Weird and Wacky Engineering
SparkFun gears up for fourth autonomous vehicle competition (AVC)
Clive Maxfield
6/6/2012 2:47 PM EDT
I just LOVE the guys and gals at SparkFun (www.sparkfun.com), because they really get the idea that electronics is fun and they are dedicated to "spreading the word."
For example, I just heard that they will hosting their fourth annual Autonomous Vehicle Competition (AVC).
Prerequisites: None! Bring a robot, car, or plane
Date: June 16th, 2012
Time: 8:30 - 5pm
Location: SparkFun Supreme Worldwide Command Center
Each year at the AVC, teams from all over the world descend on SparkFun’s headquarters for a cutthroat race of home-built ground and aerial vehicles around the building. This year promises to be the biggest and best competition yet, so start your engines, cross your fingers, and get ready to make it rain robotic glory all over SparkFun’s parking lot.
SparkFun’s signature event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is free and open to spectators, celebrates ingenuity, inventiveness and good-natured robotic competition. The requirements are relatively simple: Teams must provide a home-built vehicle that will circumnavigate SparkFun’s building without any human intervention. This year’s competition will host a record-breaking 50 teams, with entrants competing in ground and aerial categories for a grand prize of $1,000. SparkFun also will offer smaller prizes in categories such as Engineer’s Choice, for the best-designed vehicle, and the Kill Switch Award, for the most dangerous.
2011’s AVC drew almost 700 spectators, and this year’s crowd is expected to surpass previous records. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend; the free, family-friendly event promises to be a great summer day full of camaraderie, hackery, tours and, if we're lucky, a robot or two in the lake.
This year, SparkFun’s Department of Education is also opening up a section of the AVC just for kids. Bring a robot to the AVC and SparkFun will help young participants run the courses -- we will have an 8x8-foot maze, as well as a track to race on. SparkFun will also provide a limited number of the brand new ProtoSnap MiniBots and computers, so kids can play with them and get to run a bot, even if they don't have one at home. The AVC is a fun way to get kids’ curiosity piqued, and offers a hands-on introduction to robotics.
“We like robots. A lot. We’ve also noticed that kids love robots. So we got to thinking that with the AVC approaching, we need more kids building and hacking robots,” said Jeff Branson, SparkFun’s educational outreach coordinator.
Click Here to read the competition rules and regulations, and you can see a preview of the racecourse in the following YouTube video:
To register as a spectator for the event, or to register kids for the robot hacking station, visit http://avc2012.eventbrite.com
If you found this article to be interest, visit Microcontroller / MCU Designline where – in addition to my Max's Cool Beans blogs on all sorts of "stuff" – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to all aspects of designing and using microcontrollers.
Also, you can obtain a highlights update delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for my weekly newsletter – just Click Here to request this newsletter using the Manage Newsletters tab (if you aren't already a member you'll be asked to register, but it's free and painless so don't let that stop you [grin]).
Last but certainly not least, make sure you check out all of the discussions and other information resources at All Programmable Planet. For example, in addition to blogs by yours truly, microcontroller expert Duane Benson is learning how to use FPGAs to augment (sometimes replace) the MCUs in his robot (and other) projects.
For example, I just heard that they will hosting their fourth annual Autonomous Vehicle Competition (AVC).
Prerequisites: None! Bring a robot, car, or plane
Date: June 16th, 2012
Time: 8:30 - 5pm
Location: SparkFun Supreme Worldwide Command Center
Each year at the AVC, teams from all over the world descend on SparkFun’s headquarters for a cutthroat race of home-built ground and aerial vehicles around the building. This year promises to be the biggest and best competition yet, so start your engines, cross your fingers, and get ready to make it rain robotic glory all over SparkFun’s parking lot.
SparkFun’s signature event, which runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is free and open to spectators, celebrates ingenuity, inventiveness and good-natured robotic competition. The requirements are relatively simple: Teams must provide a home-built vehicle that will circumnavigate SparkFun’s building without any human intervention. This year’s competition will host a record-breaking 50 teams, with entrants competing in ground and aerial categories for a grand prize of $1,000. SparkFun also will offer smaller prizes in categories such as Engineer’s Choice, for the best-designed vehicle, and the Kill Switch Award, for the most dangerous.
2011’s AVC drew almost 700 spectators, and this year’s crowd is expected to surpass previous records. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend; the free, family-friendly event promises to be a great summer day full of camaraderie, hackery, tours and, if we're lucky, a robot or two in the lake.
This year, SparkFun’s Department of Education is also opening up a section of the AVC just for kids. Bring a robot to the AVC and SparkFun will help young participants run the courses -- we will have an 8x8-foot maze, as well as a track to race on. SparkFun will also provide a limited number of the brand new ProtoSnap MiniBots and computers, so kids can play with them and get to run a bot, even if they don't have one at home. The AVC is a fun way to get kids’ curiosity piqued, and offers a hands-on introduction to robotics.
“We like robots. A lot. We’ve also noticed that kids love robots. So we got to thinking that with the AVC approaching, we need more kids building and hacking robots,” said Jeff Branson, SparkFun’s educational outreach coordinator.
Click Here to read the competition rules and regulations, and you can see a preview of the racecourse in the following YouTube video:
To register as a spectator for the event, or to register kids for the robot hacking station, visit http://avc2012.eventbrite.com
If you found this article to be interest, visit Microcontroller / MCU Designline where – in addition to my Max's Cool Beans blogs on all sorts of "stuff" – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to all aspects of designing and using microcontrollers.
Also, you can obtain a highlights update delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for my weekly newsletter – just Click Here to request this newsletter using the Manage Newsletters tab (if you aren't already a member you'll be asked to register, but it's free and painless so don't let that stop you [grin]).
Last but certainly not least, make sure you check out all of the discussions and other information resources at All Programmable Planet. For example, in addition to blogs by yours truly, microcontroller expert Duane Benson is learning how to use FPGAs to augment (sometimes replace) the MCUs in his robot (and other) projects.
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information