances included the Slope Climber team of Luke Krebs, Nicholas Krebs and Devin Cristianson. The slope climber robot was nearly out of the competition at the 60 percent incline level but came back to win as the lightest robot to climb a 72 percent incline. Team member AC Parson's robot beat out 17 other competitors to win first place in the fastest robot category. Strong placement in the Delivery Mission, Ping Pong Shot Put and Bridge Building categories contributed to winning the top prize at the competition.

Congrats to all team members who attended the competition - Dylan Richardson, Gabriel Grash, Audrey Beal, Kai Fox, Luke Krebs, Caffrey Fielding, Nick Krebs, Devin Christianson, Connor Ratcliff, Kohl Shaw, AC Parsons and Kat Murphy. The team was coached by Edward Fielding, Jim Fox, Jandrea Warren, Tammy Crossman-Turner and Max Crain. This season's track meet team was sponsored by Morris Yachts, Fishboy.com and Indalo Marine.

More Results: http://www.mainerobotics.org/trackmeet.html

Shot Put Shooter - Night Before The Big Event

The Ping Pong Shot Put Machine

Hexbugs

We sell these robotic bugs in packs of 5 for $50. Fishboy donates $20 for each package sold to the general Robotics Fund which pays for batteries, Legos and snacks.

Why use robots to get kids excited about science?

Because robots are complex systems that integrate several different fields, including computer science, mechanical engineering and electronics, they are a good example of applied science and engineering. They can also be exciting and fun to build and operate. Robot design competitions are being used at the high school and undergraduate levels to help students understand how these fields can be used to produce real-world applications.

This top-down approach to science and engineering education is the reverse of how these fields are usually introduced to students. The authors note that typically students must go through years of learning theoretical concepts in mathematics, physics, and other fields before they are allowed to think about putting these concepts into practice. Many students, the authors believe, lose interest in these fields because they must wait so long before experiencing the excitement and creativity that comes from finding solutions to intriguing challenges.

Once "Hot Jobs" Now Extinct

Here are a few examples of jobs which were once "Hot Jobs" with high demand but are now declining or totally extinct, at least in North America and Europe:

* Typesetting - Has been replaced by the first Apple computers and the advent of desktop publishing. Typesetting began in the 1400's with the first printing presses. The trend away from typesetting to desktop publishing started in the early 1980's and was completed by the mid 1990's. Thousands of people had their careers upset by this trend.
* Secretarial Dictation - Has been replaced by individuals doing their own word processing, starting in the late 1980's as the cost of personal computers came down.
* IBM punch card operator - Was obsoleted along with IBM punch cards by ~1985. Prior to that, punch card data entry employed tens of thousands.
* Telex (TWX) Operator - Was obsoleted by the advent of the FAX machine, ~ 1980
* FAX Machine Operator - Once the cost of FAX machines came down, most people handled their own faxes rather than having an assistant do it. Finally, most but not all faxes gave way to Email. 1980 to 1995.
* Telephone Operators - Once a premier job, demand was reduced significantly by touch tone systems and then later by voice recognition technology.
* Drafting Technician- Manual drafting using pencil and ruler was replaced by Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) in the 1980's.

from: Hot Jobs for the Future

Phoenix Mars Lander Touches Down May 25th

A new NASA mission will study water history and habitability at the north pole of Mars.

The Phoenix Mission will land in the northern polar region of Mars in May 25, 2008 and stretch out an instrumented arm to dig into the soil and ice. By studying the structure, composition, and chemistry of soil and ice samples within Phoenix's trench, scientists hope to learn about the history of water on Mars and the potential for biologic activity to take place there.

How to Play NXT Sumo

How to Play MINDSTORMS NXT Sumo

Competition rules and guidelines vary slightly from competition to competition, but here are some general guidelines on how to play:

MINDSTORMS NXT Sumo robots are placed on the SUMO ring about 12 inches apart and an equal distance from the center of the ring (6 inches from the center). The robots are set down parallel to each other and facing opposite directions so that the robots must actively search for the opponent and not "steamroller" straightforward.

The competition takes place in several rounds. Each round is limited to three minutes (or three bouts, whichever comes first). If there is no winner at the end of the three minutes, the round will be declared a draw. The winner of a round is simply the robot that has won the best of three bouts, with each bout lasting no more than one minute. The winner of a round receives two points, and the loser zero. A draw results in one point for each robot. If during a bout the robots are entangled and wear and tear is occurring, both contestants can agree to a restart of that bout. The robots may be restarted but the three minute overall time limit still applies (in other words, once three minutes are up the result of the round is determined by the results of the completed bouts, even if three bouts were not achieved during that time).

At the start of a bout players bow to each other... three, two, one, GO! Players activate their robots and clear out of the ring. The robots must wait three seconds before any motion is made (with the exception of shape changing; i.e. lowering or extending an arm or other feature), and the first motion should be directly away from the center. If there is no clear front of back to a robot, the direction of this first motion will define the “front” for purposes of the initial facing of the robots. A robot must start moving forward within ten seconds of the start of a bout.

The robots will proceed in combat until one unit is disabled or removed from the ring. A robot is considered to be “removed” from the ring when any part of it falls off the edge and touches the floor. A robot whose body hangs over the edge is not considered 'off' until it physically tips off the edge and touches the floor. Judgment of the ring officials is final. A robot that disables or removes the enemy gets a “Win” credited to it, and if a robot “suicides”, the other robot gets a “Win” credited to it.

NXT Sumo Rules

All MINDSTORMS NXT Sumo robots must be constructed of 100% unmodified LEGO parts (no gluing, cutting, melting, or other modification or modified pieces are allowed). This rule applies to sensors and motors as well. There is no limit on the amount of LEGO, MINDSTORMS NXT sensors, motors, NXT programmable bricks, HiTechnic sensors, or Bluetooth communication. No home brewed sensors allowed.

All robots must fit within a 1’ by 1’ square frame (although they can have any flat orientation within that frame; in other words, the front of the robot could be diagonal within the frame if the rest of it fits in a 1’ by 1’ square frame).

A LEGO MINDSTORMS brick (NXT) must be onboard the robot.

There is no height limit.

Robot weight is not to exceed two (2) pounds.

Swimming Robot Takes Its First Icy Plunge

All Things Considered, February 20, 2008 · Down in Antarctica, there are some big, mysterious lakes. One of them is Lake Bonney. All year long, it's covered by 12 to 15 feet of ice. Scientists would love to know more about the world hidden beneath all that ice, so later this year, they want to send in a swimming robot to explore it. But first, they have to make sure the robot can take the cold.

LISTEN (4.22 minutes)

Tora no Maki

Thanks to the talent and time of ISOGAWA Yoshihito, LEGO users everywhere can access a new 200+ page building resource! Tora no Maki is the first of hopefully many books developed by Yoshihito illustrating how to build various mechanisms with LEGO Technic bricks. Over 300 building challenges are presented using more than 1700 images.

Topics covered in the down-loadable publication include: gears, bracing, pulleys, walking mechanisms, springs, differentials, and much more! The author is only asking for a $10 donation if you find his work useful.

Link

Ping Pong Shot Put Ideas

Ping Pong Shot Put Ideas

Gear Ratios Review

1. Review Important Information--
-In a gear train, the gear connected to the motor is called the driver.
-The driver turns the other gear(s) which are called the follower(s).
-Small gears are fast, but weak.
-Large gears are strong, but slow.
-When a small gear drives a large gear, you have a mechanical advantage of power.
-When a large gear drives a small gear, you have a mechanical advantage of speed.

2. Calculate Mechanical Advantages

To calculate the mechanical advantage of a gear train, you must create a fraction.


-The number of teeth on the follower is the numerator (top number)
-The number of teeth on the driver is the denominator (bottom number)
-Divide your numerator by your denominator to determine your mechanical advantage

Example--If you have a 32-tooth gear as the follower and an 8-tooth gear as the driver, your fraction is 32/8.

32 / 8 = 4, so you have a mechanical advantage of 4. Any mechanical advantage greater than one, produces a larger force than it starts with. So, this gear train would produce a mechanical advantage of power!

BUT, if the 8-tooth gear is the follower and the 32-tooth gear is the driver, the fraction would be 8/32.

8 /32 = .25 Here the gear train is moving with much less force, but the output gear (follower) is moving with greater speed—it is spinning around four times each time the 32 tooth gear goes around once.

2008 WILDCAT ROBOTICS TRACK TEAM

2008 WILDCAT ROBOTICS TRACK TEAM
SPRING LEGO TRACK MEET - CASTINE
May 10th at MMA

BRIDGE BUILDING
The team

FASTEST ROBOT
Caffrey Fielding
Sofia Morris
Kohl Shaw

SLOPE CLIMBER
Nicholas Krebs
Luke Krebs
Devin Christianson

DELIVERY MISSION
Kai Fox
Connor Ratcliff

STRONGEST ROBOT
Audrey Beal
Kat Murphy
Cameron Durkee

PING PONG SHOT PUT

Dylan C. Richardson
Gabriel Grash
Andrew Jewett

"Fun Stuff" - Holonomic Drive Systems

Lego's aren't just for kids! The Mindstorms kits provide enough intellectual challenge for adults too. Check out Steve Hassenplug's holonomic drive robot called Omni. The holonomic drive allows the robot to move in any direction.

Holonomic drive, in the realm of robotics, refers to the ability to move in all direction and rotate independently. For example, a tank, which has to rotate before it can move in a different direction, would not be holonomic. But the robots featured in this MIT video, taken during the FIRST Robotics Championship in Atlanta, GA, are.

2001: A Space Odyssey at the Grand!

Stanley Kubrick's classic tale of computers gone bad. Who can forget the voice of Hal 9000? Rated G! A must see for all robots fans.

7:30 Sunday 3/16

A look inside a NXT Motor

Check out the gear train inside the motor!

The motor is geared down a lot - the blue gear on the left of the motor is the rotation sensor. It counts the gears as they pass by.

Wildcat Robotics Welcomes Corporate Sponsor Morris Yachts

Wildcat Robotics newest corporate sponsor, local yacht builder Morris Yachts is investing in the engineers of the future.

If you don't think building a modern day luxury sailing yachts involves cutting edge technology and some tricky engineering challenges then you haven't seen the M Series with its a self-tacking jib, push button sail raising, a performance underbody, and performance driven rig. Plus the challenge of keep it all smooth sailing while maintaining comfortable cabin accommodation's.

Maybe someday one of our young roboticists will become a nautical engineer working for Morris designing the next great ocean cruising vessel.

Robotics Camp Scholarships

We will most likely have money available from the community enrichment program to help defray the costs of the Robotics Summer Camps (I'm 99% sure we will have $75 - $100 per camper available).

The only catch is that the scholarship money will not be available until the end of June. So if you would like to attend, you will have to register and pay the full amount up front (there are only 16 slots available so do it now!).

See Coach Ed for more info.

Hexbug Update

Only a few Hexbug left locally. For online supporters we'll still be selling Hexbugs via Amazon.com and Fishboy.com in boxes of five different Hexbugs:

Complete set of Hexbugs via Amazon.com

Complete set of Hexbugs via Fishboy.com

Thank you for all the support!

Buy a Hexbug and Support the Robotics Club!

Robotics club members will be selling tiny, robotic creatures to raise money for robotics club needs. Each entertaining micro robotic is only $10. See a robotics club member to place your order or buy a set of all five robots for $49.95 online through Fishboy (all profits are returned to the robotics club).

Buy Online

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Tiny, Intelligent, Obedient.
A Micro-Robotic HEXBUG is an tiny, intelligent, and obedient insect that you can control. Bump Feeler Sensors help it avoid obstacles while roaming on its own. You can help guide the Hex Bug during adventures by clapping or making noise to have it backup and change direction.

* Crawling Bug
* Bump Sensor Feelers - help it avoid obstacles
* Changes Direction - clapping or making noise
* Fits In Your Hand
* Batteries Included
* Five Different Colors:
o Pink
o Blue
o Green
o Yellow
o Orange

92 Stud Lego Truss Bridge

Howe Deck Truss

*ROBOTICS CLUB NEWS*

Bring your popcorn! Next meeting (_Weds Jan 30th_) its MOVIE NIGHT at Robotics Club! We'll be showing the PBS NOVA program "The Great Robot Race" which follows teams competing in the Pentagon's DARPA Grand Challenge—a race of driverless vehicles on a 130-mile course with a $2 million check for the winner. For more information and extra features visit:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/darpa/

Can't make it to the next meeting? Watch the movie online: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/darpa/program.html

Bridge building will on continue on _Weds Feb 6th.

Lego Trusses

The problem that many beginners face when they are starting to build Lego truss bridges is the issue of building triangles. Legos are a primarily rectangular medium, so some thought needs to go into the construction of sturdy, angled frameworks.

A very commonly-used technique is to use Lego Technic elements to construct trusses. 1xN bricks with holes are placed next to each other and 3L pins are used to place 1x4 with holes behind them, to hold them in line. The protruding end of the pin is used to place bars on angles with other brick assemblies, allowing bars at angles. While this approach is easy and requires only pins and bricks with holes, it doesn't allow the diagonal members to meet in true truss-bridge fashion. This approach will work for smaller bridges, but different ones will be needed for structures carrying much larger loads.


http://www.brickwiki.org/

Fifth Grader Challenge - Can the robot stop the nuclear reactor before meltdown?

Caffrey and Kai's Mars Rover

NASA's Mars Rover has successfully landed on the surface of Mars. Unfortunately the lander door in front of the robot is stuck. Can the third graders get the rover off the lander?

http://www.zweistein.de/lego/the_bridge_of_bottrop.html

Jan. 9 - Robotics Club

We kicked off the robotics club with a bit from PBS - Build It Bigger: Bridges. This series is available from Netflix.

We then started working on a project from Zoom - building bridges our of straws and pins.