| Seattle_Robotics_Society Founded in 1982, the SRS is one of the oldest and largest robotics groups in the world. Membership is open to everyone. The group holds monthly meetings and several competitions. Site includes the Enc |
| So-Cal_Hero_Group Based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Meets monthly to work on restoration of Heathkit Hero 2000 Robots. |
| Society_for_Houston_Area_Robotics_Projects SHARP holds monthly meetings at the Ft. Bend Library in Sugar Land, Texas. Site includes meeting schedule and event information. |
| Triangle_Amateur_Robotics TAR is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Originally a homebrew computer club founded in 1975, the group was renamed to TAR in 1987. TAR holds monthly meetings and an annual contest. |
| Trinity_College_Robot_Study_Team Founded in 1992, the team is run by undergraduate students and focuses on the design and construction of robots for the Trinity College Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest. |
| Turkish_Istanbul_Area_Hobby_Robot_Builders Formed in 2003. Meets in Istanbul area. Open to anyone with an interest in hobby robotics. |
| Twin_Cities_Robotic_Group TCRG is based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States and holds monthly meetings. Site includes technical articles, member profiles, and robot photos. |
| UB_Robotics UBR is based at SUNY at Buffalo, in Buffalo, New York, United States. Founded in 1998. Membership is open to University at Buffalo undergraduate students. Site include projects, photos, and meeting in |
| The_UK_Cybernetics_Club An online collective based in the United Kingdom. Membership is open to anyone interested in intelligent mobile robots. |
| Union_College_Robotics_Club A campus club open to students of Union College in Schenectady, New York, United States. UCRC annually designs a robot for competition. Site includes project photos, mailing list, and meeting minutes. |
| University_of_Arizona_Micro_Air_Vehicle_Club Student group that develops Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs), tiny radio-controlled or autonomous robot aircraft. Meets weekly on UA campus. |
| University_of_Illinois_at_Chicago_Engineering_Design_Team Based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 2000. The UIC EDT is open to students of UIC and holds weekly meetings on campus. Site includes a project list, meeting schedule, and mailing list |
| University_of_Toronto_Robotics_Association The University of Toronto Robotics Association (UTRA) is primarily interested in designing and constructing competitive robots for competition in BattleBots and other similar events. |
| Vancouver_Island_Robotics Based in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The site includes meeting information and a mailing list. |
| Vancouver_Robotics_Club Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The club holds monthly meetings. Site includes meeting calendar and mailing list. |
| Waterloo_Aerial_Robotics_Group Based at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. WARG was founded in 1997 and has the goal of developing autonomous air and ground robots. Membership is open to UW students. Site includes meeti |
| Western_Canadian_Robotics_Society Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 2001. WCRS holds monthly meetings at the SAIT campus and puts on the annual Western Canadian Robot Games. Site includes photos, general information and a |
| Ypsilanti_and_Ann_Arbor_Area_Robotics_Club YAAARC holds monthly meetings in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Site includes robot news, mailing list, discussion forums, and technical articles. |
| Ackermann,_Jürgen Former director of the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Center. |
| Anders\'_Mindstorms_page Showcases a variety of Ander's Mindstorms projects including a Yatzymatic, a Pinball machine and a cooler. Site also include information on Mindstorms programming and sensors. |
| Anderson,_David_P_ Director of the SMU Geophysical Imaging Lab. Member of the Dallas Personal Robotics Group. Site includes detailed descriptions and photos of his autonomous robots including nBot, a two-wheeled balanci |
| Aquaticus_ROV Description of a homebuilt underwater robot. |
| Arkin,_Ronald Regents' Professor and Director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology. Interests include behavior-based reactive control, robot survivability, multi-agent systems, biorobot |
| Astolfi,_Alessandro Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Centre for Process Systems Engineering, Imperial College, London. Interests in Control Theory. |
| Balancing_Robot A biped robot capable of standing up on its own from a fallen position. |
| Barlas,_Omar A hobby robot that can pick up and move small objects. |
| B9Creations Mike Joyce's construction journal describing his progress on a full size replica of the "Lost in Space" B9 Robot and other homebrew robots. |
| Birk,_Andreas Professor heading robotics research at the International University Bremen (IUB). |
| Borenstein,_J_ Research Scientist and Head of the Mobile Robotics Lab within the University of Michigan's Department of Mechanical Engineering. Interests in mobile robots, obstacle avoidance, odometry, positionin |
| Brooks,_Rodney Director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. |
| Bryan\'s_Robotics_Journal Weblog detailing Bryan's experiences designing and building his robot. |
| Burgard,_Wolfram Professor of Computer Science at the University of Freiburg and head of the research lab for Autonomous Intelligent Systems. Areas of interest lie in Artificial Intelligence and mobile robots. |
| Byrne,_Jeffrey Jeff Byrne is a robotics and computer vision professional, working on image segmentation, image aided navigation and visual collision obstacle detection for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned g |
| Chladny,_Ryan Describes Ryan's work on a large, hydraulic, autonomous, robotic vehicle. Includes related pictures and links. |
| Christensen,_Henrik_I_ Professor of computer science at Kungl Tekniska Högskolan, Stockholm. Areas of interest include mobile robotics, autonomous systems, computer vision and biologically inspired robot systems. |
| Christoph\'s_Rug_Warrior_Page Tips and schematics to build your own Rug Warrior Robot. |
| Corky\'z_Robotz A small, remote-controlled robot made from a BASIC Stamp and common parts. Includes instructions, schematic and code listing. |
| Cricket_the_Robot Information on building an autonomous, walking robot. Includes schematics and code. |
| DaVinci_Robotics_Educational_Foundation Learn about the group's various robot projects. Also includes advice for those who wish to build robots. |
| Davison,_Andrew_J_ Lecturer in Computing at Imperial College London, carrying out research in real-time computer vision, robotics and SLAM. |
News: Upcoming
Robotics Tournaments in Virginia:
FLL
Robotics State Championship Tournament, Dec 7th, at
Harrisonburg High School, 1001 Garbers Church Rd, Harrisonburg, VA 22801,
running from 10 AM until about 4 PM, and it’s free to the public… please
stop by and check out the kids and s having a blast, learning,
sharing, competing, and getting excited about using robotics to improve
life for all people. www.vadcfll.org/tournaments.html
FTC
Robotics State Tournament, Dec 6th, at U Va, in
Charlottesville, VA, www.vaftc.org
News: Science
Museum of Western Virginia, in downtown Roanoke, hosted Robotics Day event,
Saturday, November 1, 2008.
FLL & FTC school-based Robotics Teams
demonstrated and discussed their robots and their research with the public.
Press
Release
FIRST Lego League Robotics Team Members
and Their Robot:
Goals:
-Inspire people to get excited about science
and technology.
-Create a club for people to share their
robotic creations and ideas, and learn from others.
-Grow the hobby of educational robotics.
-Create, Encourage & Mentor FIRST Lego League (FLL), Vex & FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), and FIRST Robotics teams.
-Build robots and robotics kits, like the
kits available from Parallax, such as
the BOE-Bot.
We Want to Help Start New FLL & FTC Teams
The number of FLL Teams in the
Roanoke Valley has grown from one team in 2005, to 8 teams in 2008! J
Welcome to one the FLL & FTC teams in the Roanoke
Valley! J
www.robodesigners.com We look forward to cheering for you at the
tournaments!
The number of FTC Teams in the
Roanoke Valley has gone from zero to 3 teams in 2008! J
We are offering to
provide mentoring for new FLL & FTC teams in the Roanoke Valley region
during the coming year: We will work with and mentor new teams. We will donate time, energy, advice and
technical assistance as you learn to coach your team. We may be able to assist you in obtaining educational grants to
help fund your team.
FIRST Robotics Team Members and Their
Robot:
Educational Robotics Links:
-Coaching FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams at Colonial Elementary School, the
Colonial Cougars, in Blue Ridge, Botetourt
County, VA.
-Virginia’s
FLL Info Page
-FIRST
Lego League (FLL)
-FIRST Tech Challenge
-Vex Labs,
the makers of the Vex Robotics kits.
-FIRST
Robotics
-Parallax
also makes robotics kits such as the BOE-Bot.
Two Fun Robots: A Professionally-Built Robot and a
Kid-Built (FIRST Lego League) Robot:
What is FIRST Lego League (FLL)?
An international
program created through a partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Group
Ø
INSPIRES children, ages 9 to 14, to participate in
science and technology
Ø
ENGAGES kids in playful and meaningful learning
Ø
PROVIDES a fun, creative, hands-on learning
experience
Ø
CHALLENGES kids to solve real-world problems using
robotics
Ø
TEACHES children to experiment and overcome
obstacles
Ø
BUILDS self-esteem and confidence
Our FLL team members work hard, learn a lot about science
and technology, and how they can contribute to creating a better world. The children, parents and coaches all have a
great time during the FLL season, including the November Regional Tournament in
Christiansburg.
Sample from the FLL
Comic Book:
Vex Robot Assembling
Puzzle Pieces During a Competition:
BOE-Bot
Educational Robotics Kit:
There is already a lot going on in robotics in this region:
-Virginia Tech
is developing autonomous vehicle technology that will one day save lives.
Here are some
award-winning VT Robotics teams:
Autonomous
Vehicle Team : www.avt.me.vt.edu/
DARPA
Grand Challenge Team: www.me.vt.edu/grandchallenge/
Autonomous
Helicopter Team: www.me.vt.edu/uav
Autonomous
Submarine Team: www.aoe.vt.edu/design/auvt/
Blind
Driver Challenge Team: www.me.vt.edu/hsav/
-AUVSI is forming a
local chapter here, called the Blue Ridge Chapter.
-Cyber
Motion has developed mobile robotic systems.
-Complete
Optical Solutions develops optics for robotics applications, among other
things.
-If your group or someone you know should be
mentioned or linked from here, please let me know.
Omniwheel Robot with Three Omniwheels:
Prototype Robotic Helicopter:
If
you are interested in robotics, or just want to learn more, then please contact
me via email or telephone. Please put
“Roanoke Robotics” in the subject line of your email.
Come join us and let’s build cool
robots. Let’s build a better future
together, for everyone.
Thanks,
Kevin and Friends
Kevin Hines
Roanoke
Robotics
Coach, FIRST Lego league
Mentor, FIRST Tech Challenge & FIRST
Robotics Challenge
Email: KevinHines@aol.com
Telephone: 540-819-8020
This web site is sponsored by Complete Optical Solutions
