SRS Meeting Presentations
- September 15, 2007 - Balancing Robots
- Members showed their balancing robots, and then the meeting moved outside for
rides on Segways brought by a couple of members and Jack from
Segway of Seattle.
- August 18, 2007 - OpenCV
- Jim Wright presented
OpenCV,
the image processing library.
- July 21, 2007 - Wearable Sensor-Platforms
- UW grad student Brian Ferris presented his work focusing on
wearable sensor-platforms and interesting activity recognition and
inferencing functions that can be performed on those platforms. As cell
phones and PDAs begin to include more interesting sensors (WiFi,
accelerometer, digital compass, etc), he is exploring interesting things
that can be done. So far, his work has focused mostly on WiFi
localization of human users. His current work focuses on automatic
mapping of indoor environments using the simple cell phone sensors
(described above), as opposed to full-on robotic SLAM (simultaneous
localization and mapping) techniques. For information about Brian and his research,
visit Brian's website
Information about SLAM is at
http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~ajd/.
- June 16, 2007 -
BOKU
- Michael Miller of Microsoft showed a presentation on BOKU, a simple
graphical programming environment for young children.
- May 19, 2007 -
FIRST Robotics
- Local FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Teams explained this year's competition
and showed their robots.
- May 19, 2007 -
EAGLE CAD
- After lunch, Jim Wright gave his class on the
EAGLE Layout Editor for
schematics and PCBs.
- April 21, 2007 -
Robotic Easter Egg Hunt
- Instead of the usual presentation this month, we held a contest for
autonomous robots to collect plastic
Easter
eggs.
- March 17, 2007 - SMART:
Seattle Mindstorms and Robotic Techies
- David Schilling and Gus Jansson explained the new
LEGO Mindstorms NXT controller
and options for programming it and building custom electronics for it. They
demonstrated several NXT creations, including two walking robots and a couple
of "mini-crate contraption" robots that move around LEGO crates
and balls. Here is a copy of the
SMART presentation (PPT, 500k).
- February 17, 2007 - WiMo Robot
and Microsoft Robotics Studio
-
Brian Cross introduced us to WiMo (pronounced "Weemo"), a Windows Mobile Robot.
The name comes from the "Wi" from "Windows" and "Mo" from "Mobile."
He explained its origin and evolution as Windows Mobile Robot he developed with no
prior robot-building experience. The entire system consisted of a
Windows laptop with Bluetooth (for code development in MSRS),
Windows-Mobile-capable cell phone with Bluetooth (to receive and execute
the code), and an OOPIC with a Bluetooth module on the robot to execute
the control functions.
The laptop sent code developed and compiled in Microsoft Robotics Studio (MSRS)
to the cell phone for storage and execution. The robot is actually just
the cell phone and OOPIC coupled wirelessly via Bluetooth. He explained
the basic physical configuration of each component and how they are
connected and talked about some things he hopes to do with WiMo in the
future.
His demonstrations included: driving the robot from the laptop keyboard,
making the robot speak text typed into the laptop, verbally commanding
the robot to "dance," showing the wireless connectivity by physically
separating the laptop, cell phone, and robot while still operating it,
retrieving real-time images from the cell phone's camera to the laptop
screen, and -- in less than 5 minutes -- creating and executing code to
control the robot with a proportional USB joystick plugged into the laptop.
and balls. Here is a copy of the
WiMo presentation (PDF, 800k).
- January 20, 2007 - GYRE
Project
- David Bliss, Matthew Dockrey, and Amelia Lacenski
explained the GYRE project, an experiment conducted
under NASA's
Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program.
The GYRE team has built an autonomous free-flying robot capable of
orienting itself using visual cues and navigating in a microgravity
environment. Here is a copy of the
GYRE presentation (PPT, 1.3M).
- December 16, 2006 - Robot Sensors - Steve Kaehler
- Steve presented a discussion about sensors and their
applications in robotics. Here is a copy of
Steve's presentation on
sensors (PPT, 1.5M).
- November 18, 2006
- Lloyd Spencer and Kevin Sikorski from
CoroWare presented on how they
built their robots with
Phidgets. Here is a copy of their
presentation (PPT, 2.7M)
and a movie (WMV, 4.2M).
- October 21, 2006
- David Shoemaker discussed the latest information on and status of the
LiftPort Space Elevator Project.
- September 16, 2006
- Z-Corp demonstrated their 3-dimensional
printers.
- August 19, 2006
- Ryan Wistort explained his 5-legged walker, the
RyBOT.
- July 15, 2006
- Monty Reed explained the concept and evolution of the
LIFESUIT. Here is a copy of
Monty's
presentation (PDF, 2M).
- June 17, 2006
- Larry Barello showed the robotic parachute that he's been working on
and demonstrated examining the signaling in the device using a nifty PC
oscilloscope that he just got.
Jim Wright held an EAGLE class.
- May 20, 2006
- Stewart Tansley
and John Wingfield presented some of their experiences as Microsoft
representatives at the first Maker Faire
held in April in San Mateo, CA. The Faire brought together the creators of MAKE
magazine, the MythBusters, and thousands of tech DIY enthusiasts, crafters,
educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, science clubs, students, and authors. Called
alternately a "Woodstock for Inventors," a "Burning Man for
Geeks," or a "Giant Do-It-Yourself Science Fair," Maker Faire
was a unique event that celebrated the use of science and technology in fun
and creative ways. Stewart presented a personal review of the event in
a photo show; John presented one of the
Microsoft Coding4Fun
projects highlighted at the event, .NET programming for LEGO Mindstorms.
- April 15, 2006
- Karl
Böhringer, Associate Professor in UW's Microelectromechanical Systems
(MEMS) department, presented "Micro Manipulation and Micro Robots:
Algorithms, Devices, and Applications."
Abstract
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are tiny machines built with
techniques derived from the microelectronics industry. Very large
numbers of MEMS can be conveniently fabricated in parallel. However,
the control and assembly of such massively parallel microsystems gives
rise to numerous challenges in modeling, algorithms, as well as in
physical implementation.
In this presentation, we explore parallel micro manipulation and micro
assembly by investigating a cilia-like micro conveyor, a precision
docking system for future "pico-satellites", a walking microchip, and
selfassembling micro devices.
Biography
Karl Böhringer is an associate professor in Electrical Engineering
with adjunct appointments in Computer Science & Engineering and in
Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle. He
received both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from
Cornell University and his Diplom-Informatiker degree from the
University of Karlsruhe, Germany. He was a visiting scholar at the
Stanford Robotics Lab and Transducer Lab and a postdoctoral researcher
at the University of California, Berkeley, before joining the faculty
at the University of Washington.
His current interests include micromanipulation and microassembly, as
well as biomedical implants and bioMEMS for single-cell genomics and
proteomics. His Ph.D. thesis was nominated for the ACM doctoral
dissertation award. He received an NSF postdoctoral associateship in
1997, an NSF CAREER award in 1999, and was an NSF New Century Scholar
in 2000. His work was featured among the Top 100 Science Stories in
Discover Magazine's 2002 "Year in Science." In 2004, he received the
IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Academic Early Career Award and a
sabbatical fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of
Science (JSPS).
- March 18, 2006
- Eric
Klavins, assistant professor in UW's Control and Robotics
department.
- February 18, 2006
- Steve Kaehler presentated
"So you
want to build a robot" (PDF, 1M), where he talked about current robot
products you can buy, questions to ask and answer to get started, and what
resources are available to help.
- January 21, 2006
- Dieter Fox,
Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science &
Engineering at the University of Washington.
- December 17, 2005
- Jacob Rosen, UW's
BioRobotics Laboratory.
- November 2005
- Rolf Rysdyk,
Autonomous Flight Systems Lab (UW AFSL).
- October 2005
- Issaquah F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Team - I.R.S.
- September 2005
- Embedded Linux - Karl Lunt, Dave Hylands.
- August 2005
- Various - Tyler Folsom, Jim Wright, Pete Miles.
- July 2005
- Sim of SRS Robot - Lee Leahy + Robot Rovers - Paul Verhage.
- June 2005
- Carangiform Locomotion Update (UW, robot fish) - Kristi Morgansen.
- May 2005
- MEMS (UW) - Kevin Wang.
- April 2005
- Barbaric Robotics - Jim Wright.
- March 2005
- ARC Lab (UW) - Sam McKennoch.
- February 2005
- GYRE Project (UW) - David Bliss, Matthew Dockrey, Lee Zeman.
- November 2004
- RTC Machine Shop - Kinsey Fobes, Francisco Martinez.
- October 2004
- RTC - Kinsey Fobes, Jim Milstid, Dave Marshall.
- September 2004
- Digital Flocks (UW) - Bruce Hemingway.
- July 2004
- TurboCAD - Cathy Saxton.
- June 2004
- Photosensor Secrets - Bill Beaty.
- May 2004
- Space Elevator (LiftPort) - Michael Laine.
- April 2004
- Carangiform Locomotion (UW, robot fish) - Kristi Morgansen.
- January 2004
- LEGO Mindstorm Robots - Dave Schilling & Gus Jansson.
- December 2003
- Lloyd's Exc. Robot Adv - Lloyd Spencer + I/F'ing to LEGO sensors - Larry B.
- November 2003
- PSoC - Greg Verge.
- October 2003
- Batteries - Larry Barello + Eagle PCB Design S/W - Jim Wright.
- August 2003
- Neural Networks - Doug Kelley.
- May 2003
- International Schools Robotic Club - Jacob Eggler.
- February 2003
- DARPA Challenge, Scarab GCXC - Martin Calsyn.
- January 2003
- Combat Robots - W.A.R.
- November 2002
- Evolution Robotics - local sales guys.
- October 2002
- Making Sumo Wheels - Pete Miles.
- July 2002
- Piezo Sensors - Doug Bell + FF Robot Navigation - Gary Teachout.
- June 2002
- Flame Detectors - Gary Teachout.
- May 2002
- Segway Human Transporter (HT) - local sales guys.
- April 2002
- Mars Polar Lander - Jeff Slostad.
- December 2001
- Fugro Seafloor Surveys - Paul Jubinski.
- November 2001
- Haptics/Biorobotics (UW) - Blake Hannaford.
- September 2001
- Artificial Muscles (UW) - Kristen Jaax.
- August 2001
- Atmel Microcontrollers - local sales guys.
- July 2001
- Probablistic Navigation (UW) - Dieter Fox.
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