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WCRS Meeting
Summary November 13, 2003 (
Paul Godin) Introduction: Quentin opened the meeting at 7:05. There were 43 people in attendance. He introduced the executive. We are in need of many volunteers for the Games and for the many other events that we’d like to sponsor over the year. Please contact the WCRS to volunteer. Membership: We have put off collecting memberships until the AGM, but now we can start collecting memberships. Fee is $10.00 for full memberships per person (we don’t have a family fee). Nancy is looking after the membership payments. First Lego League: We started late with the 1st Lego League (FLL). We had to make a quick decision and we’ve decided to sponsor it. It’s a good opportunity for older members to support the younger folk. We need volunteers at all levels, including managing, set-up and tear-down, publicity, fundraising, etc… Nancy discussed the First Lego League. For 9 to 14, groups up to 10. The theme is “Mission to Mars” and it is a competition that involves autonomous robots built from Lego Mindstorms. Design, ability, research and presentation and teamwork are the marking criteria. Our region is allowed 48 teams and we have 25/26 teams. There are several teams outside of Calgary, including Edmonton and Bonnyville. This is a worldwide competition. There are 49,000 kids participating in this event worldwide. The world invitational will likely be in Atlanta. If you are interested in participating or volunteering you can speak with Nancy or Rob, or go to the web site for information. See the web site for the list of positions to volunteer for. We have made application for an actual astronaut to come out. We are still waiting to hear on this. Quentin: In the last couple of years we have had many new members on how to control the robots. We’ve made the ATMEL MEGA8 the “official” microcontroller adopted by the society. Craig Limber on the
AMTEL workshop (Freakfest): There were 13 attendees at the workshop. We had most of the microcontrollers working and connecting to the computers. Freakfest info linked on the web site. Craig has set up tutorials on the web site and is continually adding more information. Cost of the device is about 8 to 12 dollars individually. If you are interested in buying a couple, get on the newsgroup and we’ll combine orders to offset shipping costs. Dr. Chris McNabb on
U of C activities: Chris spoke about skating robot competition at the U of C last year (pictures available on line). The competition may be opened to the general public. The university will have their own competitions and they will compete against anyone interested from the general public. There are two categories. There is an open competition where there are few limitations (a fairly high weight limit and a height limit of 1 meter), and there will be a Lego competition. An IR beacon toward the end of the track to help the units maintain a straight line, but this beacon may not reach the 50 meters. The week before competitions there will be time to practice and time to calibrate the units in the arena. The U of C is inviting a team or two from the society. Link http://skatebot.dyndns.org/ . Rules posted on the site. Will likely be a cost to enter the competition. Quentin: The 10 best robots from Japan will participate in the Seattle games. If you’re in the area, don’t miss it. We’ll try to get Asimo to visit. The Honda humanoid robot, is on tour, and we are trying to add the WCRG as a stop. In Suffield there is a conference about mine sweeping robots. Perhaps an idea for a future robotic competition or demo event this year.? Paul Desrosiers set up the mission mars set. The university invites us to use their Lego lab facilities to play with the Mindstorm kits. Must be done before the Christmas break. Voted for a Saturday. Members-only event (see Nancy for membership). DAN from AP Circuits
in Calgary: AP Circuits is the friend of the hobbyist and offers the ability to purchase boards for a reasonable price. They will take small orders. APCLIENT will allow you to handle the files and the design files. The beta is available and there will be more in the next few days. The ordering process is easy. They can do two-sided boards with thru-holes (very difficult to do at home). Important to get the right way up so include some text on the board and to make sure that it isn’t inverted. Keep holes away from the edge of the board that may cause board failure. There is a minimum requirement of 2 boards. Takes 24 hours to get a board done. They will also ship anywhere. RS274X (enhanced Gerber). Easy to use and is the preferred way of submitting the file. The drill format in eia or hexalong file format. The board files that eagle produces can be converted but there may be a charge for extra CAD time. Graphic codes GC preview will look at the gerber file (GWK file) that will check your file and check for errors. AP Circuits needs drill file, tool list, upper and bottom layer. Include a readme file to describe what you are doing. Try to use standard drill sizes. 42 thou is the suggested hole size as it fits virtually all sizes of standard devices. 7 thou wide trace, 7 thou spaces minimum recommended to avoid problems. Cost is about $75 set up and $1 per sq inch. The WCRS will retain a library of the board designs submitted to add to the collective intelligence of the society. We will discuss how to do simple boards. SAIT students use Protel for board design. Craig Maynard on how
to create home-brew circuit boards: Craig introduced the program Easytrax. Free and good. Info on site regarding deadlines, dates, links, tutorials, functions of the software, etc. The first step is prototyping (breadboarding). Once you are satisfied with the design it is time to create a printed circuit board. Craig provided a tutorial and a demonstration on using easytraks. See the WCRS site for links and information. Conclusion: At the conclusion of the meeting, Craig gave away a handful of older Cybug circuit boards. Craig also demonstrated his wife’s Roomba robotic vacuum. Pretty cool, works well, and apparently she likes it. Has an excellent algorithm. There are virtual walls that you can use to restrict it. Craig did not get permission to take it apart but fortunately someone on-line did. See links on the site. Meeting ended at 9:40 with a demonstration of the robotic vacuum.
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