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!

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!

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!

Labor

Reflecting on Labor - when you work - work for something that matters!

This video about Robot Sound Design by Nathan Brockbank demonstrates this idea nicely.

Labor Day Weekend

Illustration by Andrew Rae; Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Is such a picture possible? Sam Grobart thinks so. In his article at Bloomberg News titled: Robot Workers: Coexistence Is Possible, Grobart opines, "In more and more industries, human workers are losing out to robots—but coexistence is possible." 

So - take Labor Day off! Relax! We are uniquely suited for that! In fact - God made it that way!

The S3 and BlocklyProp in Action!

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!"

www.parallax.com and 
learn.parallax.com

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!