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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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CALENDAR
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| 2002.03.01-03 |
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9th Annual Canada First Robotic Games, Toronto, Canada
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| 2002.03.08-09 |
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AMD Jerry Sanders Creative Design Contest, Urbana, IL
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| 2002.03.10-14 |
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APEC Micromouse Contest, Dallas, TX
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| 2002.03.13 |
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RoboFlag, Ottawa, Canada
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| 2002.03.17-21 |
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5th Bi-Annual ASCE Lunar Robotic Construction Contest, Albuquerque, NM
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| 2002.03.23 |
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Indonesian Robot Contest, Surabaya, Indonesia
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| 2002.03.23-24 |
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Hobby Show Robot Conflict, Philadelphia, PA
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| 2002.03 |
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BattleBots, San Francisco, CA
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| 2002.04.05-06 |
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2nd Annual Acroname Robotics Expo and Contest, Boulder, CO
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| 2002.04.06 |
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DPRG RoboRama (2002.a), Dallax, TX
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| 2002.04.06-07 |
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7th Annual Manitoba Robot Games, Manitoba, Canada
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| 2002.04.10 |
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15th Annual Tech Museum of Innovation's Tech Challenge, San Jose, CA
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| 2002.04.11-13 |
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6th Annual Micro Air Vehicle Competition, Gainesville, FL
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| 2002.04.19 |
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8th Annual Carnegie Mellon Mobot Races, Pittsburgh, PA
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| 2002.04.19-21 |
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RoboRodentia, San Luis Obispo, CA
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| 2002.04.20 |
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8th Annual UC Davis Picnic Day MicroMouse contest, Davis, CA
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| 2002.04.21 |
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Trinity College Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest, Hartford, CT
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| 2002.04.24 |
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DTU RoboCup, Copenhagen, Denmark
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| 2002.04.24-25 |
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Micro-Rato, Aveiro, Portugal
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| 2002.04.25-26 |
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Alcabot, Madrid, Spain
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| 2002.04.25-27 |
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FIRST Robotics Competition National Championship, Orlando, FL
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| 2002.04.25-27 |
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15th Annual SAE Walking Machine Challenge, Golden, CO
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| 2002.04.26 |
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SPURT (School Projects Using Robot Techniques), Rostock-Warnemunde, Germany
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| 2002.04 |
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Penn State Abington Fire-Fighting Robot Contest, Abington, PA
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| 2002.04 |
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12th Annual Singapore Inter-School Micromouse Competition, Singapore
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| 2002.04 |
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10th Annual Northwest Robot Sumo Tournament, Lynnwood, WA
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| 2002.04 |
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National Festival of Robotics, Guimaraes, Portugal
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| 2002.04 |
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Western Sumo and Tractor Pull Competition, Brandon, Canada
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| 2002.04 |
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LEGO MY EGG-O Robotic Egg Hunt, Cleveland, OH
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| 2002.05.03-04 |
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Robothon, Seattle, WA
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| 2002.05.04-05 |
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15th Annual RI/SME Student Robotic Engineering Challenge, Pittsurgh, PA
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| 2002.05.10-12 |
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Eurobot, La Ferte Bernard, France
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| 2002.05.10-12 |
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Western Canadian Robot Games (BEAM), Calgary, Canada
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| 2002.05.18-20 |
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Singapore Robotic Games, Republic of Singapore
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| 2002.05.19 |
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3rd Annual PARTS Mini-Sumo Robot Competition, Portland, OR
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| 2002.05.23-29 |
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FIRA Robot World Cup, Seoul, Korea
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ABOUT NETSURFER
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COOL TOYS
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IN THE NEWS
LEGO Talks TCP/IP
Evolution of LEGO robotics took a quantum leap when German developer Olaf Christ
squeezed a TCP/IP stack into the LegOS on February 1. A LEGO
web server immediately followed. But before you start plotting the attack
of the killer LEGO bricks on the cookie jar, remember the
Internet connection goes via PC through a LEGO tower, and then via IR to the
LEGO bot, limiting control to within a 10 ft radius of the tower.
The stack, christened uIP and typically about 5 kbytes in size, is
finding a life of its own in the 8-bit embedded microprocessor world.
Arming Unmanned Vehicles in the New Budget
We told you about the success of the unmanned air vehicles (UAVs)
in the war on terrorism and the Al Qaeda, and how we'd improve them
with a couple of missiles. Well, someone was listening - or
at least thinking along the same lines. An unmanned Predator was
recently credited with firing the missile that killed a senior Al Qaeda leader.
Then unmanned vehicles received a huge boost in the newly released
2003 Defense Budget, winning a one billion dollar investment. Though the
funds are to be spread across air, land, and water-borne vehicles, it looks
like the Predator just got another prey.
First Robotic Coronary Bypass
Advances in science and technology are made up of many many tiny steps
- and not all forwards either.
Robotic surgery took another small step forward with the announcement of
the first successful robot-assisted coronary bypass, one the most common coronary
procedures in the US. The operation is part of a larger FDA study to
assess the use of robotics in heart surgery.
The advantage? Three pencil-sized holes are made in the patient's chest
instead of an 8- to 10-inch incision that cuts through the breastbone
and lots of muscles.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN
After months of bleak news about terrorist attacks, recession, and
accounting debacles, there is finally some
diversion with the Winter Olympic Games
and its going ons in Salt Lake City.
So, as good sports, we are featuring the games of the robotic world.
From Olympic events to sumo and soccer
and other less conventional competitions,
robotic athletes too are fulfilling the motto,
"Citius, Fortius, Altius" (faster, stronger, higher).
Olympic Torch Relay
Nothing quite beats the lighting of the Olympic flame in the opening
ceremonies for drama and mass appeal. What better way to interest
grade and high school students in robotics than a competition to build
and operate a robot that will relay a (non-combustible) torch from one
pedestal to another? The Tech Museum of Innovation in the heart of
Silicon Valley is sponsoring the "Tech Torch" challenge.
While not quite robot athletics, this competition is different from
many others (especially for younger builders) in not providing
a starter kit. After all, why constrain creativity and innovation?
Robobiathlon
Canadian Myriam Bédard's 1994 double gold in the biathlon, a combo of
cross country skiing and target shooting, inspired a lively following
among robot enthusiasts in Canada.
Robobiathlon rules closely follow the human original.
Competing robots must first navigate a course complete with steps,
turns, and moguls. They then receive
and shoot squash balls at four targets
4 to 6 inches in diameter and 8 feet away.
Open to high school and junior college students, robobiathlon adds a
twist with ancillary competitions for the best project documentation.
This is provided in written, video, and web formats,
so interesting web sites abound.
Mobot Slalom
Connoisseurs call it GS, aka the Giant Slalom, the king of excitement in
downhill skiing. The Carnegie Mellon Mobot Slalom challenges autonomous
robots to similar thrills and spills.
The contestants must follow a striped slalom course with
real world conditions: an
outdoors walkway with uneven and cracked concrete, gaps in striping
painted weeks earlier to allow random wear-and-tear, and a competition that can
only be cancelled by extreme weather conditions (like tornadoes).
The competition's quirk? Any non-primate animal may be used to
assist with vehicle control as long as the use is humane.
FASTER, STRONGER, HIGHER
Look Ma, No Wheels
Wheel- and track-based locomotion is well understood, so
the Society of Autmotive Engineers sponor the Walking Machine
Challenge, a hexathlon for legged robots. Radio controlled or
autonomous robots must perform a 3 meter dash, carry up to
60 kg of lead shot back down the course, go through a 5-gate slalom, navigate
two trip wires placed 15 cm above ground and 15 cm apart, find two
colored blocks, and then navigate an obstacle course with car tires,
lumber, sand and gravel, slopes, and anything else the organizers can
dream up. If that sounds a bit ambitious, the Singapore Robotic
Games offer legged robots separate obstacle course and marathon race
events.
Higher and Higher
As robots find more and diverse applications, mobility in
different environments become critical. The Society of
Manufacturing Engineers' Robotic Technology and Engineering
Challenge includes a staircase race. Robots must go up
three risers 8, 6, and 4 inches high and down again by
a different route within 5 minutes.
The catch? The robot must fit within
a cube 12 inches a side.
Separately, the Singapore Robotic Games
catches the Spiderman craze with its Wall Climbing Robot Race.
Robots traverse a C-shaped course: 2 meters horizontally on
the ground, up a vertical wall for 2 more meters, and then along
the "ceiling" for the final 2 meters.
Strong Silent Type, Non-Smoker
What better demonstration of strength than the ability to toss
your opponent out of the ring? The ancient Japanese sport of sumo wrestling
is also one of the oldest sports for robots. The concept is simple,
two robots under 3 kg in weight try to push each out of a 5 foot circle in
a series of three 3-minute matches. Autonomous robots start by
facing outwards (so they have to find their opponent first before charging).
This version is now known as the "Japanese rules",
as the sport has evolved into multiple
weight classes and regional variations. However, as stated in the
rulebook: smoking by the robot is a violation.
MORE FUN AND GAMES
In Search of the Golden Cheese
Invented by the folks at MIT, mouse competitions are straightforward:
an autonomous mouse has 10-15 minutes to make as many runs as possible from one
robotic competition in existence. In fact, the 23rd Annual All-Japan
Micromouse Contest will be held later this year. Since familiarity breeds
boredom, the BEAM robotics folks have suggested the creation of a "class B"
whereby competitors are encouraged to cheat in any creative, non-destructive way.
Want to hop from corner to center? That's fine.
Sumo bots and robo-gophers, though, need not apply.
Best in the Real-World
Not all robotic applications make for great competitions: vacuuming, for instance,
could be a real snooze. Firefighting, with its varied elements and a
potentially hazardous environment, however, fits the bill. Trinity College in
Conneticut has been running a robotic firefighting competition for enough
years to have regional qualifier rounds. Open to students and professionals, there
are multiple levels of competition. In the expert division, a robot is placed
randomly in a model house and activated by a smoke alarm. It has 5 minutes
to navigate through 4 rooms to find a lit candle - that might be hiding behind
furniture - and put it out. Another measure of the competition's
success: a division for commercial products has been introduced for 2002.
Robo-Pele
If getting one robot to compete is hard, try fielding a
team of 5 to 11 autonomous pieces of hardware.
This is RoboCup, the project to field a team of
robot soccer players that can beat the World Cup champions by 2050.
Historically the games are divided into two size classes: the smallsize
at 15 cm max in diameter, with 5 robots per team, and the middlesize
at 50 x 50 cm max, with 11 on a side. In 2002, a humanoid class
has also been added, though mercifully restricted to solo skills competitions
and one-on-one or two-on-two games.
Honda's Asimo can now add the profession of soccer player to its options.
LEGO™ MY™ EGG-O™, Grab the Flag, and get an A
Competitions are great for teaching, and EECS-375/475 in LEGO autonomous
robotics at Case Western Reserve University makes the most of it
with their Egg Hunt contest.
Teams of two robots - built by separate groups of students - try to
gather pastel eggs for their own nest while putting black eggs into
that of their opponent. With no prerequisites to the course, the use
of LEGO allows students to tackle the overall problem without being
an expert electrician, mechanical engineer, and microcoder rolled into one.
For hard-core, hands-on, hardware twiddling, check out
the robotic "capture-the-flag" competition
in Carleton University's fourth year engineering project course.
Popular Mayhem
Of course, no discussion of robotic competition would be complete without
the mano-a-mano battles between the remotely controlled robots popularized
by TV series such as BattleBots, Robot Wars, and Robotica. While purist
may scoff at the lack of robot autonomy, much can still be said for
the competition's drive for advancements in robot
design, construction, and operating
strategy. In particular, Robotica's combination of obstacle course races with
direct combat has drawn diverse and creative entries. In an interesting
development, some veteran bots from these contests have found their way
onto eBay and back into competition, furthering the
evolution of the human-machine ecosystem.
BITS & PIECES
Big Steps for Tiny Links
Applications for nano-robots are being dreamed up faster than
dandelions sprouting after the rain.
From smart dust to detect terrorists to a microscopic R2D2
performing surgery on single cells, they all rely on ever smaller components.
Fortunately, the manufacture of microelectromechanical (MEMS) parts is keeping pace.
The latest announcement from Sandia National Labs is a microchain drive
where each chain link is smaller than the diameter of a human hair.
Microchains can drive multiple other MEMS devices, and at a distance, reducing
the need for multiple MEMS motors and providing greater design flexibility.
One day, a robotic flea circus riding tiny MEMS bicycles will come through town.
MAN vs MAN
After LEGO, and Aibo, What Next?
When hackers took to expanding Mindstorm's mind, the LEGO corporation
kept their cool and ultimately declared themselves in support of the innovators.
But when AiboPet reverse-engineered Aibo's software,
Sony growled. Thanks to a big brotherly quirk of the Digital Millenium Copyright
Act (DMCA), AiboPet committed a criminal act when he cracked the encrypted Aibo code.
Aibo lovers united in a cacophony of protest - and a boycott, and by late
November, Sony and AiboPet reached a mutual coexistence pact. AiboPet's web
site is back online and Aibo's around the world can two-step without fear of
going to jail. The post 9/11 concerns about homeland/cybersecurity, however,
will continue to chill the climate for reverse engineering
and innovation. The next case is just around the corner.
MAN vs MACHINE
BIO-Bug Vivisection
Wowwee's superhit BIO-Bug robots literally ran off the shelves this past Christmas.
With bright primary colors and catchy names such as "Predator", "Destroyer",
and "Acceleraider", BIO-Bugs charge through shag carpeting, turn on a dime, and can
tell friend from foe. In the name of scientific advancement, Dave Hrynkiw
dissects a Predator to find out what makes it tick. The result is a detailed
post-mortem, identifying parts, construction details, and most importantly,
lots of potential for hobbyist hacks, er personalizations.
Remember Dave, just don't break that encrypted code.
Bird vs Machine 1: Being Cuckolded
The Satin Bowerbird is a bright blue Australian species where the males build thatched
structures as part of a complex mating ritual. To study the intricacies
of this courtship dance first hand, five female bowerbird robots were built.
The radio-controlled, animatronic skeletons swivelled and bobbed,
ran on 12 volt car batteries, and were small enough to be
stuffed into bodies of preserved museum specimens.
A birdbrain written in PIC assembly
completed the package just in time for the mating season. According to those
who viewed the home videos, the robobirds were definitely femmes fatales.
Bird vs Machine 2: The Guano Buster
Some birds just thrive on the many artificial perches created by civilization.
The problem is, the civilization strolling beneath them doesn't appreciate
the guano bombs the birds unleash. Of the many methods devised to chase off
the offenders, none is more ingenious than the one created by two engineering
students in Northern Ireland. A robot armed with strobe lights and sirens
trundles along the high wires, pushing and frightening off even the most
recalcitrant of
creatures. The best trick: the robot uses induction from the high voltage
wires to power itself, no batteries required. See it at the World Science and
Technology Fair in Kentucky in May.
MACHINE vs MACHINE
Survival of the Fittest
Part science experiement and part performance art, the minimalist robotic ecosystem
at the Magna Science Centre in Rothertham, England is evolution in action.
A simple two-species model consists of rolling gray tin
cans that feed their solar cells from
light sources and mantis-like predators that hunt them down and extract their battery
power. Controlled by neural net software, the machines that "live" long
enough pass on their superior "genes" by uploading to a remote computer.
Will this selection process result in robots with improved survival
strategies? Will communications and cooperative behaviour emerge as they have
among us carbon-based units? Professor Noel Sharkey of Sheffield University
plays god and genesis is scheduled for March 27, 2002.
IN THE ARTS
When Kepler Met K-9
Ever wonder what Fluffy thinks of the Vacu-bot? Will your goat decide
that the RoboMower is too much competition and start chewing on it?
Two members of the San Francisco Robotics Society immortalized the
first encounter of Kepler, their large pet lizard, with K-9, their Aibo
robo-dog, on video. Alas, like many another creature
feature hitting the big screens, the
poster and copy are great, but the movie, with its soundtrack of
hysterical giggling, is fated to become a B Classic.
Death of KISS
Keep It Simple, Stupid. The admonition to engineers to not overengineer meets
its antipode in the art of cartoonist Rube Goldberg. Well, life imitates art
and Rube Goldberg Machine Contests have sprung up to encourage departures from
conventional machine building "into the endless chaos of imagination".
Hosted at Purdue University, this year's task was to secure, raise, and wave
an American flag. The local winner, a perfect example of the art of engineering
imagination run amok, takes 50 steps to earn the right to meet
all comers in the national contest in April.
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STAR TURN
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LEGO Zamboni
Figure skating is the big crowd pleaser at the
Winter Olympic Games. But from ethereal little
skaters to the gap-toothed hulks slamming
and high-sticking each other in ice hockey,
many athletes rely on hard, smooth ice for their best
performance. Thus the Zamboni ice surfacing
machine has become both an essential piece of equipment
and an icon of the rink. What better star in this
Olympic month than Zonker's bright yellow
LEGO Zamboni?
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BOOKS 'N' STUFF
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Creation: Life and How to Make It
by Steve Grand
Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674006542
10/2001
Steve Grand is the creator of "Creatures", an artificial life
game that has won a devoted following worldwide. The game,
based on simulated biological building blocks, results in a cyber-race
that grows, reproduces, and adapts. The experience led Grand to
ruminate on what makes life and intelligence in a book
that, for many another author, might be accused of having too grandiose a title.
Ranging from mechanical
systems to the deeper philosophical underpinnings, it is a
fine introduction to the ideas of artificial life from a proponent
of emergent rather than "top down" AI programming. The game "Creatures" is
available for
Gameboy,
PlayStation,
and in the soon to be released
PC-based trilogy gold collection.
Legged Robots that Balance
by Marc Raibert
MIT Press
ISBN: 0262681196
04/2000
Although tracked and wheeled robots have proven themselves in the rugged
terrains of Mars and the World Trade Center rubble, leg-based locomotion
is still without peer in a variety of difficult environments.
Raibert's classic covers the principles and applications of travelling on legs.
The issues of balance, motion, and control are explored in
humans, animals, and a variety of one- and multi-legged robots.
The technical aspects of running and robotic control are complemented
by fascinating stop-motion photos of animals running and walking
and details of the robots built by the author and his team at
Carnegie-Mellon.
Reprinted from the 1986 hardcover edition, this book definitely has legs.
The Robot's Twilight Companion
by Tony Daniel
Golden Gryphon Pr
ISBN: 0965590151
08/1999
A collection of nine short stories and novellas, these are held
together by Tony Daniel's darkly imaginative world of the future
where humanity is no longer quite what it was while human
inter-relationships still shift and struggle in old familar ways.
Career versus family and phantoms of former loves intertwine with
KGB agents, vacuum tube physics, cyborg rulers, and multidimensional travel.
Old themes are beautifully wrapped in inventive, idiosyncratic
science fiction in its best tradition.
And the robot of the title? You simply have to read about it.
Mirage: Isaac Asimov's Robot Mystery
by Mark W. Tiedemann
Ibooks
ISBN: 0671039105
09/2000
And speaking of classic science fiction, fans of Isaac Asimov
will be intrigued by Tiedemann's robot mystery.
Set in the future world created by Asimov, the plot opens on a space
conference where the delegates are failed by their robotic guards
and assassinated. If you know your Laws of Robotics, you know
that something is afoot. Special agent Mia Daventri and Bogard
- another out-of-spec robot who saves her - team up with a couple
of survivors from the
Robot City series to unmask the conspiracy in a fast-paced
thriller. Aficionados, though, may find this work slightly lacking in
the context of and connection with the Foundation universe and
galactic history.
Boxin' Sumo Robot Kit
Participate in one of the classic contests of robotics sport.
The Sumo Robot rolls on rugged tank tracks and uses an infrared
beam to detect its opponent, charging into action with modfiable,
moving arms. At 12 x 13 x 14 cm it is just a bit too big for
mini-sumo contests, but who cares? Get two kits and a five
foot circle of black plastic and stage your own tournament.
"Hakkeyoi nokotta!" No soldering, but four AA cells required.
Robot Monster
B00004Y7GR
1953
Actor George Nader, who recently died at 80, was best known for inheriting a
share of Rock Hudson's estate and robot movies so awful they're cult classics.
One of these, Robot Monster, is a particular favorite.
Basically, a gorilla in a diving
helmet wipes out all of earth's population except the one family
it spends the rest of the
film tracking down. We just can't beat what's already been written:
"Embarassingly, hilariously, awful." - Leonard Maltin.
"stupendously, staggeringly awful filmmaking... A Golden Turkey Award Winner"
- Amazon.com. No excuse not to enjoy it -
also available in
VHS.
For more selections, check out the Netsurfer Library at
http://www.netsurf.com/nsl.
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