PolyBOTS

Hacker Space Design Patterns

Widget here!

First let me welcome PolyBOTS new and old this semester in Poly.  A lot of big changes and fun stuff is coming up this semester, but I wanted to start off with a framework of What PolyBOTS is, which is, a hacker space.   A place to explore and socialize and experiment.  PolyBOTS is a place where you can start independent projects, give back to the community, and generally have fun.  Below is a presentation that was shown to me by some friends at nycresistor a space close to Poly that you should check out.  Some of the suggestions in this presentation definitely can’t apply to Polybots, but it does bring up many good points.
Hacker Space Design Patterns

Charge Your Cellphone Using Wasted Heat

Polybot alum Christopher Lobello won first place in Poly’s Innovention competition and posted an Instructable on his project.   Help him and his team out by voting for his Instructable!

Charge Your Cellphone Using Wasted Heat - More DIY How To Projects

FLL Brooklyn Qualifier

Thanks to all who attended! Great events like this one could not be possible if it weren’t for awesome, professional volunteers like you!

An article about the new FRC Season!

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/robotics/4298356.html

FIRST Robotics - Fall 2008 Workshop - Week 4 - NYC

FIRST Robotics - Fall 2008 Workshop - Week 4 - NYC from Peter Wu on Vimeo.

FIRST Robotics Workshop - Fall 2008 - Week 3

More awesome video thanks to Peter Wu, who filmed the workshops.

FIRST Robotics Workshop - Fall 2008 - Week 3 from Peter Wu on Vimeo.

FIRST Robotics Workshop - Fall 2008 - Week 2

Awesome video taken by Peter Wu during the workshop.

FIRST Robotics Workshop - Fall 2008 - Week 2 from Peter Wu on Vimeo.

RIP Tony Paxton

FIRST Robotics has lost a very dear friend.  Anthony Paxton, 52, died in a tragic accident at his home in Cranbury, Tuesday, Oct. 28.

http://tonywemissyou.blogspot.com/

Obituary

Recycle Your Printers!

Here in Polybots, we’ve always been big on recycling.  One of our favorite items is the common inkjet printer, a common sight in many office junk bins.  These printers are an excellent source of parts for electronics projects.  You’ll usually find two or more DC or stepper motors:

DC motors have just 2 wires coming out of them, where steppers typically have four or more. Stepper motors have excellent precision but can be a hassle to control, so check out some nice online tutorials like this one here , and here.  Both these sites show how to use the Arduino, which we will featuring in our upcoming workshop series.

Printers also have great sensors, wires, switches, and LEDs too.  Grab everything you can, they’re sure to come in handy, especially these little “U” shaped gates which are used as optical encoders.

I don’t know about you, but just disassembling electronics is where most of the fun is, it’s very relaxing after all the stress of work and classes.  Here’s an example of how we carefully extract components from some junk printers during the midterm season:

We called Tech-Support right after to help us out.

Polybots is always hungry for new components, so if you have a defunct printer, scanner, or any old electronic toy and appliance, drop it off at Polybots.  It could be the primary part of our next robotics project, and besides  Recycling is good for the environment!

-Widget Out.

Tags: Arduino, Printer, Recycling, Smashie, Stepper motor, Video

The Room Is Clean =O

The annual room cleaning took place today.  Thanks to all who came in to lend a helping hand.  Lets try and keep it this way.  Put tools back after you’re done using them, throw away your trash etc.. basic things everyone should follow.  See you during club hour.

If you don’t believe us, look in the photo album under The Room!  Yeah!