May 23, 2003

It's been a while since I have been able to update things here at TeamDaVinci.com. The lecture at University of Massechusetts Boston went well and then the next day I gave a talk at Plymouth North High School in Plymouth, MA. Then the next day I gave an impromptu lecture at Sandwich High in Sandwich, MA on Cape Cod. That was probably the best talk that I had up there and it was a totally spur of the moment thing. Many thanks to Mr. Faucett for allowing us to come in and talk.

Then, that night I was a guest on the nationally syndicated computer talk show Computer America. We talked about Robot Rivals and what it would take to build an autonomous lawn mowing robot. We had a great time on the air and I look forward to doing it again sometime.

Then the day after we got back we went to Miami to Starbot to help out with a competition that was being held over the weekend. And we had some company meetings as well.

Part of the meetings dealt with our Summer Camp (There is a Robot Summer Camp in Miami and Plymouth as well). And we got some great news. After reviewing our teaching methods and credentials BattleBotsIQ has authorized us along with StarBot, and Mike Bastoni to be official BattleBotsIQ Learning Centers. This carries some haevy responsibilities with it as well. Trey and Greg are good friends of ours and we are BattleBots competitors ourselves. It is our mission to have a learning center where anyone wishing to learn about robotics can go. Our focus is mainly on students still in high school but we will accept middle through college.

May 5, 2003

I just got back from Steel Conflict 3 held at the Anaheim Convention Center at the RC Expo. I was one of the announcers, along with Roy Hellen and Escher Trousdale as well as being the technical commentary for the event. What an amazing time! The competition was absolutely unbelievable. Bots were hitting so hard that the floor of the convention center was literally moving under the impacts.

For more information about Steel Conflict you can visit them at www.SteelConflict.com. Steel Conflict is also a founding member of the RFL.

The site won't be updated for a few days as I am heading up to Boston to visit some friends at the University of Massachusettes Boston as talk about how the rise of robotic sports is helping students learn about math and science.

May 2, 2003

Robot Rivals Episode 3 is in the record books. In this episode the University of Utah went head to head with Clemson University to build a robot that could break through a wall, grab an egg that was behind the wall (there were four eggs at varying heights), pull the egg form behind the wall and deposit it into a basket at the back of the playing field without breaking the egg!

We gave the teams an assortment of kitchen utensils, a toster, a food processor, and various other items found in a kitchen to incorporate into the design and building of the robot.

Utah will face Purdue in the next round of Robot Rivals Competition.

Episode 3 breakdown from the diynet.com website:
Introducing the teams
Introducing the surprise household items
Building begins
Half way through the day
Finishing up the robots
Competition time!