Meeting Sun April 27, 2014

All:

Same bat-time, same bat-place! (I bet I dated myself with that reference…)

6:30pm, Spaghetti Warehouse, Plano, 15th St and Rt 75, this Sunday night, April 27. This is the last meeting before the University Rover Competition, which looks to be a blowout year at full capacity.

Moon Day is coming up, and Tom is organizing our effort, but we will need an all hands on deck volunteer turnout!
The national convention is sooner than you think, and it is time to start consider how many will attend, do we want to share rides, and do we want to volunteer down there. I expect we will have a good showing!

T-shirt time is upon us again, and we need to decide vendors, price, quantity, and design.

Did anyone catch the lunar eclipse? We’ve had so much rain (!! – a good thing, overall) but this also was Mars Closest Approach and Mars Opposition – home future sweet home is the bright red star right above the moon. Better catch it before it fades away again for another 26 months!

MSL is doing some serious science, and getting ready for the ‘big push’ up the mountain in Gale Crater.

In other words, lot’s to talk and discuss….

Hope to see you all Sunday!

Kurt

Moon Day – July 21, 2012

All:

A brief (and late!) note on our very successful Moon Day this past July 21.

The group came out in force, with at least six regulars manning our table. Improving from our initial appearance last year, we had a dynamic and interactive exhibit with Tom’s MSL rover, mat sized map of Mars, and TV coverage, along with Dan and Mark’s crater obstacle. Many kids came over to try our rover.

Being that we had a rover, we were placed near the other robots, but we still got a lot of traffic from the public as well as admirer’s from other robotics groups. We the only rover that was remotely controlled via camera link, and the only map and obstacle course!

We learned a lot and overcame a number of obstacles, including the camera battery running out quickly – causing an ensuing mad rush to get more batteries! Tom’s ‘satellite eye view’ overhead camera worked remarkably well, giving a clear view of our very realistic looking MSL rover.

As always, we can think of ways to make our exhibit even better for next year – a subject for next month’s meeting, now only two weeks away. But thanks to everyone for their efforts, time, and energy, and especially to Tom for his dedication and drive in making our Moon Day happen.

Kurt