Nation Robotics Week Photos

Photos of National Robotics Week are available on Flickr here. To see just the GatorBots Demonstration Day photos click here.

It looks like there were some great events around the country. The second annual National Robotics Week will be April 9-17, 2011. See you then!

Accidental Find

Tonight my wife, the kids and I took a ride. We ended up at an Atwood's Ranch and Home Store in Crossett, Arkansas (about 30 minutes from home). It is like a farm supply and hardware store.

 As we walked along the asiles my wife spotted some robot toys. There were three key wound motor robots. The Space Robot is made by Schylling - http://www.schylling.com/

As the robot walks he lights up with sparks inside. It is really cool! See the pic and info from their website here. The price at the store was the same as online - $19.99. The Box was almost as cool as the robot. Neat huh?

Stingray Alpha at Demonstration Day

The Grace Episcopal School GatorBots had a Demonstration Day and end of the year party on April 13. This was done in conjuction with National Robotics Week.

I took my Parallax Stingray Robot and let it "roam" around. The kids were very impressed. The loved the size, which looked huge compared to their Scribblers.  I am starting to make some head way on this great robot. A picture from the Demostration Day is posted above. The current version has 5 - Ping))) ultra-sonic sensors and a Parallax 4 x 20 LCD display.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter friends!

Dual Voltage Power Supply

I picked up one of Brian's (http://ucontroller.com/index.html) Dual Voltage Power Supply Kits to use with my Propeller Education Kit. It supplies 5 volts and 3.3 volts to a breadboard and uses a Parallax standard 2.1 mm center positive connection to a 7-9 volt wall wart. I includes and on/off switch and an LED to indicate when it is on. There are alterative pin locations to adapt to breadboard variations.

The PCB boards are very nice and screened clearly. The documentation is simple and clear and it is a cinch to put together. I don't know if I got lucky, but mine is dead on. The 5 volt side provide 5.000 volts and the 3.3 volt side provided 3.305 volts on my meter. Can't beat that.

It is a nice little kit and sure beats using batteries! My son even helped me put it together and learned about the parts, how to place them and got to watch some soldering.

Update: I added some heat sinks that I found in my junkbox to the voltage regulators. (This is not shown in the photo)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

National Robotics Week

The first annual National Robotics Week is April 10-18, 2010. The purpose of National Robotics Week is to:

• Celebrate the US as a leader in robotics technology development
• Educate the public about how robotics technology impacts society, both now and in the future
• Advocate for increased funding for robotics technology research and development
• Inspire students of all ages to pursue careers in robotics and other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math-related fields

Why is robotics important?

• Robotics technology is a growing industry which creates high-tech jobs in the US
• Robotics technologies are helping to improve healthcare, national defense, homeland security, energy, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, agriculture, education, consumer goods, and many other sectors
• Robotics provides an exciting, hands-on way for students to learn Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

You can find more information at http://www.nationalroboticsweek.org/