Hat tip to Razor Robotics for the image. Lots of great stuff to explore there, including some fantastic video. Here is a sample!
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Merry Christmas from RUS
Merry Christmas 2016 from Robotics Under the Stole! Hope you found something robotic under your tree...
Hat tip to Razor Robotics for the image. Lots of great stuff to explore there, including some fantastic video. Here is a sample!
Hat tip to Razor Robotics for the image. Lots of great stuff to explore there, including some fantastic video. Here is a sample!
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Robots on the Tree
A couple of robots on my tree... hope there will be a few under the tree too! Merry Christmas from RUS!
Monday, December 19, 2016
Friday, December 2, 2016
Tour of the BlocklyProp Starter Kit with Matt Matz
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Friday, November 18, 2016
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Saintly Robot?
On most holidays, I try to post something robotic. November 1 is All Saints' Day - and today, the Sunday after All Saints', is usually the day we in the Church remember all the saints (the people of the Church - famous and ordinary) who loved and cared for the Church in their day and who passed it on to us. We are reminded that it is our job to care for the Church now and pass it on to others.
The same is true in any field of endeavor. Each generation contributes to and hands on to others. In the fields of robotics, science, and engineering, we say, "We stand on the shoulders of giants!" We add our contribution and then hand our love of robotics to others - who carry on the work for generations to come.
Today, I Googled "saint + robot," and found this - San Robot! It is an "icon-like" image of a robot!
The same is true in any field of endeavor. Each generation contributes to and hands on to others. In the fields of robotics, science, and engineering, we say, "We stand on the shoulders of giants!" We add our contribution and then hand our love of robotics to others - who carry on the work for generations to come.
Today, I Googled "saint + robot," and found this - San Robot! It is an "icon-like" image of a robot!
Monday, October 31, 2016
Remembering...
This Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) styled image of R2-D2 reminded me that this Halloween and All Saints' Day, Robotics Under the Stole should remember the life of Kenny Baker, the English actor who played R2-D2. Baker died on August 13 of this year at age 81.
This "little droid" is surely one of the most iconic robots ever conceived. Thanks for bringing him to life Kenny Baker!
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
The Tractor of Tomorrow
There was an amazing article in The News-Star, our local newspaper, titled "Tractor of Tomorrow." It was about Case IH's newest concept vehicle. It is an autonomous, or driverless, tractor and was recently showcased at the Future Farmers of America (FFA) convention in Indianapolis. Read more about it at caseih.com here.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Like a Hog on Ice!
In response to a post on the Parallax Forums today I did a bit of Googling and found this great video - though the inviewer reminds me a bit of the old Bob and Ray "Komodo Dragon" interview! ;-) - I was familiar with the concept of these wheels and have posted about this before.
The post was about Ilon Wheels - designed by Sweedish inventor Bengt Ilon in 1973. Omni-wheels, Mecanum Wheels and Ilon Wheels are derivative of the same idea!
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
Blockly and S3 Robot Google Hangout
Just registered for Parallax's Blockly and S3 Robot Google Hangout hosted by Ken Gracey. More info is here. Should be lots of fun!
Sensor Box from Parallax
So jealous that my friend Edwin, got one of these before I did. This is cool idea. Check it out here. Great price too!
Parallax S3 in the Classroom
This is what it is all about. My good friend, Ken Gracey, the President of Parallax, Inc., sent me an email saying,
"Well, today another class got started with the S3s. This particular teacher has been using the S2s for four years already. She begged her administrators to get a full elective course in robotics and they gave it to her this year. It consists of S3s, soldering activities, and some show-and-tell from the high school kid's engineering program next door (the middle and high school are attached)."Look at all those happy faces! That's Ken on a knee in the glasses (lower left). Hard to say who's having more fun. ;-)
Theo and E.O.
Something shared by my friend Eric Ostendorff, aka erco on the Parallax Forums - Eric says,
"A fun evening at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Dutch artist/inventor Theo Jansen gave a talk at JPL about his famous Strandbeest walkers. I showed him the Strandbeest-style "TheoBot" I made and he controlled it with hand gestures. A DIY article I wrote about this robot was published in SERVO magazine. I gave him a copy and he autographed a copy for me."
Neat. Jealous on many levels - a night at JPL, a night with Theo Jansen and designing a cool robot and showing it off to a hero! Way to go erco!
And lastly erco's TheoBot...
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Parallax S3 Scribbles Fibonacci Spiral
Great work from my friend Nikos Giannakopoulos using some very clever code made with BlocklyProp. The possibilities for using the S3 to teach mathematical concepts are endless!
You can see the code below or at http://blockly.parallax.com/blockly/editor/blocklyspin.jsp?project=966
Monday, October 3, 2016
S3 with Pen Lifter Hack
A little treat for Ken Gracey and the folks at Parallax, Inc. This code is for a tutorial that is in the works...here is a preview video.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Beaten to the Punch!
Yesterday, I did a pet blessing for a local animal rescue group. A friend (erco from the Parallax Forums) suggested a blessing of the bots. So, I decided to look on the web...The Dalai Lama beat me to it, though!
I told Eric about this... This was his reply! HA!
Friday, September 30, 2016
Scribbler 3 Educators' Courses in Iowa
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| Robotic's Educators are the best! |
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| I wish Ken was a bit more enthusiastic! |
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| S3s on the loose! Who left the door open? |
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| Look at these spiro-graphic images below! |
I am very excited about this bit of information shared at the end of the article...
"Are you an educator who’d like to learn about the S3? We’ll be running some YouTube Live sessions for you in October! The week of October 17-21, I [Ken] will be running four one-hour YouTube Live S3 Robot and Blockly introductions. Each presentation will be 30 minutes of demonstration followed by a questions/answers. Details and signups will be posted soon!"
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Disney's Jimmy
A Hybrid Hydrostatic Transmission and Human Safe Haptic
Telepresence Robot from DisneyResearchHub. What does that mean? Disney Research
has created Jimmy, a robot that moves at lifelike speed. It uses air/water
actuators and can operate safely with humans. The version shown is controlled
by a human puppeteer and that is why it is referred to as a telepresence robot.
Disney Research is an international network of research
labs, with the mission to push the scientific and technological forefront of
innovation at The Walt Disney Company.
Monday, September 26, 2016
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Different Scribblers and Different Whits
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| The new S3 and the new Whit* |
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| The old Scribbler and the old Whit* * Same happy roboticist! |
Friday, September 23, 2016
Graphic Inspiration
The graphics for the S3 robot tutorials over a learn.parallax.com are clever, creative and just plain fun. Thanks Courtney for making these so fun!
Why?
Why? I saw this tonight at Target. Size 12 months!Why are the coolest robotics' shirts sized for children only? This one is very elegant - adult colors - subtle pattern - super cool! Why, I say, why?
When will this wrong be righted?
Thursday, September 22, 2016
More S3 with Ping)))
Parallax S3 with Ping))) ultra-sonic sensor measure the distance to objects a 45, 90 and 135 degree and then drives to the nearest object.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
The S3 in Action
Take a look at these great gifs from Parallax of the S3 in action...
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| Light Following |
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| Line Following #1 |
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| Line Following #2 |
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
mēbo
mēbo - Saw this out at Toys-R-Us. Look pretty neat - check out the video below... $149.99 - that price seems be the msrp.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Parallax S3 with Ping))) Hack
The S3 plays with its ancestors using this Ping))) ultrasonic sensor hack and some nifty BlocklyProp code from Ken Gracey.
The loop repeats forever. A variable named distanceCM is set by the green block that measure distance in cm from a PIng))) on pin 5. The play tone uses that variable multiplied by 5 to create and play a tone. Motor speeds are decreased as the distance to an obstacle decreases. If the minimum allowed distance is reached, then the S3 rotates 180 degrees and the cycle begins again.
Here is what Ken's BlocklyProp code looks like - the neat thing about Blockly code is that it explains itself - take a look (I did modify the if do minimum distance in the video example above so the S3 would turn before it bumps its next of kin!).
The loop repeats forever. A variable named distanceCM is set by the green block that measure distance in cm from a PIng))) on pin 5. The play tone uses that variable multiplied by 5 to create and play a tone. Motor speeds are decreased as the distance to an obstacle decreases. If the minimum allowed distance is reached, then the S3 rotates 180 degrees and the cycle begins again.
This complex bit of coding is a breeze with BlocklyProp! Give it try!
Sunday, September 18, 2016
What's in a Name (tag)?
I found these great name tags made by Carson-Dellosa at The Teacher's Mart, a local teacher's supply store. I will use the tags at an upcoming robotic's workshop where I will introduce the Parallax S3 to a group of local librarians - who in turn will share them with lots of young people in our area. I made this one into a meme for Robotics Under the Stole.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Feelin' the Green?
Feelin' the Green! More on the Scribbler 3! Great job Miguel! Ken, Miguel IS as excited as I am!
Eric, Carol, and Nikos are too!*
Eric, Carol, and Nikos are too!*
* The exclamation mark - ! is (freely used) is an inside joke - I was overusing it when helping write the S3 tutorials - Ken suggested that I use it less - he said, "We know you are excited..."
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
S3 Fever
Ken Gracey may - I repeat, MAY - be as excited as I am about the Parallax S3 robot! But honestly I doubt it. LOVE the S3 and BlocklyProp!
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Scribbler 3 Robot
Visit www.parallax.com or https://www.parallax.com/education/teach-scribbler-3-robot and check out this amazing new robot. The new S3 promises to be a goldmine for robotics and programming education.
It is hard to understand at first glance how many features and how much versatility is build into this new robot - from the hardware itself (including the new exposed hacker's port) to software programming interface - GUI (for Windows), BloclyProp (developed with Google's Blockly and web-based), and the Propeller Chip's native Spin (with IDEs for many operating systems).
I have been working with the S3 for a while and it is a truly worthy successor to the Scribbler line. I have them all and have or will eventually teach with them all - I will be conducting a workshop soon with some local educators (more on that later).
I challenge you to find a better platform for getting students and hobbyist evolved in robotics - especially at $179 price! Get one and then meet me or any of the other friendly folks on the Parallax Forums - forums.parallax.com or at Parallax's Education Resource page - learn.parallax.com or contact me directly - I'll answer any question I can or promise to find you an answer. I am absolutely sold on this little green bot.
Most of all, have fun and learn something new! What a wonderful hobby! Join me and others as we inspire a new crop of roboticists, engineers and programmers - maybe even a priest or two!
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Alex and the Next Mars Rover!
This story makes me smile! There is always a way to contribute. Thanks to Ken Gracey and Parallax for helping me find a way... My story is this - by helping teach robotics to young people and inspiring them - one never knows which one of the students might wind up like this! Alex's story is below:
The NPR story is here - or listen below!
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Labor
Reflecting on Labor - when you work - work for something that matters!
This video about Robot Sound Design by demonstrates this idea nicely.
Friday, September 2, 2016
Labor Day Weekend
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| Illustration by Andrew Rae; Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis |
So - take Labor Day off! Relax! We are uniquely suited for that! In fact - God made it that way!
Thursday, September 1, 2016
S3 Launch Day at Parallax
To quote that great sage and philosopher, SpongeBob SquarePants twice in one post....
"It's the best day ever!"
and
"I'm ready, I'm ready,
I'm ready!"
Expect to here and see much more here and from Parallax - this is a unbelievable tool for teaching about robotics, programming, electronics and problem solving. The possibilities are endless!
