TDT @ IEEE-RAS Meeting
TDT members enjoying a video of a Middleton Madness match
Team Duct Tape members enjoyed an evening with IEEE-RAS (Robotics and Automation Society) members last night, including Explaining robot componentsthe surprise gift from IEEE member, Sean Denny, of a beautifully mastered video of a couple of
Explaining robot components
their matches at the Middleton Madness qualifying tournament in December. Then students gave a short presentation on this year’s Get Over It! game, their design process and engineering solutions for the game.
IEEE-RAS chair George Schott tried his hand at driving the TDT bot, and IEEE members took the time to ask good questions about FIRST, TDTs robot and the game. It was a great opportunity to showcase what students have learned during the season, and to reach out to IEEE members to encourage mentoring to other teams, and to share a call for volunteers for the upcoming Florida FTC State Championship at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach in February.
IEEE-RAS president George Schott tries his hand at robot driving
After their presentation, TDT members were treated to a great short history of LEGO Mindstorms by IEEE-RAS member, and FTC mentor Jim Melton. He’ll be giving a longer presentation at the March IEEE-RAS meeting and we’re looking forward to learning more. He has a great collection of Mindstorm’s products through the last decade, including an RCX and Microscout.
IEEE-RAS member Jim Melton showing a Mindstorms sensor
A Look at Tetrix Building System in Action
With the 2008 FTC Season Kickoff just a few weeks away – on Saturday, September 13, 2008, and teams eagerly awaiting delivery of the new competition kits, Lego Education has released a sneak peek of the TETRIX building system.
From Lego Education:
TETRIX by Pitsco is a revolutionary new metal building system developed for use in high schools! Designed by Pitsco, Inc. and sold by LEGO Education, TETRIX is fully compatible with LEGO Technic, the building system used with LEGO MINDSTORMS.
A unique LEGO connector joins the metal with LEGO elements, creating a path for older students to complete more challenging projects while continuing to use the LEGO NXT Intelligent Brick as the controller.
The metal system will be available in August 2008 for use in the FIRST Tech Challenge and in January 2009 for implementation in schools.
Click here to see TETRIX in action!
Check out the preliminary Bill of Materials for the new kit here (PDF)
Team Duct Tape 