Amateur Robotic Club Websites

I'm not sure that your average club web-site is going to actually contain much information about member robots. Most club web sites are dedicated to mundane issues like when and where, dues, etc. While it makes a lot of sense to assume that the club will provide a web page that shows each club member's robot, I am not aware of any club sites that actually do that. If somebody is inclined to publish some web pages about their robot, they tend to do so without invovlving their local club.

It sounds like you are trying to move on from Lego/Vex. Is this correct? Most custom robots are built out of a combination of aluminum, plastic (mostly acrylic), and sometimes wood. The parts are either scrounged from a junk yard or purchased from one of the multitude of mail order robotics parts outfits on the net. A good book to browse is Gordon McComb's "Robot Builders's Sourcebook" to get some ideas the range of available parts and materials.

Personally, I mostly use angle aluminum (for brackets), foamed-PVC, and HDPE plastic. I use my own electronics modules called RoboBricks2:

-Wayne

I don't know about a list because any list would be either scattershot or based on other criteria than yours. But among my favs showcasing amateur built robots are robots.net (click on the Robots tab) and Dallas Personal Robotics Group (dprg.org).

Homebrew Robotics (hbrobotics.org, Wayne is current prezzie) has a nice selection of member pages and several of them have pics of their projects. There are a few, like Camp Peavy, that also write for the magazines, where they offer a deeper look at their creations. So don't forget the back issues of SERVO, which you can get on CD-ROM if you don't have a subscription to the paper version.

Finally, go to Yahoo Groups and look up robotics. Join a few to see what you get. TRCY (trcy.org; the forum itself is on Yahoo) is one of the busier ones.

-- Gordon

Too_Many_Tools wrote:

I've been gathering a list of minisumo...

It links to builders websites, there's a few on the forum that are not listed there but you'll find some discussion on materials and processors.

I hope this helps.

regards, Colin

--

the encoder is good

I'm a member here, and we "welcome" all kinds of robots:

There's not a lot of tech info, just meeting info and pics from previous meetings and club events, but the Robot Links page should be helpful, it links to off-site tech info. At the bottom of that page is a list of some other robotics club websites around the USA. That should keep you busy.

Here's one that's inexplicably not listed, but that AHRC is friendly with, the Georgia Tech Robotics Club:

Why don't club sites highlight member's robots more?

It would seem to be a natural thing to do.

TMT

It does seem like a natural thing to do, but for some reason it does not happen very often. It is a shame.

Most robotics clubs are run by a handful of people. Taking pictures and posting them on a web site does require some (not a lot though) level of effort. For the Home Brew Robotics Club, the people who take pictures (Camp) rarely hand the pictures over to the person that maintains the web site (Bill). Many people are satisfied with showing their robots to other club members without taking the time document on the web for a wider audience. Frankly, we've had more pictures posted in Servo magazine than we have on our web site. We have a wiki, but very few people take the effort to document their work. I know I'm guilty.

Interestingly, enough a new HBRC member has noticed this problem and is going to sign on to get some more pictures and descriptions going. We'll see how it turns out.

-Wayne

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--snip--

Wayne,

Since I won't have to do any of the work myself, I'll be happy to offer some thoughts:

1) Once you get a few "regulars" to put up robot descriptions, others will want to do the same, even if purely from ego. 2) Have the "posting" procedures readily available for (a) those who just want to put up a picture, caption, and their name, (b) those who want to report a club- or robot-related activity, and (c) those who want to illustrate specific techniques. 3) As part (perhaps all) of one meeting, demonstrate the simplest procedure by example: take a picture of the members present and let someone who _hasn't_ done it before post the picture. 4) Once you have people actually putting material online, and it is being shared by your membership, you can offer presentations at meetings discussing different ways of presenting, e. g., circuits and blueprints, and talking about storytelling in general. 5) If you don't already have standards about what is acceptable material to post on your 'web site -- and what is not -- start thinking about it. Photos of one machine mangling another may be fine, but draw the line at pets and human beings (and other club members ).

Finally, if you have some shy members, offer to take a photo of them beside their robot (something they can't easily do for themselves) and post it with a caption fo their choice. Do it for a couple of meetings or events and your gallery will be huge.

Good luck.

Frank McKenney

-- It is the business of education to implant insight and respon- sibility. It must turn irresponsible opinion into responsible judgement and lead from chance and arbitrariness to the rational lucidity of an intellectual order. -- Mies Van der Rohe

-- Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887 Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)

Ben, Thanks for the link to this ... this one is new to me, too. It's not like the school has an insignificant robotics program...

As this is one group within Gatech robotics, is there a list of any others, that you know of?

-- Gordon

I really don't know much about it or what else goes on robotics-wise at Ga. Tech. There's at least one member who is also in botlanta.org and the robojackets have had a table at our "robot rallies" but that's about all I know.

Poking around on the robojackets website, I found this: