Talent contest presentations:

Bruce Weimer presented his robot, Hexbot, which is an experimental platform with a three omni-wheel drive system controlled by two BX-24's communicating serially with each other. Its sensors include an SRF-04 sonar and two Sharp IR range sensors. It uses a subsumption software architecture to implement three basic operations: travel straight, rotate to be parallel to a detected wall, and maintain a specific distance from the wall. He demonstrated that from these modes of operation, a fourth mode has emerged. The robot is capable of making a nice turn to follow the wall in a corner. Another sensor on the robot is an RC helicopter type rate sensor which he uses to implement a "heading hold" mode.

Henry Arnold presented his robot, Plexi II. It is constructed primarily of aluminum and was sporting a new red paint job. It has a standard two wheel drive system with a caster. The drive gearmotors are powerful and are controlled by JR Kerr servo controller boards which are directed by a PC-104 type computer running Windows. The programming was done in Visual C++. The "head" is capable of rotating (someday) and has two webcams mounted which are not currently operational. Henry plans to replace one of the webcams with the CMUCAM. The robot has a new complement of IR detectors which Henry designed which have the advantage of detecting objects over a much wider range than the Sharp sensors which detect only in a specific direction. The robots demonstrated a simple deadreckoning path of motion which emitting a series of sounds based on R2D2 sound files.

Jim Ubersetzig showed us his entry in the robot Line Fetch contest which followed this Talent contest. The goal of the line fetch contest is to follow a line (black line on white background) to the end where an empty soda can was placed. The robot is to pick up the can and return to the starting position of the line and place the can down. Jim's robot is controlled by a Basic Stamp 2 and is coded with subsumption logic to handle the line following and the can handling. The robot has an RC servo driven gripper, which is lined with foam rubber to grip the can.

Carl Sutter showed us his entry for the Line Fetch contest called "Snare". This robot has a new and unique mechanism for grasping the can. It has a "lasso" constructed from fiberglass/plastic package banding which has one end attached to a windup mechanism powered by a continuous motion RC servo. The loop can be raised to pass over the can and then lowered over the can and the loop then shortens until the can is grasped. The robot is controlled by a BS2 with conventional procedural coding.

Jerry Woods presented his robot, Juggernaught. Yet another entry in the Line Fetch Contest. This robot had several unusual features; not least of which was the sharp toothed jaws for grasping the soda can in the contest. This robot is constructed of aluminum; all of which was cut by hand. It is controlled by two computers; an 8051 performing the actual motor control and sensor acquistion programmed in C, and a palm pilot performing the supervisor computations and programmed using Pocket Studio.

Tim Lewis presented his robot, RoboBug, which is a 6 legged walking robot powered by two RC servos. It is programmed in Basic on a PIC. It provides for remote control by an operator who controls it with an IR remote control. After the remote control selects a command, the robot performs that command autonomously. It provides basic control of: forward, reverse, turn left and turn right. It also has feelers to avoid obstacles. A demonstration of its operation was made.

Russell Newman showed us his walking robot, BugBot. This robot walks on 4 legs with rubber tips on each leg to provides improved traction. It has two servos driving the legs and is controlled with TTL logic. Russell gave us a demonstration of its walking capability.

 

Line Fetch Event:

There were three entries for the line fetch contest. The event was to be judged based on the fastest time to following the line to reach the can and then to carry the can back to the start point and place it down. The time would be the best time of three attempts. Each robot showed the ability to find the can and pick it up and carry it (which was, after all, the main innovation of this contest. However, the line following showed erratic results, which may have been influenced by the florescent, lights overhead. But, in the end, Jerry Woods' robot, Juggernaught showed the best reliability and best time. Although there were some moments of tension as the soda can appeared to be slowly slipping lower in the aluminum jaws during the return.