February 4

Well, another Otronicon has come and gone and it was a smashing success yet again. One of the biggest draws at the event was the Rock Band stage that I built which included a full-sized professional drum kit that was modified for use as a Rock Band controller. You can see the full build report for the drum kit on the Otronicon website.

I was also fortunate enough to particiapte in the Video Games Live concert in Orlando as Master Chief from the Halo series. This picture was taken backstage while the orchestra was playing music from World of Warcraft.

I am also planning another Robotics class here at the Orlando Science Center this Spring to coincide with our Robts exhibit so be sure to check the Science Center website if you are interested in attending.

February 1

Today I gave a lecture on the past, present, and future of robotics at Valencia. I was a bit nervous at this lecture because many of my professors and a lot of my classmates were in attendance. For anyone interested in a copy of the presentation you can get it here

January 28

I gave a lecture on creating a Dynamic Learning Environment Through Applied Robotics to many teachers and educators at this year's Florida Educational Technology Conference. It was a great event and there were a lot of cool programs offered. For those teachers interested in a copy of my presentation you can get it here

January 20

What a great day today. Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage of the hit television show Mythbusters were guest speakers for Campus Activity Board at the University of Central Florida. Then Alexia and I had an opportunity to have dinner with them and some of the members of CAB. I came to know them from their Battlebot Blendo (shown right). Blendo is the first spinner bot ever built and is the precursor of all horizontal spinners.

They are absolutely wonderful, down to earth guys. They are prototypical of so many builders in the Battlebots community. Smart enough to be dangerous, yet willing to bend over backward to help others. If you haven't seen Mythbuster on the Discovery Channel then you are definitely missing out of one of the best shows on television.