Demo Robot for Kids

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On the lighter side, but cool nonetheless, is "Robbie" the demo robot built by Lawrence Feir of Innovation Robotics. Nothing like getting kids involved! Lawrence recently shot this note out to the media:

Greetings all.

Just a quick note and a photo of the robot that interacted and entertained visitors and vendors at the North Carolina Science Teachers Association annual conference held at the Kourey Convention Center in Greensboro.

The robot "speaks" through a wireless interface allowing the operator to not only drive the robot about but also carry on a conversation with the visitors. Most everybody was amazed to hear the robot talk and even more amazed when it answered their questions and called them by their name.

On day two of the event the robot was busy offering candy and donuts to even more amazed and totally entertained onlookers! When finished the robot will be able to hand out brochures and business cards.

"Robbie" the robot is available to trade shows, museums, schools and businesses for exhibits and demoes (donuts not included). Trade show appearances are also available (call for quote).

Lawrence Feir
Innovation Robotics
2022 Walker Avenue
Greensboro, NC 27403
336/ 274-4846
innovationrobotics.com

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RoboGames Provides Rover Fun At X-Prize Cup
by Kevin Berry

The Robotics Society of America, sponsor of the annual RoboGames competition (www.robogames.net) built a simulated lunar rover for display and demonstrations at the X Prize Cup event. Two teachers, Dave Calkins and Mike Strange, helped students Susan Reno, John Mehlman, and Avish Bharwani run the rover through its paces to the delight of hundreds of school children.

According to Calkins, “The goal was to make a robot for free that was multi-functional and visitors (especially kids) could operate. We whipped it together in about a month.”

The "head" had a sonar array and wireless camera, with had about 110 degrees of left/right pan. The arm was from Lynxmotion, and the servos were high torque robot servos from HiTec. There was a second camera under the bot for arm positioning. The cameras transmitted back to two TVs, so you could drive by robot view, not just by watching the bot itself, to simulate “real” remote rover operations.

The motors were NPC Robotics T-84's running at 24V. This yielded a very fast bot, which was made more controllable by putting a chip in between the receiver and the ESC's, acting as a governor by dividing the pulsewidth by two, cutting the power in half.

The arm proved popular with the kids, picking up candy. The arm had 6 degrees of freedom, so it provided quite a challenge. This project proved to be a great example of the fun robotics can provide, and made what is sure to be a long lasting memory for many young people.