sorta OT but not really - robotics

[J Forbes]

from the religious wars thread...apparently several of us are involved with robotics teams. What a shock.

A picture I took at a competition a few years ago. This is David, my brother, who kind of got team 4183 going. Yes, his sponsorship shows (Cathode Corner, maker of the hottest selling Nixie watches ever made)

http://selectric.org/nerds/bit%20buckets.jpg

[Terry S]

I'm also peripherally involved -- not as a mentor but as a snow shoveler! 

This year and last I'm a volunteer for the Institute of Navigation Autonomous Snow-Plow competition at  the St. Paul Winter Carnival. My company (Polaris) is a sponsor.

Read all about it here: http://www.autosnowplow.com/welcome.html

Cool event (pun intended!) Last year it was 0 degrees or less throughout the weekend. This weekend looks to be a bit more moderate.

Terry

[Paul Andrews]

Every year when I was a mentor, I suggested that this would be a great idea. Never knew there was a competition for it.

[Terry S]

You might not even fathom how difficult a problem snow plowing is for a robot. Some of the teams can't get their robots 1 meter into the course. 

One team last year had simple trailer tires for traction. No go.

The better teams have heavy vehicles with aggressive tires, or even tracks. Navigation is *almost* the easy part.