tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57618853635983760992024-03-13T15:20:22.272-07:00Jonesboro Robotics ClubHatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-40237429173496228982009-02-11T12:22:00.000-08:002009-02-11T12:30:18.806-08:00Bug-Bots in WR News!Club member S.R. brought us this story from the January 30 edition of WR News about tiny, insect sized Robots who will aid soldiers and help spy on bad guys - Text copied below:<br /><br />"You might think twice the next time you spot a fly on the wall! The U.S. Air Force plans to design flying robots disguised or made to look like, insects. The bug-like robots could spy on enemies, including terrorists, in other countries. They could also conduct missions that are too dangerous for humans. Today's flying robots tend to be controlled by pilots on the ground. The new bug robots will fly on their own, using instructions that have been preprogrammed. The robots could be as small as bees. The tiny machines will have wings that flap like those of real insects. That will let them fly undetected, or unnoticed, into buildings. "There would be a bunch of these sent out in a swarm," explains researcher Greg Parker. He helps direct the research project at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio "If we know there's a possibility of bad guys in a certain building, how do we find out? We think this would [help us]. " The robots will also assist U.S. troops by taking pictures and recording video and sounds, including enemies' voices. The flying machines could even fire tiny weapons!<br />Engineers hope the robots will be airborne by 2030. "More and more military research is going into things that are small," says Loren Thompson, a defense expert involved with the project. "This type of technology is really the wave of the future."<br /><br />Thanks S.R.!!Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-22959442692212636102009-02-03T07:18:00.000-08:002009-02-03T07:25:00.204-08:00Annoucing Google Mars!Quoting the NASA News Service -<br />MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA and Google announced Monday the release of a new Mars mode in Google Earth that brings to everyone's desktop a high-resolution, three-dimensional view of the Red Planet.<br /><br />Besides providing a rich, immersive 3D view of Mars that will aid public understanding of Mars science, the new mode, Google Mars 3D, also gives researchers a platform for sharing data similar to what Google Earth provides for Earth scientists.<br /><br />The mode enables users to fly virtually through enormous canyons and scale huge mountains on Mars that are much larger than any found on Earth. Users also can explore the Red Planet through the eyes of the Mars rovers and other Mars missions, providing a unique perspective of the entire planet.<br /><br />Users can see some of the latest satellite imagery from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and other probes orbiting the Red Planet. Viewers can learn about new discoveries and explore indexes of available Mars imagery. The new Mars mode also allows users to add their own 3D content to the Mars map to share with the world.<br /><br />Today's announcement is the latest benefit from a Space Act Agreement NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., signed with Google in November 2006. Under its terms, NASA and Google agreed to collaborate to make NASA's data sets available to the world.<br /><br />NASA Ames, along with its partners at Google, Carnegie Mellon University, SETI, and other institutions, helped produce the data to make this possible.<br /><br />Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Google is headquartered close to Ames in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.<br /><br />The address / link is - <a href="http://www.google.com/mars/">http://www.google.com/mars/</a>. Try it out. There's quite a bit of information about Mars there. The application is really quite cool. It should be a great research tool.Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-48006741308697540452009-01-02T07:32:00.000-08:002009-01-02T07:58:11.960-08:00Big Week For Anniversary's!<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">This is a big week for anniversarys is space science and Robot related news. This past week marks the 40th anniversary of the Appolo 8 mission. This mission is significant because it was the first manned orbit of the moon and for the famous photograph by astronaut William Anders of the "Earthrise" above the moon. - Info here: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_102.html">http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_102.html</a></span><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected">On Jan. 3rd, 2004 the Mars rover Spirit landed on Mars and started its amazing life of exploration. The rover Opportunity touched down 21 days later. Deatails here: - <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer-20081229.html">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer-20081229.html</a></span><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected">And finally last but certainly not least Jan. 2nd is the celebrated birthday of Isaac Asimov. Dr. Asimov never knew his exact birthdate because of differences in the Gregorian and Hebrew calendars and because of a lack of exact records, but it was sometime between October 4, 1919 and January 2, 1920. He was one of the Grand Masters of science fiction writing and a personal inspiration to me. While Asimov did not invent the Robot stories he took them to a next level from pulp fiction magazines with his development of the "Three Laws Of Robotics" and his Robot novel series and short stories, ultimately weaving the destiny of mankind, more than 20000 years in the future from the subtle manipulations of two telepathic Robots, R. Daneel Olivaw and R. Giskard Reventlov. After reading these stories the idea of telepathic Robots isn't only plausible, but kind fo scary! I hope everyone who read blog this will consider for a moment how Asimov and authors like him have truly influenced our present day life and our future as several generations of scientists, inspired by their creative genius have worked to make science fiction reality. Happy Birthday Dr. Asimov!</span>Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-41922137925522365732009-01-02T07:26:00.000-08:002009-01-02T07:31:23.239-08:00NASA TV to air FIRST kickoff eventFor those of us who receive NASA TV, tomorrow Jan. 3rd at 10:00AM, they'll be broadcasting coverage of the 2009 season FIRST kickoff event from New Hampshire. Details here: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Breaking.html">http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Breaking.html</a><br /><br />For information about FIRST and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">FLL</span> go here:<br /><a href="http://www.usfirst.org/default.aspx">http://www.usfirst.org/default.aspx</a>Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-55470118374767873942009-01-02T07:23:00.001-08:002009-01-02T07:25:23.206-08:00Qiuck UpdateSorry for several post today, but these past few weeks were quite busy. When we last left our Robot club we had all made good progress towards finishing our models and were about to begin working on the code that would enable our Robots to complete their objective. Hopefully we'll be adding some pictures this week - Stay tuned!Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-63893271765160785832009-01-02T07:21:00.000-08:002009-01-02T07:22:58.130-08:00Happy Holidays & 2009Just a note to wish everyone a Happy 20091 I hope everyone's holiday week was restful and warm. I'm looking forward to a big year robotically in 2009!Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-7262297002807357192008-12-08T17:06:00.000-08:002008-12-08T17:26:57.440-08:00Endeavour to Leave California on WednesdaySpace shuttle Endeavour return from California to Florida is planned planned to start Wednesday at sunrise. The shuttle is going to ride on the back of a 747 as it takes off from Edward's Air Force Base in California. It could arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Thursday depending on the weather along the way. Forecasters have been watchin the conditions associated with the slow-moving cold front as they plan Endeavour's trip back to Florida. The 747 and Endeavour are to take off 9:29 a.m. EST, or 6:29 a.m. PST. Endeavour is poised at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center to be bolted to the 747 tonight. Dyden is adjacent to Edwards in the Mojave Desert northeast of Los Angeles.<br />-The End :-]<br />This article was posted on NASA's website on - December 8, 2008!<br />Peace out homies!Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16774598070116699190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-4798949092925643312008-11-19T15:23:00.000-08:002008-11-19T15:33:03.484-08:00Mars Rover Engineer Looks to Moon RoversBrian Wilcox, a man who worked on the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers that are still working on Mars are now looking at making another rover for exploring the Moon. People have been to the moon so why are we going back? In the 1960s, the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the United States were in a race to the Moon. In 1969, man landed on the moon with Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong. In 1972, Apollo 17 was the last US mission to the moon. We stopped making the rockets that got us to the Moon and have used the Space Shuttle ever since. The Shuttle can only circle the Earth.<br /> Now we are in another space race to go back to the Moon. China, India, and the European Space Agency have sent probes to study the moon. We no longer have the ability to make the old Apollo rockets and we have to start again. Robots will go back before man. For 9 questions about Robotics and NASA look here.<br /><a href="http://www.origin.popularmechanics.com/blogs/science_news/4277080.html?series=35">http://www.origin.popularmechanics.com/blogs/science_news/4277080.html?series=35</a>George Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933708820125317427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-80770702353530718102008-11-19T15:13:00.000-08:002008-11-19T15:17:08.756-08:00Mission to Mars November 17th UpdateOn Monday, November 17th, we had four students that stayed for Robotics. We worked on our rovers and looked at our Mars cards and tried to stay inside the their budget. The challenges were many but progress was made. We will see what Monday brings next week.George Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933708820125317427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-72076143075853173652008-11-19T08:03:00.000-08:002008-11-19T08:16:21.592-08:00We're Doing This Contest!From NASA News Service this morning - NASA & Disney are sponsoring a contest to name the Mars Science <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Laboratory</span>.<br /> What's that? You never heard of the Mars Science <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Laboratory</span>? Well it's the next generation Rover Robot set to launch in 2009. Don't worry - Look for a report about it from Taylor posted here very soon!<br /> Anyway, about the contest - Go here for more info: <a href="http://marsrovername.jpl.nasa.gov/">http://marsrovername.jpl.nasa.gov/</a><br />The winner gets a trip to the Jet Propulsion Lab in California so sign their name on the Rover! So get thinking of a catchy name!Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-71613841492863442072008-11-19T07:27:00.001-08:002008-11-19T07:29:34.891-08:00The Pictures Get Better....<div>Yesterday we posted a picture from ISS of the tail of Endeavour. Today's is even more spectacular.... Click on it to view it in a larger window.</div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8zgDeM6Hd6stsU86KnmRi9Mk3KcQrS1J4yQgc0aoTDZkx-AOWYnrMVYZrf4WtdXixZfjsqzY_b1p63zUljfgMOKm9x3cTbyIy5tvoAplAuNIog4ZgHEYoRG7vTY5JEaxi36S9j4Ixl8/s1600-h/291268main_image_1222_946-710.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270391031392291266" style="WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8zgDeM6Hd6stsU86KnmRi9Mk3KcQrS1J4yQgc0aoTDZkx-AOWYnrMVYZrf4WtdXixZfjsqzY_b1p63zUljfgMOKm9x3cTbyIy5tvoAplAuNIog4ZgHEYoRG7vTY5JEaxi36S9j4Ixl8/s200/291268main_image_1222_946-710.jpg" border="0" /></a></div>Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-20324507119842847022008-11-18T06:47:00.000-08:002008-11-18T06:51:56.734-08:00Very Cool Picture!Posted by the NASA news service today - Check it out -<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGzlL23evdyYOfX6PApe1JIu_LfeIiB4KGr0706jRe-Ma_PSa90dgQT8wKPsY9lImApGrKqMgN0IV8xo1tcE7vnt4ec6hWVrFlkW7gz7fRyoB2hff9cItf27pYJflAYyOR-R1HXHlVEp0/s1600-h/291268main_image_1222_946-710.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270009753391185522" style="WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGzlL23evdyYOfX6PApe1JIu_LfeIiB4KGr0706jRe-Ma_PSa90dgQT8wKPsY9lImApGrKqMgN0IV8xo1tcE7vnt4ec6hWVrFlkW7gz7fRyoB2hff9cItf27pYJflAYyOR-R1HXHlVEp0/s200/291268main_image_1222_946-710.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Quoting the NASA News Service link: "The International Space Station's Expedition 18 crew provided a close-up view of Endeavour's tail section. The image provides partial views of the shuttle's main engines, orbital maneuvering system pods, vertical stabilizer, the payload bay door panels and the Leonard Multi-Purpose Logistics Module located in the cargo bay.<br /> Before docking with the station, astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-126 commander, flew the shuttle through a roll pitch maneuver or basically a backflip to allow the space station crew a good view of Endeavour's heat shield. Using digital still cameras equipped with both 400 and 800 millimeter lenses, the station crew took a number of photos of the shuttle's thermal protection system and sent them down to teams on the ground for analysis. A 400 millimeter lens was used for this image."Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-86095093215136963442008-11-17T07:23:00.000-08:002008-11-17T07:40:03.823-08:00Shuttle Endeavour Now Docked With ISSDid anyone watch the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Endeavour</span> (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">STS</span>-126) launch Friday evening? Check out <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/">www.nasa.gov</a> for all the details. Go here for a fun space shuttle activity: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/MissionPlanner/MissionPlanner.html">http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/MissionPlanner/MissionPlanner.html</a><br />You'll be asked a series of question about either <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">STS</span>-125 or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">STS</span>-126 (the mission currently underway). If you answer them all correctly you get to print a cool certificate making you an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">official</span> Mission Planner for NASA. If anyone brings one of these certificates to our meetings, with their name on it, I'll give them a prize. Good luck and keep following the mission.<br /> I show the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">ISS</span> & Shuttle will pass overhead this Weds., around 5:45pm-5:55pm, again on Thurs. around 6:10pm - 6:20pm, and on Saturday around 5:25pm - 5:35pm. It looks like a very bright star traveling quickly across the sky. When the shuttle is docked with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">ISS</span> it's particularly bright. I always think it's kind of neat that the little bright dot has ten people on it!Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-86470982312158162852008-11-10T17:28:00.000-08:002008-11-11T04:41:56.426-08:00Latest News on the Phoenix Probe<span style="font-family:courier new;font-size:130%;"><strong>Mars Phoenix Lander Finishes Successful Work on Red Planet</strong></span><br />11.10.08 NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander ceased communications after working for more than five months. As guessed, seasonal decline in sunshine at the robot's arctic landing site is not providing enough sunlight for the solar arrays to get the power that is necessary to charge the batteries to operate the lander's instruments.<br /> Mission engineers last got a signal from the lander on November 2nd. Phoenix, in additon to shorter daylight, has gotten a dustier sky. More clouds and lower temperatures as the northern Mars summer comes on autumn. The mission exceeded its planned operation life to conduct and return the science data.<br /> The project team will be listening carefully for the next couple of weeks to see if the Phoenix revives and phones home. :-) However, engineers think now that that is unlikely because of the worsening weather on Mars. While the spacecraft's work has ended, the analysis of data from the instruments is at its earliest stages.Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16774598070116699190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-18459513979064527062008-11-10T14:04:00.000-08:002008-11-10T14:15:29.054-08:00The Mission to Mars Begins Nov. 10, 2008Today we all met and received our mission briefing. We began by reading the expectations of what we had to do and began planning how to get to Mars. We need a rocket, rover , and many other things to make it happen. The mission brief is below:<br /><br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jonesboro Robotics Club Mission 001 – From Earth To Mars And Back</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Our first mission is to build a Robot capable of traveling from “Earth” to “Mars” and then return to “Earth”. This won’t be a “competition” in the sense you’re used to – There’s no best way or right way to do the job. You should all share your ideas and help each other achieve the final goal of getting your “Spacecraft” to Mars and bringing it home.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There are several things we hope you’ll take away from this:</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A) Learn some of the aspects of spacecraft design and about the scientific missions (past & present) going on Mars now.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">B) Learn to start building more functional Robots – Ones that are built for a specific purpose and don’t rely so much on flashy disco balls, fire wings and LEGO mini-figures.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">C) While programming you’ll learn to record data from sensors (data-log) and make the Robot perform a series of actions to navigate from one place to another.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Each person or group will be given a RCX, 2 motors and a deck of Marsbound cards to help in your design, along with the attached Spacecraft Design Log Sheet. The final design of each Robot will also have a temperature and light sensor attached to provide real data which will be recorded by the RCX.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> The Marsbound cards feature pictures and information about the various components that go into an interplanetary spacecraft. They give a weight, power usage number, and cost. You’ll need to design your spacecraft to fit into the mission “budget” of $250,000,000 (250 Million Dollars!). You’ll also need to be mindful of the weight of your craft, so that your rocket can lift it, and the power usage of the components you attach, making sure your ship can generate enough power. Each component you choose to add from the cards (except for the rocket, which is the RCX and motors) will need to be built from LEGO pieces and attached to your spacecraft, securely, and so they don’t block the functions of other components. </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Finally – to stir things up just a little more – each group will draw one of the six Green cards, laid face down. Three of these will add money to your budget – the other three cause you headaches! Good luck to all! </span><br /><br />Hopefully you will be successful. Keeping within the budget is hard. Getting your rover to Mars may be harder. Take your time and plan your design carefully and stay within your budget. A challenge to be sure. Also being sure you rover doesn't have so much stuff on it that the rocket can't lift off!!! Try to make your project with more substance and less flash!!! Someday people will make it to Mars and we will by flying around at Warp speed but in the mean time, Keep It Simple Silly!!! :) !George Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933708820125317427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-84532023587901557622008-11-10T09:17:00.000-08:002008-11-10T09:18:39.659-08:00NASA Image of the dayCheck out this cool image of the Spirit rover NAS posted today....<br /><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1215.html">http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1215.html</a>Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-26087420533430095072008-11-10T07:21:00.000-08:002008-11-10T08:16:25.736-08:00Image of draft RoboLab program for getting to Mars<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqyD16NhDhTaMraMFw0GpW5lokKB6QUMzDCILACnwCjpok1cJ9Ky9kHZNNv9Xqe3tT_qLFWCgyZF7-IOb5bX1BToL8-Zqpz8ZLUUPnuhodn5Hg8Dh8pX1_xZDmdEyf3eIiMJcYLGCSBp8/s1600-h/Mars+Draft.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267063170333298514" style="WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 145px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqyD16NhDhTaMraMFw0GpW5lokKB6QUMzDCILACnwCjpok1cJ9Ky9kHZNNv9Xqe3tT_qLFWCgyZF7-IOb5bX1BToL8-Zqpz8ZLUUPnuhodn5Hg8Dh8pX1_xZDmdEyf3eIiMJcYLGCSBp8/s200/Mars+Draft.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />The image above is a draft or start of my program that will ultimately get my Robot to Mars and bring it back while recording data.Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-38595941213306420672008-11-10T07:18:00.000-08:002008-11-10T07:20:52.278-08:00Welcome New Contributors!Welcome to Mr. C. and Taylor, this week, as contributing authors to our humble Blog. Want to join up? Heard a good space related story lately? Let us know in the meeting and we'll talk about it.Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-52861219074506497532008-11-10T07:10:00.000-08:002008-11-10T07:18:07.057-08:00Announcement Of A Major Extrasolar Planet Discovery Coming ThursdayNASA News Service announced on the 7th they will hold a press conference on Thursday the 13th, at 2:30PM EST to "report on a significant discovery about planets orbiting other stars". The discovery was apparently made by the Hubble Space Telescopes Advance Camera for Surveys instrument. More information can be found here: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_M08227_Hubble.html<br />Hmm...? Just a coincidence that Hubble has been down, then up then down again and now back up? I'm wondering if this might be big news! Stay tuned!Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-74419345989670754052008-11-08T05:10:00.000-08:002008-11-08T05:25:21.650-08:00Onward to Mars We Hope!On Monday, November 3rd we looked at what it takes to get a Robot to Mars. Rockets and guiding them, no technical problems, and being sure that you have a landing where your Robot doesn't get destroyed when it lands. Then once your on Mars a whole bunch of other problems begin. Waiting for 20 minutes to get your radio signal from the Earth to Mars, unknown objects, and challenges and many other obstacles.<br /> This week begins the first stage of getting to Mars. Designing our "Rocket" Robots to get to Mars with a payload and to follow the course from 4th and 5th grade to 2nd and 3rd via the long way around!!! It may be harder than you think or it may be easier. You need to make many decisions and try them out. Also the programming needs to get done. This will be difficult but you need to plan out your steps as to what you thing your robot should do then use Robolab to create the program. Hopefully you are up to the challenge! Mars or Bust! When you go Bust in space it is expensive so take your time!!!!George Crawfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04933708820125317427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-31499653527757219432008-10-22T09:09:00.000-07:002008-10-22T09:13:57.581-07:00Name the "Hab" contestNASA and the Challenger Center announced today they are beginning a contest to name the inflatable habitat, currently under test in Antarctica, intended to be used on the moon. Details about the contest can be found here:<br />http://www.challenger.org/hab/<br />The contest runs until November 25. If our club members would like to submit an entry or two please let me know.Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-36484007314114442362008-10-21T08:26:00.000-07:002008-10-21T08:31:12.629-07:00Update for Oct. 21st meeting<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8eNbAduCJvkjTKXHdOB4QIeT9rjeagH6aK0Chnsq8C_qFX19xXU-aUc62wWZ-VzJKGXCMftHfWSCKGmxXd8mIOckVJAcXO_iDkuZNCc_nY8pevNcXO1DcPYWjmpc_x9S9Bfw7GTwfc6I/s1600-h/Robo+logo+draft+3.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8eNbAduCJvkjTKXHdOB4QIeT9rjeagH6aK0Chnsq8C_qFX19xXU-aUc62wWZ-VzJKGXCMftHfWSCKGmxXd8mIOckVJAcXO_iDkuZNCc_nY8pevNcXO1DcPYWjmpc_x9S9Bfw7GTwfc6I/s200/Robo+logo+draft+3.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259629205293449058" /></a><br /><br />This week we’re finishing up our Robots for our first competition. The object of this project is to build a Robot that will travel away from you when a laser pointer is targeted on the light sensor. When the laser slips or is off the Robot will come towards you. The Robot that ravels the distance the fastest wins. We’ll also have a winner for the most original Robot to be picked by you guys. Our Robot Race will be held on Tuesday the 28th.<br /> The basic program, set into all the Robots, is shown below:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_HfHeirlokkxxTo_LYydUXI_wKLjLeTN9FgGjtWaxOQqVEDt0ZAsBANmax9xRy3ud1o4ulCzCaxIOPDewLhDK7m2abO6cneKhYzALjAqmlp0R-AFLDiMxCeQu5o1gNtGbtCg0xEYQ60/s1600-h/SLR.bmp"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_HfHeirlokkxxTo_LYydUXI_wKLjLeTN9FgGjtWaxOQqVEDt0ZAsBANmax9xRy3ud1o4ulCzCaxIOPDewLhDK7m2abO6cneKhYzALjAqmlp0R-AFLDiMxCeQu5o1gNtGbtCg0xEYQ60/s200/SLR.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259629436475904354" /></a><br /> Check back soon for photos....Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5761885363598376099.post-16305346064920775592008-06-14T14:35:00.000-07:002008-06-14T14:41:15.651-07:00Under ConstructionHappy Summer!!! Check back often for news &information about our new & improved LEGO robot club coming this fall....Hatch Knoll Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564268305934496821noreply@blogger.com0