[chbot] Which robot kit?

[Chris Hamling]

Andrew,

I guess the decision needs to be based upon how you want to go about
inspiring the kids. 

We believe in the field of dreams principal, "build it and they will come".

We have schools and now Universities using the VEX kit in the classroom but
the big thing is that the students want to do it after school as well!

The VEX competition in New Zealand is part of the biggest and fastest
growing robotics competition in the world. Sure the robots are not small
enough to fit in your hand but they offer the ability to do solid mechanical
construction that can do real work. At the last world championships they
were lifting 10lb objects without effort. That is not to say they are big,
they have to start a game so they fit inside an 18" cube. The competitions
are designed so that all capabilities are catered for from the absolute
beginner who cannot program up to the expert who wants to add Xbox360
connect controllers to it.

Teams can either program in EasyC (flowchart based) or RobotC (code based)
or do both in EasyC Pro.

There is a huge international support base so requests for help are usually
received within 24 hours by people that really know what they are doing.

There are several curriculum already written eg
http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/products/teaching_robotc_cortex/index.ht
ml that take students from start to finish.

Many YouTube videos can be found that explain the many elements that include
potentiometers, shaft encoders, ultrasonic sensore, gyroscopes,
accelerometers etc etc and no soldering iron is required.

Mechanically they are strong and we have teams that have been competing
every montgh for four years and their kit is still as robust as the day they
bought it.

Sorry for the long reply but I really believe in the system and, being a
charitable trust, we have no financial interest in the product we are just
here to "inspire a passion for science and technology"

Chris Hamling

-----Original Message-----
From: chchrobotics-bounces at lists.linuxnut.co.nz
[mailto:chchrobotics-bounces at lists.linuxnut.co.nz] On Behalf Of Hanno Sander
Sent: Thursday, 16 February 2012 10:47 p.m.
To: Christchurch Robotics
Subject: Re: [chbot] Which robot kit?

Hi Andrew,
I started with a Mindstorm and a Vex and ended up collaborating with a
bunch of great engineers to build the TBot to use with my kids.

TBot uses the powerful Parallax Propeller (8 independent 32 bit
processors running at 96 MHz), includes a bunch of integrated sensors
(mic, encoders, proximity, line, IR) and comes ready to run- no
assembly required.  It's designed as an easy to customize robot
platforms with mechanical integration to lego/technic/vex/meccano and
expansion connector with plenty of digital/analog IO.  LiPo batteries
charge via USB, you can control/program/debug it wirelessly, and it
comes with learning resources.  Easy to program with 12Blocks or text
based like C, Basic, etc.   See more here: http://onerobot.org

Hanno
--
Hanno Sander
http://hannoware.com

On Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 9:46 PM, jimmy allen <jimmy1248 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Andrew
>
> The company that I work for is an electronic suppler for schools.They
> produce a robot kit that might interest you.
> http://www.electroflash.co.nz/picaxe-products/
>
> It covers most of your requirements.
> I can get a copy of the instruction booklet if you want to have a more
> detailed look of the contents.
>
> Jimmy
>
>
> On 2/16/12, Andrew Errington <a.errington at lancaster.ac.uk> wrote:
>> On Thu, February 16, 2012 16:38, Chris Hamling wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>> Come along to Tait Radio this weekend (Sunday 10:00 to 15:00) and have a
>>> look at the robot kits that are being used. We have a heap of schools
>>> using them both in competition and in the class.
>>>
>>
>> Thanks for your reply, but I am in Korea all weekend. :)
>>
>> If there is a specific kit/system that strikes you as being very suitable
>> I'd like your opinion.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Andrew
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Chchrobotics mailing list Chchrobotics at lists.linuxnut.co.nz
>> http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/chchrobotics
>> Mail Archives: http://lists.ourshack.com/pipermail/chchrobotics/
>> Web site: http://kiwibots.org
>> Meetings 3rd Monday each month at Tait Radio Communications, 175 Roydvale
>> Ave, 6.30pm
>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line to reflect new content.
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chchrobotics mailing list Chchrobotics at lists.linuxnut.co.nz
> http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/chchrobotics
> Mail Archives: http://lists.ourshack.com/pipermail/chchrobotics/
> Web site: http://kiwibots.org
> Meetings 3rd Monday each month at Tait Radio Communications, 175 Roydvale
Ave, 6.30pm
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line to reflect new content.

_______________________________________________
Chchrobotics mailing list Chchrobotics at lists.linuxnut.co.nz
http://lists.ourshack.com/mailman/listinfo/chchrobotics
Mail Archives: http://lists.ourshack.com/pipermail/chchrobotics/
Web site: http://kiwibots.org
Meetings 3rd Monday each month at Tait Radio Communications, 175 Roydvale
Ave, 6.30pm

When replying, please edit your Subject line to reflect new content.