Tag Archives: Dallas Personal Robotics Group

RBNV – Robot Builders Night Virtual – Jan 12, 2021

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Meeting Video:

Chat Record:  Chat record (PDF)

When

•January 12th, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CST).
• RBNV will continue each Tuesday evening until the virus crisis is over.

How

• Join Hangouts Meet https://meet.google.com/hey-jxuo-esf
• Or join by phone ‪+1 405-586-5598‬ ‬ PIN: ‪682 931 335 #‬

Why

• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Keep going while we’re stuck at home.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.

Agenda:

• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on as we’re all stuck at home
• Ad-hoc presentations – Whoever would like to show & tell.
• “Stump the club” Challenges – Ask for help if you’ve hit a roadblock in your project. Somebody in the club can probably get you pointed in a good direction – or even arrange a side bar session to help.

Note: We record a video of these sessions and post them on the DPRG YouTube channel. By joining the meeting, you’re giving consent to be included in the recording.

L298N Motor Driver Board – Drive Modes

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Author: Doug Paradis

This article discusses how to connect the L298 motor driver in three modes: drive/coast, sign-magnitude, and lock anti-phase. Code examples will be for the Arduino Uno (or with small modifications the Mega2560).

The L298N is a dual H-bridge chip often packaged nicely on a PCB module. It is widely used on small inexpensive hobbyist robots. It has a maximum current specification of 2.0 A per channel with a peak current of 3.0 A per channel (from STI spec sheet). Each H-bridge can control one DC brushed motor.

Picture of a common L298N PCB module

Continue reading→

Annual Meeting – 2021

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Meeting Video:

Chat Record:  Chat record (PDF)
Carl’s Slide Deck:  Slide Deck (PDF)

DPRG will hold its annual member meeting this January 9th. The meeting starts at 1:00 PM CST and will be held virtually using Google Hangouts. This important gathering is where the club’s plans for the upcoming year are discussed and determined. The election of officers for 2021 is also finalized at this meeting. Members who have not voted yet, see voting instructions and vote!

All members who want to have a say in the club’s activities for next year need to attend.

How to join meeting:

• Join Hangouts Meet https://meet.google.com/hey-jxuo-esf
• Or join by phone ‪+1 405-586-5598‬ ‬ PIN: ‪682 931 335 #‬

Agenda:

  • Carl Ott, the current president, will sum up the club’s 2020 activities and discuss the state of the club.
  • The candidates for 2021 officer positions will be introduced.
  • The 2021 election will be closed after all attendees have had a chance to vote.
  • Ron Grant, the election overseer, will combine the votes received prior to the meeting by email and the votes made at the meeting, and announce the election results.
  • The new president will take office.
  • The new president will lead the annual planning meeting.
  • The club’s 2021 annual planning meeting will start:
    • Determine requirements necessary before the club meets in person or attends a community event.
    • Discussion on competition strategy and determination of tentative schedule .
    • Determine topics that members want to have presented at the monthly meeting and ask for volunteers to cover topics.
    • Debate potential 2021 club projects (some ideas below).
      • Telepresence robot to provide virtual experience to non-virtual gatherings (ex. club picnic in July).
      • Club robot build for 2021 with modules developed by teams from around the world.
    • Listen to suggestions and ideas on how to make the club better.
  • Member show and tell of projects.

RBNV – Robot Builders Night Virtual – Jan 5, 2021

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Meeting Video:

Chat Record:  Chat record (PDF)
When

•January 5th, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CST).
• RBNV will continue each Tuesday evening until the virus crisis is over.

How

• Join Hangouts Meet https://meet.google.com/hey-jxuo-esf
• Or join by phone ‪+1 405-586-5598‬ ‬ PIN: ‪682 931 335 #‬

Why

• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Keep going while we’re stuck at home.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.

Agenda:

• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on as we’re all stuck at home
• Ad-hoc presentations – Whoever would like to show & tell.
• “Stump the club” Challenges – Ask for help if you’ve hit a roadblock in your project. Somebody in the club can probably get you pointed in a good direction – or even arrange a side bar session to help.

Note: We record a video of these sessions and post them on the DPRG YouTube channel. By joining the meeting, you’re giving consent to be included in the recording.

DPRG Elections – 2021

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It is time to hold elections for DPRG club officers. The election will occur during the DPRG virtual monthly meeting on January 9th, 2021 at 1:00 Dallas time (CST). This meeting is also the club’s annual meeting, where plans are discussed. It is very important that members vote and attend the January meeting. The club’s by-laws require that a specific percentage of members vote to make the election official.

A slate of candidates is proposed below. It is the same slate of officers that held office this past year. Any member can come forward and be added to the list of people considered for the various officer’s positions. If you want to explore holding office, an overview of officer duties can be found at  officer duties. You can also get additional information by talking to an existing officer at any monthly meeting or RBNV (held every Tuesday at 7:30 PM). If you want to throw your hat into the ring, please let me know quickly at email “secretary at dprg dot org” so you can be added to the ballot.

Proposed Slate of Officers for 2021

President: Carl Ott
Vice-President: Clay Timmons
Treasurer: Steve Edwards
Secretary: Doug Paradis
Librarian: John Kuhlenschmidt

How to Vote

All members in good standing can vote. The list of members is at member list. If you are not on the list and you think you should be, the problem is most likely that you need to renew your membership. Contact “secretary at dprg dot org” if you need help renewing your membership.

Members can vote by emailing their vote to “election at dprg dot org” before the January 9th meeting. The email should contain the text “I vote for the proposed officer slate”, or “I vote for the following people for office”, or similar text that allows our volunteer election vote counter to determine your intentions.

Members can also vote in person or proxy at the January 9th DPRG meeting. If voting by proxy, you should signal your intention to vote by proxy by sending an email to the person that you are giving control of your vote and to “election at dprg dot org” so the person holding your proxy and the person tallying votes knows of your intention. The person holding the proxy must then vote.

RBNV – Robot Builders Night Virtual – Dec 29, 2020

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Meeting Video:

Chat Record:  Chat record (PDF)

When

•December 29th, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CST).
• RBNV will continue each Tuesday evening until the virus crisis is over.

How

• Join Hangouts Meet https://meet.google.com/hey-jxuo-esf
• Or join by phone ‪+1 405-586-5598‬ ‬ PIN: ‪682 931 335 #‬

Why

• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Keep going while we’re stuck at home.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.

Agenda:

• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on as we’re all stuck at home
• Ad-hoc presentations – Whoever would like to show & tell.
• “Stump the club” Challenges – Ask for help if you’ve hit a roadblock in your project. Somebody in the club can probably get you pointed in a good direction – or even arrange a side bar session to help.

Note: We record a video of these sessions and post them on the DPRG YouTube channel. By joining the meeting, you’re giving consent to be included in the recording.

RBNV – Robot Builders Night Virtual – Dec 22, 2020

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Meeting Video:

Chat Record:  Chat record (PDF)
When

•December 22th, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CST).
• RBNV will continue each Tuesday evening until the virus crisis is over.

How

• Join Hangouts Meet https://meet.google.com/hey-jxuo-esf
• Or join by phone ‪+1 405-586-5598‬ ‬ PIN: ‪682 931 335 #‬

Why

• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Keep going while we’re stuck at home.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.

Agenda:

• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on as we’re all stuck at home
• Ad-hoc presentations – Whoever would like to show & tell.
• “Stump the club” Challenges – Ask for help if you’ve hit a roadblock in your project. Somebody in the club can probably get you pointed in a good direction – or even arrange a side bar session to help.

Note: We record a video of these sessions and post them on the DPRG YouTube channel. By joining the meeting, you’re giving consent to be included in the recording.

RBNV – Robot Builders Night Virtual – Dec 15, 2020

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Meeting Video:

Chat Record:  Chat record (PDF)

When

•December 15th, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CST).
• RBNV will continue each Tuesday evening until the virus crisis is over.

How

• Join Hangouts Meet https://meet.google.com/hey-jxuo-esf
• Or join by phone ‪+1 405-586-5598‬ ‬ PIN: ‪682 931 335 #‬

Why

• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Keep going while we’re stuck at home.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.

Agenda:

• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on as we’re all stuck at home
• Ad-hoc presentations – Whoever would like to show & tell.
• “Stump the club” Challenges – Ask for help if you’ve hit a roadblock in your project. Somebody in the club can probably get you pointed in a good direction – or even arrange a side bar session to help.

Note: We record a video of these sessions and post them on the DPRG YouTube channel. By joining the meeting, you’re giving consent to be included in the recording.

Virtual Robot Competition Results! – 12/12/2020

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DPRG’s first virtual competition held on December 12th, 2020 was remarkably fun. A true spirit of competition hung in the air during the different events. The Freestyle / Open Style video contest highlighted some remarkable robots. While the line following competitions showed many unique approaches in robot design and sensor arrays to accomplish the objective of following a line.

The Winners are:

  • Freestyle / Open Style Robot Video Contest:
    1. Jesse Brockmann,  Title: Sparkfun AVC Rover, Video: AVC Rover
    2. David Anderson, Title: Odometery test, Video: RCAT Odometery
    3. Carl Ott, Title: HoverSim, Video: HoverSim
  • Novice Level Line Following:
    1. Doug Paradis, 14.87 sec
    2. Jesse Brockmann, 15.4 sec
    3. Ron Grant, 19.1 sec
  • Advanced Level Line Following:
    1. Ron Grant, 31.99 sec
    2. Doug Paradis, 43.36 sec
    3. Jesse Brockmann, 56 sec
  • Challenge Level Line Following:
    1. Chris Netter, 52.1 sec
    2. Ron Grant, 108.09 sec
    3. Carl Ott, Time: 108.13 sec

Competition Master of Ceremony slide deck: 

Click to access 2020-Dec-12-DPRG-Monthy-Virtual-Robot-Contest.pdf

Article in Sparkfun News by Jesse Brockmann, Sparkfun ambassador and contest competitor.

https://www.sparkfun.com/news/3551 .

Virtual Competition Reminder!

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On Saturday, December 12, 2020 at 1:00 PM CT, dprg_logo_250x225Dallas Personal Robotics Group (DPRG) will conduct its 1st virtual / simulation based competition in response to the covid-19 pandemic. The competition allows hobbyist roboticists from around the world to compete. There are two contests: Free Style / Open Style, and Virtual Line Following.

See Competition Details

How to join meeting:
• Join Hangouts Meet https://meet.google.com/hey-jxuo-esf
• Or join by phone ‪+1 405-586-5598‬ ‬ PIN: ‪682 931 335 #‬

Compete or just watch, everyone is welcome.

Note: The competition will be recorded and later posted on the DPRG YouTube channel. By joining the Google meeting where the competition is held, you’re giving consent to be included in the recording.