• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.
Agenda
• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on.
• 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.
The scheduled tech talk speaker for this month’s DPRG monthly meeting had to reschedule at the last minute. So, our glorious leaders have cooked up something a bit different (and a lot of fun) for this weekend’s meeting.
With details intentionally vague, the event is DPRG’s first “Hack-a-Bot Challenge”.
The concept is simple. You’ll split into teams, be given a goal, work together on the project, and then after a couple hours work and some pizza, we will test your creations in a death-defying contest (for the bot!)
The only heads up I can give is that soldering will probably be required (bring one if you can, we will have a couple on hand otherwise), construction with cardboard, hot glue and duct tape a strong possibility. A few hand tools would also be advised. Microcontrollers will be optional, and 3v will be all the juice your franken-bot gets.
We will live stream as usual for our remote members so that they can enjoy the mayhem.
See you on thw 22nd (Saturday), at 10am at Dallas Maker Space!
Everyone is welcome!
Post Event:
For the competition, each team (locally, there were 5 teams of 3-4 persons/each and 2 remote competitiors) was given an inexpensive line-following robot kit that used a cross-comparative circuit that drove the motors using a simple transistor driver. The kit had two light-dependent resistors (CdS) sensors illuminated by LEDs to detect the edge of the line. Kit Amazon link is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZH4XLQ3?ref=emc_p_m_5_i_atc&th=1 .
The challenge was to build a robot that could knock two plastic cups off a table, keep the robot on the table for 30 seconds after knocking off the cups, and stop. Scoring was 1 point for each cup removed from the table, 1 point for not following off the table, and 1 point for stopping. All the teams achieved 3 points, except for one which received 4 points. Some of the teams had to troubleshoot a PCB defect that prevented one motor from running. The event ran from 10:30AM to 2:30PM with pizza served while working. Everyone one enjoyed the event and learned something.
AI Generated Meeting Summary: Meeting Summary (PDF) Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
Mike Williamson – ⭐
When
• August 11, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time.
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
AI Generated Meeting Summary: Meeting Summary (PDF) Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
When
• August 4, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time.
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
AI Generated Meeting Summary: Meeting Summary (PDF) Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
When
• July 28, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time.
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
• Talk robots & related stuff.
• Make it easier for people to attend DPRG remotely.
Agenda
• Round table – everybody spends a couple minutes telling what projects they’re working on.
• 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 shared a presentation area with Iron Reign FTC 6832 team and Lovejoy HS’s VEX robotics teams 1082B and M at this year’s Moon Day event held at the Frontiers of Flight Museum near Love Field in Dallas.
It was the first appearance of DPRG’s 7-foot Robie mascot with improved neck mechanics and facial recognition at an event. DPRG presented an array of robots for event attendees to see and ask questions about.
Iron Reign showed one of their FTC robots and had a 3-D printer setup to produce moon and space themed earrings and key chains that they distributed to event attendees.
The Lovejoy VEX robotic teams demonstrated two of their competition robots and displayed the multiple awards that they won this year in state and regional competitions.
All three exhibitors were busy all day sharing information to event attendees, from young to old. A great time was had by all.
AI Generated Meeting Summary: Meeting Summary (PDF) Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting. Paul Bouchier – ⭐ CHris Netter – ★
When
• July 14, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time.
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
AI Generated Meeting Summary: Meeting Summary (PDF) Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting. Ray Casler – ⭐ Mike Williamson – ★ Mark Dombrowski – ★ Paul Bouchier – ★
When
• July 7, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time.
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
AI Generated Meeting Summary: Meeting Summary (PDF) Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
When
• June 30, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time.
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
