Where are the Robotics clubs ?

[donburch]

There are currently well established Educational and Academic robotics competitions (RoboCup Junior and RoboCup), and presumably forums and communication channels. There are also Associations for the (industrial) Robotics industry.

However I have been unable find any club or association in Australia for adult robotics hobbyists. There are several clubs in USA which have been going over 20 years (e.g. Seattle Robotics Society).


What robotics clubs, websites and online ‘meetings’ are available ?

What do other Aussie robotics hobbyists do ?

[emzed]

I've not heard of any Robotic clubs in Australia either...

I just get all my info/help off the web. I don't actaully know anyone else with a keen interest in the area.

Let me know if you do find anything.

BTW, where are you located? (i'm in Adelaide...)

[donburch]

My gosh, that was quick, emzed ! I have noticed that posts on this forum get plenty of views, even though there aren't many new posts or replies.

I'm in Sydney (Chatswood on the north shore).



I guess most Ausssie robotics hobbyists (there must be a better name than that) are either isolated loners, or they are involved with overseas/international clubs/forums/newsgroups, probably specific to their platform(s) of choice.

What robotics clubs are you in ?
What websites, discussion forums, etc do you frequent ?

Any other ideas on how to contact other local roboticists ?

Sorry, I'm getting rather obsessed with the idea of starting a robotics club ... but I don't want to waste my time if there's no need or interest. Actually I'm rather disappointed that this forum is so inactive, since I believe that a web-based community would be the best way to run a club these days.

[Dingo]

I used to be just up the road Don at Wahroonga but now I'm in Brisbane.

There was a local Brisbane Group that is all but defunct now. I'm toying with the idea of ressurrecting it.

To do this I would base my efforts on the local Uni campuses. You'd only need a few core people to get "critical mass". I'm sure you could tempt many a Mechatronics/EE uni student to such a gathering. Especially if you did it on a Uni campus with the help of the local academics.

I'm planning on starting small, a couple of informal meetings, advertised on notice boards and "lecture bashing" (speaking to the lecture theatre before the lecture starts). Also get any local schools that might have an interest (I'm hoping to find out who is interested by finding out from supplies if any schools in my area are buying from them (ie Microzed might be a good source) and final phase would be to get some form of sponsership from supplies - not so much for the money but for the credibility.

Then once a couple of meetings with people have taken place, organise a competition on a uni campus somewhere.

As for names, I always like the officialdom of a 'SIG' (Special Interest Group)

[donburch]

donburch said:

I'm getting rather obsessed with the idea of starting a robotics club ...

Been thinking more about starting a club ...

Rather than starting a club in one location only (and thereby limiting the potential membership) it makes sense for it to be an Aust-wide club, and use website / forum / blogs to build an online community.

Sooner or later, members will organise local/regional meetings under the association’s umbrella. The important thing is that any meetings will be additional to the main association activities, and that members who are unable to attend meetings (because of distance, working hours, or other reason) are not effectively excluded – as is the case with most existing clubs.

Competitions will provide a series of achievable challenges through which novices can learn, practice and improve; and so should be a secondary goal of the association.


But hang on, what about the existing websites, forums and blogs (such as this one) ? Why should another one be required ? Am I looking in the wrong place ? Or are robotics enthusiasts really anti-social introverts ?

Or maybe they are getting plenty of community involvement through international clubs/forums/newsgroups, probably focussed on their preferred hardware/software platform of choice ?

Am I going round in circles ? Yes I am ! But I'm thinking of putting up notices around the RoboCup Junior national finals next nonth, since that's the only robotics event I'm aware of in the rest of this year ... which will require some advance planning.

[donburch]

admin said:

There was a local Brisbane Group that is all but defunct now.
...
As for names, I always like the officialdom of a 'SIG' (Special Interest Group)

Are you thinking of the Aust. Computer Society's Brisbane Robotics SIG (http://robotsig.org/) ? I'm currently trying to join the ACS myself, but I wouldn't want to limit any hobby club to 'ACS-approved IT professionals' only.

My current questions are on the lines of ...
- what happened to the previous club members ?
- why did the previous club stagnate ?
- what do we have to do differently / better to avoid the same fate ?

[Edit] Sorry, that sounds negative. I just don't want to have all the effort of setting up a club "wasted" because it isn't sustainable.

My current thinking is to start an Australian Amateur Robotics Association covering ALL robotics enthusiasts ALL across Australia. Membership will be open to anyone, however it will initially focus on those enthusiasts not adequately represented by the existing educational, academic and industrial robotics communities.

First priority will be setting up an online community. An online forum is available 24/7 from everywhere (with an internet connection), all members can contribute and participate, forums can be made to suit members interests. Also private forums can be used for the clubs administration - polls in a private committee forum can be used for decisionmaking replacing the need for physical committee meetings - making a truly national or international club practical.

Members are encouraged to organise local/regional meetings under the association’s umbrella. The important thing is that any meetings will be additional to the main association activities, and that members who are unable to attend meetings (because of distance, working hours, or other reason) are not effectively excluded – as is the case with most existing clubs.

Competitions will provide a series of achievable challenges through which novices can learn, practice and improve; and so should be a secondary goal of the association.
[/edit]

[emzed]

I use google to search for anyone else out there that has done or is doing something similar to any project i think i might tackle. I subscribe the Make magazine www.makezine.com which has lots of cool things. Not just limted to robotics, but rather technology in general.
avrfreaks.net is a great site (very active forum!) for info/help with atmel AVR microcontrollers.
I'm also involved in a program through work called 'RPM' Robotic Peer Mentoring where i help some high school students (along with the help of some Uni student mentors) in completing a robotic project. It counts as one of their year 12 subjects.

[donburch]

emzed said:

I use google to search for anyone else out there that has done or is doing something similar to any project i think i might tackle.

I guess this is the most common approach for anyone who has heard of google. But it requires that you already know what you want to do. When I decided to start, I was looking for suggestions of where to start, appropriate to my background.

I subscribe the Make magazine www.makezine.com which has lots of cool things. Not just limited to robotics, but rather technology in general.

I've come across it, and I'm of two minds. Some ideas are cool, but a lot are simply cookoo ! Of course, that's only my personal opinion ;D

avrfreaks.net is a great site (very active forum!) for info/help with atmel AVR microcontrollers.

Agreed ... for people into AVR platform. But it's not the only platform available, and it may not be the best for any particular project. Of course it's much more effective to choose a powerful, flexible and cheap platform (is that too much to ask) and avoid duplicating the learning curve for each project.

I'm also involved in a program through work called 'RPM' Robotic Peer Mentoring where i help some high school students (along with the help of some Uni student mentors) in completing a robotic project. It counts as one of their year 12 subjects.

Wow! Where do you work ? Who organises the Mentoring program ? Do they have a website or brochure ?


If you work in robotics, I guess that you got the job from Uni, where you probably did engineering and mechatronics ? What happened to the other students ? Enough jobs for all ? Are the ones not working in robotics still doing it as a hobby ? When will I stop firing off questions ?

[emzed]

I've come across it, and I'm of two minds. Some ideas are cool, but a lot are simply cookoo ! Of course, that's only my personal opinion ;D

Yeah thats true sometimes... but I still find it a very interesting read...

Agreed ... for people into AVR platform. But it's not the only platform available, and it may not be the best for any particular project. Of course it's much more effective to choose a powerful, flexible and cheap platform (is that too much to ask) and avoid duplicating the learning curve for each project.

Fact of life is there are endless options out there (and you could probably spend the rest of your life weighing up the options) and no 1 option is the best option for every project. I've found microcontrollers have progressed a long way in only a few years and their capability keeps getting bigger and bigger. I would say most roboticists use a microcontroller in their projects. The two most common options are PICs or AVRs. I had a friend who knew how to use AVRs so i went with them as i knew i could get help if i needed it. If you do use AVR's avrfreaks is the best site for help. I'm not sure what the equivalent PIC site is. There a quite a range of AVR depending on how complex your task.

Wow! Where do you work ? Who organises the Mentoring program ? Do they have a website or brochure ?

I work for Tenix. the RPM program has a website, its www.unisa.edu.au/mentor/robotics/overview.asp

If you work in robotics, I guess that you got the job from Uni, where you probably did engineering and mechatronics ? What happened to the other students ? Enough jobs for all ? Are the ones not working in robotics still doing it as a hobby ? When will I stop firing off questions ?

yep, thats pretty much right. B.E.(Mechatronics). All i my year (that i keep in touch with) got jobs. Not all in 'robotics' roles as such. The course was run the Mechanical Engineering dept so it was much more focused on the mech side so many got jobs in the auto industry.

[donburch]

emzed said:

Fact of life is there are endless options out there (and you could probably spend the rest of your life weighing up the options) and no 1 option is the best option for every project.

Amen !

I've found microcontrollers have progressed a long way in only a few years and their capability keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Actually I'm not so sure. The Basic Stamp 2 (which admittedly I chose for it tutorial course material, not for its processing power) and several of the other common microcontrollers are only 8-bit processors. Actually less powerful than the Motorola 6800 and Intel 8080 from 25 years ago. And PBASIC is so ... well, so basic !

Because I would like to get to realtime video processing, I anticipate needing at least PC speed, memory, and programming tools. But I get the impression that none of the robotics controllers are so powerful. Well I guess that's because most embedded devices are much simpler; and that engineers would rather start from scratch than reuse existing program code ;-)

I had a friend who knew how to use AVRs so i went with them as i knew i could get help if i needed it...

That's where I see a robotics club being of most value, providing many "friends" who can suggest and help with many different platforms.

I work for Tenix. the RPM program has a website, its www.unisa.edu.au/mentor/robotics/overview.asp

Looks good. I guess other States will follow suit shortly when they see how useful the mentoring program is.

Is your students robotics project related to RoboCup Junior or totally independent ? I know the RoboCup Junior students have to prove that their entries are (mostly) their own work. I can imagine that your mentoring gets them started, and the next year they would be in a good position to enter RoboCup by themselves.

Thanks, emzed, for taking the time to reply to all my questions !