Underwater robots

One of the most exciting and inexpensive robotics avenues available is the underwater robot craze that's happening all over the world right now. It is largely a result of the MATE center (Marine Advanced Technology in Education) run out of Monterey Peninsula College. Jill Zande and her crew are running ROV (remote operated vehicles) contests as far away as Hong Kong.
One of the more exciting facets of this trend is a lot of really great Professional Development for teachers. One such training session is coming up soon.

"The 2009 CEF Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Building for the Classroom workshop. Please forward to any and all who would have interest.

Workshop: 2009 CEF Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Building for the Classroom

Date: Friday Afternoon November 6th - all day Saturday November 7th

Location: Great Lakes Water Studies Institute at Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City Michigan


For more information contact: fortonke@tcaps.net

AOLAB

Usually there are very interesting applications of robotics going on in your own back yard. You may not even know about them. This is where the detective work comes in. We found Professor Aoyama of Tokyo Electrical Communications University, working on microrobots just down the street from us. He graciously allowed us to visit his lab and gave us some tips about building microrobots. The students were really inspired by his work and his students. The range of applications is vast...from artificial insemination to robot micro-sumo!

So you want to be a robotics coach

The prospective robotics coach is now faced with an overwhelming array of products and possible directions to take. To make matters worse, all of the companies that pander the various robotics materials are good at selling their stuff. What we're going to try to do here is give an overview of what we've seen out there and hope that it will be a help to the uninitiated. We've been studying and teaching robotics now for some time and have been in contact with a lot of robot coaches. What might surprise you is that many robotics coaches know next to nothing about robotics. That's right, many robotics coaches are good at organizing people, running competitions, and giving awards, but have no experience with robots. The first thing you need to do is :

ASSESS YOUR STRENGTHS

Do you have a particular background that can feed into robotics? Almost everyone does. People with backgrounds as diverse as marine biology, entomology, English, social studies
and P.E. are now robotics coaches. There are materials out there for the complete neophyte that will allow you to become involved in a robotics community, put together an enthused team and learn a lot about the power of robotics.

On the other hand, you may have a background in technology, engineering, mechanics, computer programming or electronics. In this case you need to:

DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO TEACH THE KIDS

The various kits that are out there emphasize different aspects of robotics. Do you want to teach general robotics not knowing much about it, or do you prefer emphasizing programmable chips, electronics, servos, mechanics etc. You might be surprised to find that all of these various advanced electronic components are quite understandable as presented through robotics. The programming as well can be quite simple.

What we would like to do in our future posts is to take various robotics platforms and describe the role of the robotics coach within the context framed by that company. We will be looking at VEX, LEGO, Paralax, ROV type robotics as well as junkbots (robots made from random electronic components).

First Vex Tournament in Japan

The first Vex tournament ever to be held in Japan will be at the American School in Japan (ASIJ) in Tokyo on November 11, 2009. If you are new to robotics, VEX is a great way to start. The competitions are exciting and well organized. There are already several schools signed up. To find out more about VEX robotics visit www.vexrobotics.com or the www.innovationfirst.com.

The particular competition in Tokyo can be found at http://robotevents.com
Registration details are there.