Meeting Video:
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
No stars rewarded this week
When
• June 4, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CDT).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
DPRG held its 28th Roborama competition and its first concurrent international robotics tournament (USA and Canada), with live participation and interactions from both / all venues. The event was successful with epic enthusiasm by all participants and spectators. Unfortunately, the video was lost due to technical difficulties. However, it is hoped that some run videos and robot pictures may make it to the web site. So, look for further updates. The results are below:
Roborama – 2024 Competition – June 1, 2024
Local: Dallas Maker Space, Carrollton, TX, Remote: Stoney Creek, Ontario., Canada
| Contest | Place | Contestant | Robot Name | Score/Time |
| Quick Trip – Wheeled | 1st | Mark Reynolds | PwPw | 7 – 8:86 |
| Remote Quick Trip – Wheeled | 1st | Tom Crawford | One Trick Pony | 6 – 27:08 |
| Quick Trip – Wheeled | 2nd | Scott Gibson | YAR | 7 – 10:43 |
| Remote Quick Trip – Wheeled | 2nd | Pat Caron | Wooden Monster | 6 – 53.26 |
| Quick Trip – Wheeled | 3rd | Harold Pulcher | Jimbot | 7 – 12:20 |
| Quick Trip – Non-wheeled | 1st | Paul Bouchier | PiDog | 6 – 2:05 |
| Remote Quick Trip – Non-wheeled | 1st | Jon Hylands | Roz | 5 – 38.22 |
| Quick Trip – Non-wheeled | 2nd | Doug Dodgen | DougDog | 6 – 2:22 |
| Quick Trip – Non-wheeled | 3rd | Doug Paradis | GimpDog | 5 – ?? |
| Four Corners (12-ft sq) | 1st | Scott Gibson | YAR | 2.125” |
| Remote – Four Corners (8-ft sq) | 1st | Pat Caron | Wooden Monster | 2” |
| Four Corners | 2nd | Mark Reynolds | PwPw | 2.875” |
| FourCorners | 3rd | Scott Gibson | CanMan | 3.5” |
| Six-Cans | 1st | Scott Gibson | Can Man | 6 – 2:40 |
Meeting Video:
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
No stars rewarded this week
Robie’s Highlights:
• Ray C. – Described his appliance that links his robot to his laptop via Serial using a ESP-NOW.
• Brief discussion of Wixel.
• Jon H. – Showed his progress on a new robot based on Adam Savage’s Star Wars robot prop.
• Discussion on Roborama rules.
• Discussion on sensors used by Mike W. on his 3 unit ToF sensor’s with 8×8 senssing array per sensor.
• People discussing problems (whining) they were having with their robots pre-competition.
• Paul B. offered basic PiDog program for Quick Trip on GitHub to encourage participation.
When
• May 28, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CDT).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
Meeting Video:
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
Jon Hylands – ⭐
Robie’s Highlights:
• Call for Volunteers to Host/Record RBNV sessions during Summer.
• Jon H. – Demo of Roz robot doing Quick Trip.
• Jon H. – Discussion on Adam Savage’s balancing robot design.
• Ray C. – Idea of using flashlight reflector and beacons to localize to beacons using a camera looking at the convex reflector.
• Jack J. – Discussed and showed pictures of college competition using drones and rovers.
• David S. – Discussed Animatronic activites at DMS.
• Doug P. – Discussed SainSmart CNC 3030 ProverMax Router and Rpi5 USB3 Hub Hat.
• General discussion on GIT practices.
When
• May 21, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CDT).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
Meeting Video:
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
Jon Hylands – ⭐
Doug Paradis – ⭐
Robie’s Highlights:
• Jon H. – Roz demo.
• Doug P. – Vorpal Hexapod demo.
• David S. – Ongoing auction of agri robot.
• Discussion of robot camera options
• Harold P. – 3d printed hydroponic tower links.
When
• May 14, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CDT).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
Meeting Video:
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
Scott Gibson – ⭐ ⭐ (double stars!)
Paul Bouchier – ⭐
Jon Hylands – ⭐
Robie’s Highlights:
• Scott G. – Demo of new robot “YAR” on Quick Trip and 4-Corners.
• Paul B. – Demo of “PiDog” on Quick Trip.
• Jon H. – Demo of Roz’s gait and working URC, including IMU.
• Joh H. – Discussion and link (see Chat Record) on IMU used on “RAZ” by Pesky Products
• Discussion on using a line laser to assist initial positioning of robot for Quick Trip
• Ray C. – Laser company recommendation https://www.aixiz.com/
• Doug P. – Show and Tell of XT60PW-W20 LiPo battery connector for PCB mounting.
When
• May 7, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CDT).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
Meeting Video:
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
Karim Virani – ⭐
Robie’s Highlights:
• John K. – Boston Robotics Dogs Dancing Video
• Karim V. – Pioneer robot Demo
• Discussion on DPRG’s measurement answer to the cubit – the soda can (as it is 2 soda cans high)
• Doug P. – Show and tell on 2 Raspberry Pi 4 PCEi bus hats – one for SSD, one for 4 USB-3.2 ports
• Discussion on Pi5 place between with other small computer.
• Discussion on Brady’s Presentation and making PCBs.
• Carl O. – Posting of potential part-time employment position.
• Discussion on Jon’s URC.
• Update on Roborama contest prizes.
• Mike W. – reported that dragging a can around with his claw didn’t impact his odometry.
• Discussion on a celebration for DPRG’s 40th year anniversary (maybe in the Fall).
When
• April 30, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CDT).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
Meeting Video:
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
Mike Williamson – ⭐
Doug Dodgen – ⭐
Robie’s Highlights:
• Mike W. showed progress on his version of Jon’s URC
• Doug D. Demonstrated his PiDog
• Jon H. Demonstrated his URC exchangeing data with robot simulator
• Mike W. Demonstrated his robot running 4-corners contest
• Pat C. Discussion on using buck converters to power TTmotors w/ Encoders
• Karim V. Explained his accident that distroyed his Oak-D camera
• Jon H. Showed IMU working on URC
• Doug P. Discussing usefullness of constant current load modules
• Discussion on BNO055, BNO-086, and BNO-088 IMUs
When
• April 23, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CDT).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
Meeting Video:
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
No stars rewarded this week
Robie’s Highlights:
• Discussion on Xiaomi CyberGear Micromotor.
• Mike W. showed his copy of Jon’s URC, displayed test pgms
• Discussion on best way to use Git on copies of Jon’s MPY repository
• Discussion on changing parameters in ROS2
• Discussion on how to pay for Aliexpress purchases.
• How to use multiple ST VL53Lxxxx sensors.
• Luxonis’s Roborumble 1 competition recent announcement
• DPRG Google list news
• Discussion on various JST type connectors, and their availablity.
• Show and tell of robots either just started or previously not shared.
When
• April 16, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CST).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
Meeting Video:
Chat Record: Chat record (PDF)
Star Rewards (★ = significant robot progress, ⭐ = robot progress and running on floor):
Stars are awarded by group during the meeting.
Doug Dodgen – ⭐
Robie’s Highlight”s:
• Paul B. – Plans for transistion of dprglist to Google Groups
• Eclipes images
• Doug P. – Demo and discussion of ArduCam PiNsight running AI model for locating traffic cones.
• Doug D. – Photos and Videos of RoboDog at Galvastion Steam Punk Convention.
• Jon H. – Discussion on URC and scheduling of meeting for explaining the software (Sat 13th, 9AM CDT).
• Harold P. – Discussion on ZeroTier.
• Ray C. – Described the cellular moduile T-SIM7080GS3 (~$30).
• John C. – Showed a Pico breadboad that he made. Noted that the pinouts of varous Pico boards are different.
• Discussion on Pico.
• Mike W. – Described issue with ROS and the latest OpenMV camera.
• Jack J. – Described phone based interface he is developing for his coffee robot using Flutter.
• Ray C. – Showed new robot platform with brushless motors.
When
• April 9, starting at 7:30 PM Dallas time (CST).
• Robot Builders Night Virtual (RBNV) meets each Tuesday evening.
