TEAM DUCT TAPE

From Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Academy blog:

PITTSBURGH—A new four-year, $7 million educational initiative by Carnegie Mellon University will leverage students’ innate interest in robots and other forms of “hard fun” to increase U.S. enrollments in computer science and steer more young people into scientific and technological careers.

The initiative, called Fostering Innovation through Robotics Exploration (FIRE), is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and designed to reverse a significant national decline in the number of college students majoring in computer science, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (CS-STEM).

FIRE will develop new tools that enable middle and high school students to expand upon their interest in robots, leading them from one CS-STEM activity to the next. Examples are programming tools that create game-like virtual worlds where robot programs can be tested, as well as computerized tutors that teach mathematics and computer science in the context of robotics.

The initiative will target robotic competitions such as FIRST, VEX and Robofest that already are popular among secondary school students, but also will create new competitions for autonomous, multi-robot teams and for computer animations that will attract a broader array of students and offer new challenges.

Read the complete story at http://robotics-academy.org/blog/?p=340 

And visit the FIRE website at http://fire.cmu.edu/

A post at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories about the Egg-Bot heading out to the Maker Faire in Detroit, caught our interest.  

The Egg-Bot “  is an open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects from the size of a ping pong ball size to that of a small grapefruit– roughly 1.5 to 4 inches in diameter (4 - 10 cm). Super adjustable; designed to draw on all kinds of things that are normally “impossible” to print on. Not just eggs but golf balls, light bulbs, mini pumpkins, and even things like wine glasses– with a bit of work. …All of the electronics and software are designed to be hackable and repurposable, so you could easily computer control an Etch-a-Sketch or create something totally new.”

How cool is that?! Check it out at The Egg-Bot Project: http://www.egg-bot.com/

Tufts University and Virginia Tech collaborated on an interesting study that has implications in robot locomotion ( Gut Movements in Caterpillars Have Impact on Robotic Design):

BLACKSBURG, Va., July 23, 2010 – Weird movements in the abdomens of freely crawling caterpillars are making headlines in the fields of engineering and biology, says Jake Socha, Virginia Tech assistant professor of engineering science and mechanics.

Beyond evolutionary implications, the findings are already contributing to the design and development of soft material robots.

…combined imaging showed that the caterpillar’s gut slid forward in advance of the surrounding tissues. Seem inconsequential? Actually, it is “unlike any form of legged locomotion previously reported and represents a new feature in our emerging understanding of crawling,” they reported in Current Biology.

The novelty is that the caterpillar’s center of mass moves forward while the middle ‘legs’ are anchored to the substrate. The internal gut movements are locally decoupled from visible translations of the body.

“This type of two-body mechanical system has never been seen before, and is probably unique to soft, squishy animals,” Socha explained.

Read the entire article and see video at: http://www.physorg.com/news199007129.html

Interesting look at the new Samantha module and Samomoto, a (free!) app that allows wifi control of a robot via the Samantha module, emulating  standard game controller hardware:

When TDT visited Georgia Tech, we saw Aldebaran robots used for work with special needs children.  An article in today’s St. Petersburg Times, which originally appeared in the New York Times (A Soft Spot for Circuitry), talks about growing use of “robot therapy“ in environments ranging from nursing homes, to substance abuse counseling to diet coaching. 
Paro is a [...]

Way to go Dr. Dan and Umbrella Guy! You’ll catch a couple of glimpses of Team Duct Tape, too.

Steve Willingham, co-coach of TDT, was interviewed at coolTECH by Bernie Borges back in June.  He only had 90 seconds to explain what the Borges was looking at in our booth, and we think he did a great job!  The reporter was particularly interested in the Skypebot , which showed how team members don’t confine themselves [...]