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DPRG: March 1997 Newsletter
Subject: DPRG: March 1997 Newsletter
From: Jim Brown
jbrown at why.net
Date: Sat Feb 15 08:32:15 CST 1997
Below is the March 1997 Newsletter. It can also be viewed online (with
pictures)
at: http://www.dprg.org/nl_mar97.html
--------------------------------------------------------------
March 1997 DPRG Newsletter
We're marching forward, and getting so much accomplished. Interest is building
by leaps and bounds. Almost every day I get a few emails from interested souls
wanted to know more about the DPRG. At the last meeting, I had a flock of
people come up to me and say, "Remember me? I spoke to you by email."
After they told me who they were and I was able to match their face with the
email, I felt it was good to meet them face to face and especially to see such a
diverse group of people all interested in robotics. It looks like this
infusion of
people will only be growing and growing from here. Maybe we need a
"Welcoming committee?" We definately want to make everyone feel welcome
and to take part in our robotics quest.
The Dallas Personal Robotics Group is one of the nation's oldest special
interest
groups dedicated to the development and use of personal robotics and has been
around since 1984.
Check out the crowd at the February meeting. Offically we had 24, and then a
few more came in a little later. There were several that were out this month for
various meetings. They sure missed a great meeting!
NEXT MEETING MARCH 22ND! BRING YOUR ROBOTS! GET
YOUR ROBOTS READY FOR THE CONTEST IN MAY!
Listserv Is Up
Steve Rainwater of Network Cybernetics Corporation installed the listserv
software, tested it and now we can use it! (Steve is the owner of the computers
that host the DPRG web page, and he is the one who sponsors the domain
name for us.) A listserv is a program that brodcasts email automatically to
everyone on it's list. You can find out how to subscribe to the list by
viewing the
online document at: http://www.dprg.org/listserv.html . A listserv will
benefit us
in that all will be able to chat about robotics without having to send email
to me
first. Also, this will take a great load off of me in that I won't have to
keep a list
of email addresses - the listserv will automatically do it. Let's give Steve
a big
round of applause for all of his generous donations of time and effort to make
the DPRG a real success.
DPRG's Upcoming Contest
DPRG will be having a robotics contest in May with trials to start in April. The
purpose of the contest is to raise participation in the group. Hopefully
this will
inspire those who have half-built robots to get them built so that they can
do the
course. Last time (Nov 93) we had the contest many said they'd have a robot,
but only 4 actually tried (although there seemed to be some dispute about that
number). Roger Arrick's D-Bot won.
At the February meeting we talked about wall hugging robots could use the side
wall of room 1061 with the end wall being the back wall of the room. That
would allow a wall along the course and a wall at the end of the course. This is
a slightly modified course from the one in the February Newsletter.
The last contest we had was in November of '93. Everyone I spoke to said that
we should have contests on a more regular basis (than every 3-4 years). Some
mentioned that they'd like to see a contest every 3-4 months.
The simple premise for the contest is for a robot to autonomously go from the
start area (on the right) to the end area (on the left), and back in the
best time. Although this seems like a simple task, it's amazing how few were
able to come up with a robot that could do it for the last contest. (click on
the image to see a 120k animated gif of a robot running the course).
The contest area will be the length of the current room we are meeting in. The
length will be roughly 36 feet total: 6 feet on each end and 24 feet in the
middle.
Also the contest area will be 6 feet wide. The bounds of the contest area
will be
marked with 1 inch masking tape. For line following robots, a 1 inch piece of
masking tape 1 foot from any bounds will run the back side of the course, will
have a turning radius (about 4 feet in diameter) end the end area, and will run
the front side of the course back to the start area (again 1 foot from the
bounds). The tape designating the start of the end area will not intefere
with the
line following tape 6 inches on either side.
DPRG Robot Contest Rules and Regulations
Reasons for the Contest:
To enourage homebrew robot builders
To increase interest in personal robotics.
To increase participation in the Dallas Personal Robotics Group.
Robots:
Robots must be self-controlled, human-build machines, submitted by
DPRG members. (You can pay your dues the day of the meeting.)
Robots must not rely on human intervention except for starting and
stopping.
Robots can have on-board or off-board controllers.
Line following robots can follow a 1" tape line that will go the
course, but
may not use any other guide lines or tracks.
Robots must not be more than 48" length, 48" width, 96" height and 300
lbs.
Goal:
To create a robot that will begin at the START AREA, travel to the
END AREA (completely over the line) then return to the START AREA
in the shortest time possible.
Scoring:
The winner will be judged by applause. More recognition should be
given:
If the number of seconds to
complete
the course is low.
If the robot is completely self-contained (no tether).
If the robot starts by receiving a sound command (voice or tone).
If the robot makes computer generated sounds during the course.
If the robot does not touch any wall.
if the robot turns around in the END AREA.
Each robot will have 3 tries to complete the course.
If no robot completes the course, we'll try again at the next meeting until
we get one.
Setting:
The contest will begin at 12:00pm during the May DPRG meeting at the
Dallas Infomart - trial runs to be held in April.
Prizes:
AI CD Roms from Network Cybernetics Corporation, Two richochet
cars bought at a thrift store (they make great robotics bases), Two 1 meg
Eprom Emulators from Tech-Tools, and more.
To be sure, these rules will probably be changed before the actual contest so be
sure to keep up on the email list.
DPRG
T-Shirts are
in!
The DPRG T-Shirts are in and boy do they look great! They were unveiled at
the meeting and everyone seemed to like them. On the front where a pocket
would be is the text "DPRG" in big 2 inch letters and below that is the text
"Dallas Personal Robotics Group". On the back, is the DPRG logo at the top,
the Dallas Skyline at the bottom, the text "Dallas Personal Robotics Group
to the Left", and a robotic arm and hand that is reaching for the Reunion
Tower (a well known Dallas Landmark). The shirts come in Ashe color and we
also have some in white. The T-Shirts are made of 100% Cotton. We still have
about 33 T-Shirts left.
We purchased the T-Shirts from W & W Silkscreening, 2509-M Weaver
Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76117, (817) 834-3331. They did a very good and
professional job. The 3 colors were positioned perfectly! Some people at the
DPRG group seemed sceptical before the unveiling that they wouldn't look
right, but after seeing the shirts everyone was impressed.
So far, of the 24 people there, 15 shirts have already been sold. We
purchased 48 T-Shirts total. In ashe color shirts we ordered 3 S, 7 M,
20 L, 10 XL, 2 XXL, 1 XXXL, in white color shirts we ordered 2 L, 2
XL, 1 XXL. We need to sell 24 of the 48 T-Shirts to break even, and we're
nearly there just from the sales of the first DPRG meeting since we've
received them.
If anyone wants a T-Shirt, send your check of $15.00 plus $4.00 for shipping
and handling ($19 total) made out to Jim Brown to: DPRG c/o Jim Brown,
2326 Phoenix, Garland, TX 75040. The sizes we have left are Adult S, M, L,
and XL in Ashe color T-Shirts. We also have a few large in the white color
T-Shirts.
The T-Shirts cost $400 total to the DPRG. The breakdown is as follows: 48
T-Shirts at $8.00 each (we saved about 50 or 75 cents a shirt by tacking the W
& W Silkscreening logo to the bottom of the image), Plus $16 for the upcharge
for the shirts that were XXL and XXXL.
You'll be stylin' in your DPRG T-Shirt. Don't hesitate, send in your check
today!
Tech Tools donates products to DPRG
James Vroman, an employee of Tech Tools in Garland presented Tech Tools
donations of 3 of their impressive products to DPRG. Tech
Tools donated two of their 1 meg Eprom Emulators to be
placed in the DPRG hardward library, and one of their 64K
Eprom Emulators to be given away as a prize in the upcoming
contest to be held in May. The 1 meg Eprom Emulators are
valued at $349 dollars each, and the 64K Eprom Emulator is
valued at about $250 each. This is a very sizable donation from Tech-Tools of
which we are very greatful. These Eprom Emulators ease and speed up
development by allowing programmers to download their data directly to the
device via a PC's parallel port. To the embedded MCU board they look just
like an Eprom.
Roger Arrick has a few of their products and he speaks very well of them.
I believe that Tech Tools has also donated some of their products to other
Robotics Groups as well. They have a great interest in helping us robotic
developers. So be sure to put in a good word to your employer about their fine
products.
Tech Tools also makes other devices that are very impressive for the embedded
developer. Be sure to check out their web pages of their impressive devices.
More Stuff from Tech Tools
I spoke with James Vroman of Tech-Tools this week and he informed me that
after negotiating with his boss for a while, he managed to score some more stuff
for the DPRG!
The products that Tech-Tools will be donating was actually a prototype run of
an 8051 board that had one simple mistake, but ruined the
lot. The mistake seems to be a simple swapping of the 7805
chip legs so that the center ground pin was moved to the
outside instead of being in the center. All ya have to be willing
to do is swap the legs of the 7805, and you've got a nice
8051 board! All of you electronics gurus probably already
know just how you would do it right?
Tech-Tools is donating 10 bare boards to the DPRG! As best as I can
remember from what James told me, these boards have a place for a 7805
(pins accidentally swapped), a max232, rom, ram, and a gal. The gal is used for
addressing, but it can be left out and addressing pins wired manually for a
default configuration. You'll need to get the gal and program it if you wanna
overlay code and ram space.
James mentioned that they have about 30 of the bad boards, and if anyone
wants to buy one, he'll sell one for $10 bucks (bare board).
We need to figure out if we wanna give them away at the next meeting, or as
prizes for the contest. I thought that if we do give them away, then maybe some
of the boards might be able to be used in a robot to be entered in the
contest in
May. Any thoughts?
James mentioned that he will bring the boards to the next meeting.
Again, great going to James and Tech-Tools for the donations! We should
make good use of them as best we can.
Bryan Lyde brings his ROACH robot
A visitor, Bryan Lyde, who I spoke with on the email, agreed to bring in
his R.O.A.C.H. (Remotely Operated Automatically Controlled
Hardware). Bryan Lyde is a graduating student from DeVry, and
the ROACH was one of his projects developed while attending DeVry.
The ROACH boasts several nice components all of
which are controlled via a radio link back to a base
station that talks to a PC. Bryan states that one of the
items on the ROCAH robot is a Doppler radar. This
radar extends a couple of feet from the robot to detect
walls and other obstacles. The radar can be configured
via a pot to range from a few inches to several feet. The
Doppler radar he stated broadcasts at a screming
900ghz. He stated that the cost of the Doppler radar
was a mild $40. Also extending about 8 inches in 4
directions are bumper sensors to detect obstacles. I
suppose they are in place to detect obstacles that may
be invisible to the Doppler radar. To the end of the bumper sensors were
flashing red LEDs for the wow effect. Attached to the front of the device was
some sort of shock sensor. The radio link to the base station was running at
300Khz (I'm not sure). The robot sat upon a base purchased from
Mondo Tronics and was a two track dump truck base. Bryan removed
the toy motors, and replaced them with servo motors which were
modified to turn 360 degrees. On the top was a plastic five inch clear
dome. The electronics consisted of an 8751 based microcontroller and
radio, motor, and sensors. The base station was also 8751 based and
could talk to a PC and transmit 16 radio commands to the robot.
Some of the design problems that Bryan had to work out were the two track
motors. He mentioned that no matter what he did, one track would always turn
a little out of sync with the other causing the robot to not track straight
ahead.
He mentioned that the way he fixed this problem was for the software to correct
the difference by using pulse width modulation to slow one of the tracks down
slightly for the correction.
Another nice feature of the ROACH robot was that at the top was a DIP
header for attaching a 8051 MCU board. This was used for
development purposes and once the logic was figured out, the software
was burned onto the 8751 onboard the ROBOT, and the 8051 MCU
temporary board was removed.
Bryan mentioned that to see the robot work, the base unit must be attached
to a PC. At least one member of the DPRG volunteered to bring a lap top to
the March meeting so that we could see the robot work. Bryan stats that
the software which is stored on a CD-Rom is also nice to demo with great
graphics of the robot.
Bryan mentioned that he received sponsorship for this project to the tune of
about $1200. He mentioned that in his development they did a few of the
normal things like frying a few chips and what not, and the aforementioned
amount is how much their receipts came to.
Roger Arrick brings his Walker Robot
Roger Arrick of Arrick Robotics and one of his employees, Aaron,
showed off their very impressive walker robot. When Aaron casually
set the robot down and turned the robot on, "Oohs and Ahhs" could be
heard from around the room. The walker robot walks! It looked like
something out of the movies! One leg at a time, the robot trudges forward about
about one step a second. It pulls up a leg, swings it forward, and then pushes
the leg down (and the body stays up). It was a most impressive display of
hardware and software guiness from the Arrick robotics team.
The electronics of the walker robot appears to be 8 servos tied to an I/O
controller. The servos were controlled by pulsing the milisecond pulses the
servo needs through software (ie, no Scott Edwards boards here). The
I/O controller is attached to a central brain. Both the I/O controller and
the central brain appear to be 8051 based. There were a plethora of
other chips on the board also, that I didn't investigate, but all in all it
looked like a most impressive and well thought out board.
Everyone stood spellbound as the walker robot trekked across the floor. As it
neared someone, they would step out of the way as if it were the king,
and they would let it pass. Roger picked up his creation and turned it
over for all to see the components that were attached to the bottom of
the walker. On the bottom were four of the eight servos. The servos on
the bottom were for pulling the legs forward and back. Roger then set it
back on the floor to walk back the direction from which it came.
Aaron then threw down a catalog that was about one inch thick to
demonstrate how easily the walker robot could walk over obstacles. It
appeared that when Aaron trew down the book that just as it was
putting down it's front paw, that it was caught under the book, so it
couldn't lift it's leg that was stuck under the book. Someone moved
the book forward a few inches, and then the walker robot had no trouble
at all stepping onto and over the one inch high book.
The design seems almost perfect. The batteries and four of the servos are
placed on the feet. That drastically reduces the amount of weight the servos
have to lift at any one time. A wise location in my opinion. The legs and body
were made out of aluminum to further reduce the weight. I believe those servos
can lift about 42 ounces, so that still leaves plenty of weight that can be
added
to the top for sensors and other items.
I heard that this will be Arrick Robotics' next robotic product, brother of the
Trilobot they now sell. Although I'm sure this is a preliminary and unofficial
price, I hear it'll sell for around $1500 when all of the design decisions are
worked out, and all the bells and whistles are added.
I asked Roger how well does it turn? He answered, "One step at a time."
Review of Atmel FLASH Microcontrollers and
the ATM52 programmer
By Roger Arrick, roger at robotics.com
Atmel ( http://www.atmel.com ) , the maker of Flash-style memory chips has
used their expertise to create 8051-style microcontroller
chips with on-board Flash program memory instead of
the typical EPROM type.
On the surface this doesn't sound like a big deal but if you've ever developed a
microcontroller project without an emulator, you know it takes endless cycles of
program, burn, test, UV erase.... The longest phase of this process is the UV
erase which typically takes 20-30 minuites. Because it takes that long, you end
up needing to have about 10 chips so you can be working while chips are
erasing. In general, erasing is a headache. UV erasing requires that the chip
have a window. OTP (one time programmable) versions of microcontroller
chips are exactly the same as their EPROM brothers but simply don't have the
window and therefore can't be erased. Why leave off the window you ask?
Well, cost. That little window adds several dollars to the cost of the part,
sometimes much more. Since the Atmel flash microcontrollers don't require UV
erase, you don't need the window, and guess what, they're cheaper. Another
guess what, you don't need to UV erase, simply stick it in your programmer and
select erase. This normally takes a few seconds.
What's the downside you say? Well, the flash parts can't be programmed with
the same programmer/programming module as standard 8051 parts. Most
programmers like the Needham EMP20 ($450) already come with a module
for the Atmel parts. Others may require a custom module or even new
software. The cheap programmer I had (~$100) couldn't even do this part with
new software so I had to get the more expensive EMP20.
Atmel currently offers a handful of versions of Flash 8051 micros.
Here's a partial list:
AT89S51 80C51 with 4k flash, 128 bytes ram, 2 timers, 40 pin
package.
AT89S52 80C52 with 8k flash, 256 bytes ram, 3 timers, 40 pin
package.
AT89S1051 1k flash, 64 bytes ram, 20 pin package, 1 timer, No
UART.
AT89S2051 2k flash, 128 bytes ram, 2 timers, 20 pin package.
There are others, request an Atmel databook for more information.
The 20 pin parts will give any PIC micro a serious run for it's money. You can
use standard 8051 programming development tools. But, you do need to have a
programmer that can program the special parts.
At the time I began using Atmel parts, the Needham EMP20 looked like the
best bargin for a programmer but it still cost $450. The Needham products are
top-notch and not nearly as expensive as some of the other options. Their
software has a huge array of supported parts. The package comes with several
personality modules for different types of parts. A very well made product for
sure.
Now there's several on the market that are lower-end and would be affordable
to a tinkerer and made specifically for the Atmel microcontrollers. After
looking
around and comparing features I selected the ATM52 by MITE, a CZ
company. You can find them on the web at www.mite.anet.cz. The ATM52 is
designed to program the Atmel 89S51,52,2051, and 1052 only, no EPROM or
standard 8051 parts can be done. This was fine for my requirements and the
unit only costs about $100.00. They sent me an order form via fax and I
filled it
out with a credit card #. I'm not too excited about giving my card # of the net
just yet. Give it time though. The shipping charges were a whopping $30.00 but
overall this seemed like a fair deal. After about 2 weeks the unit arrived in a
small cardboard box. The box contained an AC adapter, 3.5" PC diskette,
serial port cable, and the board itself. The board contains a 40 pin
high-quality
ZIF socket, is about 4" x 5" and has 4 rubber feet on the bottom. The first
thing
I noticed was the fact that the AC adapter was a strange (to me anyway) 220v
European model with 2 round prongs instead of what we have here in the
states. Since the voltage was 12VDC, I just found one I had and used it
instead. The European model went into my junk pile to be used for future
projects. The next thing I noticed was NO MANUAL. At first I thought it was
missing, but now I realize that this thing is so easy to use, no manual is
needed. I
simply created a directory on the HD and copied the 2 files from the floppy into
it. On my Windose 95 desktop, I clicked the right mouse button while pointing
at an open folder, selected NEW, found the .exe file, and placed it into the
folder. No problem. Clicking the ICON causes the DOS program to pop up
where there are several pull down menus and a memory display. The first thing
that happened was, well, nothing, then a message appeared saying that
communications could not be established. After double checking the serial cable
and com port #, I noticed that the power light on the board was off. After much
head scratching, I noticed that the adapter needed to have the center pin minus
and the outside ring positive, the exact opposite of what I expected. I clipped
my AC adapter's wires and switched them. Plugged the connector back in and
everything worked just fine. MITE had placed a blocking diode to protect the
board in the event of such a screw-up - good going guys! Remember it costs
$30 to ship this thing. Using the software is so self-expanitory there's no
need to
go into it here. A small but useful on-line help file is available to answer
all but
the dumbest questions. All in all, I like what I got for my money and would
recommend it to others tinkering around with micros. There's not too many
products which cause me to realize an important lesson of life but this one
did -
I've got 4 power strips on my workbench and that's not enough!!!
Roger.
The Beginnings of a Group Robot?
Last month I reported that we might receive a wheel chair robot to be the
base of a group robot. This month, I'm happy to report that we've
received it! It's a little worn, but we believe that the motors are in
working order. James Vroman of Tech-Tools volunteered to take it
home and check it out for the group.
Walter Bryant Speaks
Walter & Bev Bryant (wb4pqq at ilinks.com)
Feb. 9 1997
Hello DPRG!!!!
Bev and I are so glad to hear that you are alive and well!! As Jim Brown said
recently in the DPRG News Letter, I happened upon the Internet address of the
DPRG a short while ago and called Jim on the phone. We had lost contact with
the club after we left Texas in 1990, and feared the worst for the club. We
tried
several times to contact the club from a distance, but failed each time. You can
imagine how proud and impressed we were when we first viewed your fantastic
Web Site!
Jim told me that apparently, many if not most of the early news letters and
history of the first years of the DPRG have been lost. I looked through every
thing we have and made copies of all that I have. I am sorry to say, I do not
have but a portion of them. Stan Spielbusch was the last editor to the news
letter that I knew of. He is a very thorough and detailed person and if he can
locate him, I am sure he will have a copy of all of the early news letters.
Let me tell you of the first days of the DPRG. Bev and I both worked at Texas
Instruments. I was a Manufacturing Engineer and Bev was working as a
Software Tech, going to college at night at NTSU. I asked Bev, what am I
suppose to do in the evenings while you are in class, (in addition to wash
cloths,
clean the house, etc., but that is another story).
Bev suggested I join a club that I was interested in. We had just purchased
a kit
>from Heath Kit, which was a Hero I Robot and I was very interested in
Robotics. Bev said, well join a club in Robotics. I said I have already looked,
and there are none! She said, well start one.
We put up a one sheet flier at both of the Heath Kit stores with our names on it
and a short paragraph stating that we wonted to start a robot club. We had our
phone number at the bottom. (I have looked for a copy of that sheet, but I have
not found one yet.) We received at least two calls; Joe Row and Rob
Winingham. After speaking with both of these people, (who had both just
purchased a Hero I Robot also), we decided to meet at Joe's house because
we lived way out in Lewisville.
Joe fortunately knew the most about clubs because he had been in several,
including president of some of them. Tentatively, we said Joe would be the
acting president, Bob would be the vice president, and I would be the editor to
the news letter.
We created more fliers, (I have included a copy of this one, the meeting date
was Saturday, June 16, 1984), and placed them at the Heath Kit stores, Texas
Instruments, and a few other places. I forget the man's name, but he was the
sales man at Heath Kit that sold us the robots, he became the treasurer at the
first meeting. I can not find notes of the first meeting (yet), but I think
there were
five or six people present.
We had a great time and I could see (I thought), that the club was going to have
a great future. It did. For several years we grew constantly and did incredible
things. I will not try to include them here at this time because it would take a
very long time to list them all. However, if I may, I would like to write
more in
the future as I find the time. I am proud to say, I do have copies of many
of the
first news letters, not all of them, but I have included copies of all the
ones I
have found so far.
I addition, I have copies of most of the Hero I and Hero 2000 programs the
club wrote. I will send copies of those in the near future. Further more, I have
copies of many of the club's activities that I will send in the near future
- maybe
20 or 30 hours worth!! Included in these programs and tapes are;
a) Joe Row's Continuous Consciousness Program, for the Hero 2000 - This is
a very intricate and capable program which runs off of the built in clock. It
allows the robot to tie together all it's numerous programs and to execute them,
on its own, at the most logical times. This program also used a random number
generator to allow the robot to act in a some what unpredictable and more
interesting way, yet still perform logically.
b) An add on compass - this program I wrote. I used an oil filed compass (I
still
have the compass), in a small plastic box, which was read by optic fibers. I
used the photo cell (I temporally relocated from Robby's eye port) (Robby is
the name of our Hero I robot.) This allows the robot to navigate, using the
compass, and always know true north, within a few degrees.
c) A Home Navigation Program, for the Hero 2000 - Bev and I wrote this
program. We created a path network around the entire downstairs of our home.
Seldon, (the name of one of our two Hero 2000's), could navigate the entire
downstairs using this node system. He could determine his exact position within
less than 1/2 inch, and know his attitude or the direction he was facing, within
one or two degrees. Using Joe's program, Seldon would wake up at 5:30 a.m.
on Monday morning, disengage from his power supply, align himself with the
wall in the Robot Room, navigate out of his room, through the foyer, into our
bedroom, past the foot of the bed to Bev's side of the bed, and say; Good
morning Bev, it is Monday morning at 5:32 a. m., what are your instructions?
d) A Mechanical/Optical Scanner/TV Camera, for the Hero I - (I have included
print outs in the news letters I am sending.) Again I used Robby's eye port, a
parabolic reflector, many soda straws, a large paper tube, and some black
paint, to make a mechanical sensor. Using this crude device, Robby could
distinguish between a circle, a square, and a triangle on the wall, several feet
away. (It would take him up to 15 minutes to mechanically scan just one
picture.)
There are many more things I would like to talk about, but I have run out of
time. Ed Rivers is the only guy I recognize that is still in the club. I saw
a picture
of him in a recent news letter. He joined the club within a year or so of it's
beginning, as I recall, and I am sure he can fill in many of the details.
Again, Bev and I are very proud of the DPRG and would like to participate
>from a far, if we may. Maybe we can help write programs, or anything the club
might be interested in. Using a camcorder, we could copy any program and
send copies of it to the club to view during a club meeting, and/or to
distribute
through the club library.
Thanks,
Walter & Bev Bryant
Editor's note: I received a packet of information from Walter and Bev this week.
The first three pages was the letter above, the next page was the picture you
see to the right (text below), and a bunch of early newsletters. Thanks to
Walter and Bev for sending us this great information.
Dallas Personal Robotics Group
CHARTER MEETING:
DATE: Sat June 16 1984
TIME: 4:00 PM
PLACE: Heathkit Electronic Center
2715 Ross Ave. Dallas, Texas
corner of Ross and I-75 overpass
This will be the first main meeting of the Dallas Personal
Robotics Society, any one interested in any aspect of
robotics is invited to attend.
One of the major topics of the meeting will be the
formation of a HERO Special Interest Group.
(HERO is the Heathkit Educational Robot)
'BE PART OF THE BEGINNING'
FOR INFORMATION CALL
Robert Winingham xxx-xxxx days
Joe Row xxx-xxxx nights
Minutes
We spoke briefly about the T-Shirts
We decided to postpone the voting on the mission statement another
month. We'll talk about it on email.
We decided to wait another month to see if Walter Bryant sends any info
about the not-for-profit status.
We talked about the robotic contest in May.
We talked about that for wall hugging robots we should use the
side of the room since it has a continuous wall.
We talked briefly about the wheel chair.
James Vroman agreed to take it home and check it out.
We'll talk about what to do with it after the contest.
James Vroman of Tech-Tools presented donations to the DPRG.
1 64K Eprom Emulator to be given away at the May robotics
contest
2 1 Meg Eprom Emulators to be put in the DPRG library
We watched videos
We sold 15 T-Shirts
5 joined the group
Bryan Lyde gave a demonstration of his ROACH robot.
Roger Arrick and Aaron gave a demonstration of the Walker robot.
March 22nd tentative meeting agenda:
12:00pm Arrive
- Robotics Chat
12:15pm Show-n-tell robots
12:30pm Watch Videos
1:00pm DPRG business and such
- Distribute Literature
1:30pm Robotics Chat
By the Way, if there's any reps or professors that would like to give a
presentation, in the area of robotics or electronics, I'd be happy to
schedule you for one of our meetings.
The rest is Misc. stuff that'll be in every
newsletter
Where and When
The DPRG Meeting is held during the Super Saturday Meeting day at 12-2pm
usually in room 1061 (sometimes assigned to other rooms close to it - see
overhead projector).
INFOMART FIRST FLOOR MAP TO THE DPRG ROOM
| | Elevators | Cafeteria | |
|
| | _ _ | | |
Auditorium |
_ | |_| |_| |__________________|
|_______________________|
|Expo |_| | ________________ ___ |Glass
|
|Hall Over | _ | * \__
__|Doors____________|
| head | | | Bookstore or *
|
West | proj.| _ | | |
________________________________|
Entr. |___________| |_| |_| |___________| East __
___________ Info. ___________ Entrance |\
Room*
|___________|______ __________|___________| \ 1050
or 1061
Front Entrance \
to Infomart
\___Right Here
MAP OF DALLAS
INFOMART* at 1950 Stemmons (35E) Freeway
35\ Addison| / 75
\ | /
_____ | ______|___/_ Garland
635 \____|__/ | | \__
| | | \__ 635 Rowlette
DFW | | | \__ ___
Airport / \35E | | \ _____/30
| \__ / / _|__/
| \_* | |Dallas ___/ |
Irving |loop \/__ / ____/_____|______
|12 ___\__|___/ | \______
___________|_____/ | | \ | 80
30 | / | \_ | Mesquite
Grand | | | \_ /
Prairie / / \ \ \___ |
_________/__ 67/ | | ____\_/
20 \___/____|____\__/ \__175
/ | \ \___
Duncanville /DeSoto|35E \45 \
1997 meeting dates
March 22
April 12
May 17
June 14
July 12
August 16
September 20
October 11
November 15
December 13
Membership
To non-members: You can become a member of the DPRG by sending your
yearly $20 dues to: DPRG c/o Jim Brown, 2326 Phoenix, Garland, TX 75040
- please make out checks to Jim Brown for now. Membership means: You'll get
a reminder via email about the meeting (If you have email that is and that you
submit it). You'll get a newsletter by email. And you get to feel good about
sitting in on the meetings. Oh, and you get to vote and check out books from
the library if you'd like and there's even a device programmer (via caretaker).
The dues pays for mailings, and other group expenses. And you'll get a userid
and password to access the DPRG finances page.
Send robotics content, pictures or suggestions to: jbrown at why.net
(C) Copyright 1997 Dallas Personal Robotics Group
Last Updated: 02/15/97
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Brown jbrown at why.net or jbrown at spdmail.spd.dsccc.com
http://users.why.net/jbrown
http://www.dprg.org (next meeting is March 22nd) Bring robots!
Rom 3:23,24 http://users.why.net/jbrown/pcb.htm
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