News

Win $100,000 for your school or university … with a Makelangelo?

2016-03-15 Dan

http://robotart.org/ is a contest to give away $100,000 to the student team that makes art with a robot.

It’s crazy easy to make some quick cash. Andrew Conru says “The first five US-based teams that upload 6 unique artwork will receive a $2,500 donation to their school!”

The only other way to pull 2.5 gees that fast is in a jet, so unless your robot is a skywriting quadcopter (hmmm…), get our your robot and get in on this yesterday. If only you had a Makelangelo right now!

Registration must be by April 1st, 2016, so hurry!

Thanks to our facebook friends for the hot tip.

In the News

British Columbia’s 2016 curriculum: Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies

2016-04-12 Dan

Fellow VHS member Daniel C shared with us British Columbia’s 2016 curriculum draft, “Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies”.  To quote the website,

Electronics and Robotics

  • uses of electronics and robotics
  • components of an electric circuit
  • ways in which various electrical components affect the path of electricity
  • Ohm’s Law
  • platforms for PCB (Printed Circuit Board) production
  • basic robot behaviours using input/output devices, movement- and sensor-based responses, and microcontrollers
  • mechanical devices for the transfer of mechanical energy
  • mechanical advantage and power efficiency, including friction, force, and torque
  • robotics coding
  • various platforms for robotics programming

Get all the info or Read what’s new.

No one is better prepared to help teach these subjects in British Columbia than Marginally Clever Robots.  Would you like to know more?

In the News

Micromouse contest update 1

2016-04-13 Dan

An update on the 2016 micromouse contest coming to Vancouver Mini Maker Faire June 11-12. The contest poster, tips, and details on the maze.

First, the poster. Please share with everybody!

micromouse 2016 contest poster

Second, here’s a great way to get around the 2s penalty for touching the robot when it’s in the maze.

Third, the maze itself is coming together. We’re having great fun building a maze that’s interchangeable and portable. This contest has been run in various places around the world for 30 years and yet no one’s published a satisfying tutorial how to build the track.

Special thanks to MicrmouseUSA.com for the photo of their robot.