FCET at Techniquest

Sam Wane, senior lecturer in robotics engineering, demonstrated the evolution of robotics at Techniquest and how the most useful robots available in the home take after insects.

He introduced and demonstrated graphical programming using the Lego Mindstorms system, followed by two robot insects that walk, one of which is a robot spider containing 24 servos and is controlled by a PIC microcontroller.

The teleoperated DRK8080 roamed amongst the crowd, controlled by volunteers, and the robots eye view was projected onto the big screen for all to see. This caught some good dancing skills as the robot was also playing streamed MP3 files. The entire system is controlled by a PC connected through a wifi router allowing digital signal to convey image, sound and sensor data to and from the PC.
The show finished with Roomba, the robot vacuum cleaner, and many parents appreciated the use of this robot, especially when it showed the automatic docking feature.

Other items shown were the latest developments in ARM microcontrollers, the mBed system, a GPS receiver the size of a penny, and a miniature gyroscopic sensor used in model helicopter flight control.
The show was also partnered with some previous RobotWars winners, who demonstrated their robots from the TV show.