tim the tool man taylors dream come true.
by
Brigadier
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I'm sure they must have covered this in a few episodes. I saw a show on TLC about racing riding lawn mowers at speeds up to 50 mph.
Re:tim the tool man taylors dream come true.
by
cujo_1111
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Was Tim drunk while driving?
-- If I point out that you are incorrect, making me a foe does not make you any more correct.
Re:tim the tool man taylors dream come true.
by
C4pncrunch
·
· Score: 1
This is what you get what you cross NHRA with Tool Time. Building stuff like this is time consuming, but especially good fun for children to watch and learn about innovation.
-- It's not bad english, it's a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they
Re:tim the tool man taylors dream come true.
by
n9hmg
·
· Score: 1
I was expecting something along those lines, too. Back in the mid-late 1980s (long before the Tim Allen Show), I worked in a cabinet factory. Occasionally, I would line up a pair of Makita belt sanders... they had 50 foot cords, so I'd unplug them, pull the trigger and set the hold-on, line them up, and plug them in. The toughest part is getting a decent holeshot. It's a powerful, high-torque motor, and they're a bit top-heavy. In fact, if the belt isn't a little bit worn, they'll do a back-flip. It's not nearly as bad as you'd think, because the main mass of the motor is reversed from the belt rotation, so they're somewhat self-stabilizing, front-to-back. Getting the center of traction directly under the center of gravity is the killer, since the traction patch is somewhat dynamic, so what's good for the crucial first 6 inches is not so good for the next 3 feet, after which, the belt is usually running at ground speed. Most races are decided in the first foot anyway, as one (or both) vehicles usually spin and roll over on launch.
Note: While these things ARE toys, they are dangerous ones. A quarter-second grind on flesh leaves a big divot, and a finger sucked into the back roller isn't coming back.
I don't know about you, but I would get very worried if my power tools started running around wearing women's clothing. Or any clothing at all, for that matter. Spooky.
-- We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
I took my sabersaw onto the train the other day, and people looked at me funny and called me mean names. I think they were offended by the nude power tool...
So then I dressed my sabersaw in a sundress, and now none of the other riders bothers me any more. In fact, I have a whole train car to myself...
-- "Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
How much AI in these?
by
Gortbusters.org
·
· Score: 4, Funny
The Robot Wars phenomenon, begun in San Francisco, gave rise to Comedy Central's "Battlebots" and a similar new show on Tech TV.
I always found Battlebots to be more like remote control cars on steroids. What I want is something with a little more AI, like Honda's ASIMO (or whatever its called), give those guys a sword, shield, and we'll have Light Ages of Camelot - Live!
The Robot Wars phenomenon, begun in San Francisco...
The phenomenom, in the form of robots actually attacking each other, may have started there. But robotic competitions have a longer history. There is an annual competition for high school students called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) that is well worth the time to get involved with. Adults get to play too. The teams need sponsors and mentors.
-- The net will not be what we demand, but what we make it. Build it well.
It seems that everybody gets sold on the stupidest things these days... just look at American Idol. Star Search has been around for how long? Sure FIRST has been around since '92 but a lot of people don't care -- they'd rather be sold on something as ridiculous as "BattleBots." I think a lot of people would fail to see the connection between FIRST and "That Segway Guy..." but hey, the segway got lots of coverage in the news so it's got to be good, right?
Sad, really.
Re:How much AI in these?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
they'd rather be sold on something as ridiculous as "BattleBots."
It's all to easy to make fun of BattleBots. While they may look like toys, I think they are an important step in AI(once they actually get fitted with AIs, that is), much like the ridiculed Deep Blue vs Kasparov match.
What the software-only researchers ignore is that having a sentient mind is intrinsically bound to having a body.
The robot researchers will provide this "body". You may laugh, but when one of these "hobbyists" puts together an eight foot chainsaw-wielding adamantium monster who takes on Lennox Lewis, I think you will be glued to the TV sets, too.
I think a lot of people would fail to see the connection between FIRST and "That Segway Guy..." but hey, the segway got lots of coverage in the news so it's got to be good, right?
I've met Dean Kamen. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with so much energy. Honestly, I think that the Segway was a business mistake, but technically, it is quite an achievement. I try not to emphasize the connection because he has done so many other things that have never made the news. Once Segway comes up, people seem to miss everything else.
-- The net will not be what we demand, but what we make it. Build it well.
So have I. Really cool guy. Make him tell you the story about when his parents came home to find out he ripped a giant hole in the backyard of the house so he could build a machine shop in the basement.
Racing other equipment
by
Turing+Machine
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
So if these are like drag races, would walking disk drives be the equivalent of a tractor pull/monster truck event?
do they resemble...
by
spammyy
·
· Score: 4, Funny
I remember there were a article a few weeks ago in slashdot that talks about the encouragement these shows receive when they are to do with fuzzy robots- thought to be cool.
Efforts towards building truly intelligent systems dont get as much coverage or encouragement - thats truly sad.
Actually, you're right. Truly intelligent systems would not be as cool or as funny as lawnmover in a dress. Take Data for example, truly intelligent system, and did you ever see him happy or at least truly happy?
That said, truly intelligent systems need truly intelligent audience to be appreciated as much as they deserve. Hence, SF article gets obviously more attention in proportionally larger crowd than AI systems would.
But that's just a guess.
-- -Is the meaning of life vanity, or is vanity the meaning of life?
I love this sort of stuff. Unlike drag racing, which is expensive and takes up lots of space, these gizmos are things that just about anyone can do... Add to that the 'art' aspect and it makes it truly fun. I wish there was an outlet for this in Southern California.
MOD PARENT UP!
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Funny
That one's going into the xmas cards!
Not the real thing
by
srmalloy
·
· Score: 3, Informative
You should go look at the places where they really race power tools:
And yes, it's what it sounds like. Ever used a belt sander and had the sander get away from you because you weren't holding it tightly enough? Well, get a bunch of people sitting around in a bar drunkenly arguing about whose belt sander can get away from them the fastest, and belt-sander racing is born.
Re:Not the real thing
by
srmalloy
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Shockwave belt sander races...
by
John3
·
· Score: 3, Informative
here at the Do It Best web site. These belt sander races are great promotional events for small town hardware stores. Kind of like a pinewood derby for adults.
-- "We make our world significant
by the courage of our questions
and by the depth of our answers." Carl Sagan
Re:Shockwave belt sander races...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Except under normal circumstances, the kids would grow up and leave the pinewood derbies to the incoming kid generation as they grow older and find wives, careers, procreate with their wives, and attend their own children's pinewood derby races. However, since you are all geeks, perhaps it's a gross genetic abnormality, but you are still stuck in the pinewood derby stage. You have found no wives and have not pocreated. You rarely shower or come in contact with natural sunlight. So you are left in your computer room, lonely and sad posting on slashdot and being troll haters. but no ones stopping you. go outside. be free! find some pussy. leave the horrible world. GET A FUCKING LIFE
Re:Shockwave belt sander races...
by
John3
·
· Score: 1
So you are left in your computer room, lonely and sad posting on slashdot and being troll haters.
LOL...lonely and posting on Slashdot. Look in the reflection on your monitor.
I don't hate you trolls, I pity you. I'd comment further but I'm heading out to a concert with my wife and daughters.
-- "We make our world significant
by the courage of our questions
and by the depth of our answers." Carl Sagan
South Cali needs to fall into the sea
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Good riddance
Re:South Cali needs to fall into the sea
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
"The Robot Wars phenomenon, begun in San Francisco, gave rise to Comedy Central's "Battlebots" and a similar new show on Tech TV."
What, pray tell, is this "new show"? Certainly not Robot Wars, which has been around for years. I can't think of any other show to which they could be referring.
Also, is it just me, or did Robot Wars get really lame after Craig Charles left?
Re:"New show"?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Maybe they meant Techno Games? Or they're just retarded.
If anyone wants a mirror site, I found some good ones with Google.
-- Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
Love the irony!
by
John+Zebedee
·
· Score: 2, Funny
From the article:
This year, he plans on building a 20-foot action monkey -- cymbals and all - - and mount it on an art car to bring to Burning Man. With any luck, it will make a splash.
Hard to imagine where the monkey might not be noticed, but I suppose Burning Man would be there, possibly racing power tools.
-- The future is here. It's just not evenly distributed yet.
-- William Gibson
they say that this current inspired the Robot Wars, etc - which, incidentally, I have something to say.
Why oh why does nobody builds bepedal (or quadrapedal) robots? you get *TWICE* the weight limit! For that kind of mass, I'd get a robot that has two non-functional legs that will sit and peg the other guy with a retractable harpoon.
Umm. . maybe because it'd fall over pretty easily and it's easy to get a weapon under a robot on legs?
Re:Robot Wars
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
two words, double weightlimit. If you make the center of gravity low enough, there is no chance that a half-it-weight robot will run it over. Besides the point, nobody said it had to have long legs. 3cm legs should be good enough.
And it's not like it'd be hard to get the robot to squat down on its poor opponent. (how's this strategy - walk around and sit on the opposition).
Re:Robot Wars
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Why don't you try to build a bipedal robot? Think about this for a minute: It's quite an accomplishment for a major corporation to build one. 99% of the guys on battlebots are doing this for fun out of their garage (I know, I'm one of them, and I'm actively involved with the Battlebots online community). You also apparently haven't read the rules, you only get something like 20% extra, you have to be able to move, and there's a range limit on tethered projectiles.
More on the subject of the inspiration, the PTDR does have a lot of Battlebot insipiration - many people there (including several of the winners in the different classes of race) are Battlebots builders.
Re:Robot Wars
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
If you really are so involved with battlebots, maybe you'd have read the battlebots rulebook and noticed that it's a 30% extra weight gain.
But I digress. 4-5 years ago it was double-the-weight for non-wheeled robots. I guess they finally got smart.
Yeah, and with 3cm legs, it would travel REALLY slow. Plus, any wedge worth it's salt would be under that 3cm gap in a Battlebot second.
Next!
I've seen fuzzy robots! Woe unto man.
by
flyneye
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
I've never heard anyone here discuss SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABS. I've seen fuzzy robots in their videos.Of course it was usually a robot clothed in a dead rotting animal carcass. SRL was probably the great grandfather precursor to battlebots(which I've always found to be waaaay wimpy compared to SRL) The difference being many of SRLs robots are industrial size,insanely dangerous and operate under much less stringent rules of conduct than battlebots. Mark Pauline the founder is a fantastic gearhead-artist-geek.Check out the SRL site at http://www.srl.org/
-- *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Re:I've seen fuzzy robots! Woe unto man.
by
Ianworld
·
· Score: 1, Funny
Fuzzy robots??? well i followed your link and had my retinas burned by humans without any fuzzyness. Infact they were nude. Power tool welding geeks in a nude calendar is not my idea of battle bots:D
Re:I've seen fuzzy robots! Woe unto man.
by
Tackhead
·
· Score: 1
> I've never heard anyone here discuss SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABS.
Yeah, and what I wanna know is, why the hell not? *grumbling about when the hell is there gonna be an honest-to-Dawg old-school SRL show, goddamnit, we're overdue, man!*
The guy's got all the gear he needs, he just needs a place to use it. There are a lot of geeks on Slashdot. Some of us are have access to large areas of otherwise-unused land. Some of us are gearheads. Surely the intersection of the two cannot be the null set!
Re:I've seen fuzzy robots! Woe unto man.
by
flyneye
·
· Score: 1
This is true.I've seen on their site somewhere that they will put on a show if only someone will find a place to put it on. problems include permits from fire inspectors and other local authorities that may be (somewhat rightly) concerned about public safety. but hey, if you got a place to do it,the price is right.
-- *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Re:I've seen fuzzy robots! Woe unto man.
by
meme_police
·
· Score: 1
Every time I went to an SRL show they got broken up by the fire dept before they ever happened.
--
The meme police, They live inside of my head
linuxlive show in streaming media
by
1seconddelay
·
· Score: 0, Offtopic
hey all i found this site and thought you might want to hear it www.thelinuxshow.com
other odd things that get raced
by
UnixRevolution
·
· Score: 4, Funny
besides the lawnmower races mentioned by someone else (i've actually seen these on tv, they're pretty funny), people also race:
...that only men are ever interviewed for these things? Girls can be gearheads, too! But then again...
imagining... "You smell that? Do you smell that? C19 H28 O2, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of testosterone in the morning!"
Yep. The reporter gets into the area, takes a whiff of the atmosphere, and it's Iron John all the way, baby! [very deliberate wink]
-- Doing my level best to piss off the religious right wing...
Too bad, there were TONS of women competing at the event. It may have been close to even. The defending champ was a lady. I personally know at least four women who competed.
Re:Why, oh why is it...
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 0
Hate to break it to you, but one of the "gearhead leads" at the shipyard is, well...not a man. In fact, she's quite an accomplished artist. We may be freaks, but it's pretty equal-opportunity, thank you very much...
FIRST's (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) annual robotics competition has been supplying high school-based teams from all over the United States, Canada, Brazil, and the UK, with motors from power drills, car window mechanisms, powered van doors, and motorized camper jacks for years, now.
According to Freud, we use use our poo as currency(or rather a sublimation thereof).
YES! I was there!
by
rMortyH
·
· Score: 3, Informative
This rules. It was a great day, and not only sfgate, but SLASHDOT? I'm shocked!
Although the whole place was packed with robot people these weren't really robots. It was awesome, and Jim Mason's fire extinguisher rocket broke 100mph at the end of the track. He builds the giant fire cannons for burningman. He's brilliant but he smells awful.
Kimric Smythe (who's in SRL and runs an accordion shop and gallery in Oakland) made a propane jet powered vacuum cleaner. It made a HUGE flame but went nowhere. He got 'most pathetic engineering'. It looked incredibly cool but he burned the hell out of some photographer's leg and there was some skin falling off.. In addition to incinerating the track...
Remember the name of that junkyard, kids! It's the most wonderful place around. All your favorite robot parts, and all the obsolete computers you can crush with a forklift! A few weeks back there was a whole PDP-11. You can get dual 133 pentiums, apple ][e's, there was an Osbourne once. I got a magnatherm, a big medical thing that they used to use to microwave your body parts for therapudic reasons before they found out that was... um... Bad... It's got nixies and a built-in O-scope! Lights up a bulb with no cord. You can put a bag of popcorn on one of the paddles and it will make microwave popcorn right there in the middle of the room. I'm pretty sure it's illegal.
Anyway, if you're into geek stuff you need to crawl around that place for a while. It's greasy geek heaven. Stay away from the old army crane, it's kinda radioactive. Don't pet the hairless squirrels. They're not nice.
=mortimer
(First my job, then my favorite junkyard and the technology art group I'm a member of (q-box) have been slashdotted. I feel shiny.)
This is my favourite...
by
archetypeone
·
· Score: 1
FIRST has been around since '92???
by
Andy+Dodd
·
· Score: 1
I'm surprised. The first time I heard of it was 3-4 years ago, when apparently my former high school started participating in the competition a year or two after I graduated. (Talk about bad timing... I wish they'd had something like FIRST when I was there.)
In the past 4-5 years, FIRST has gone from unheard of to every school in the area fielding a top-notch team. As sad is it may seem, you might have BattleBots and the like to thank for that.
Note: I live in Central Jersey. Not exactly the boonies.
-- retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Are they Robots?
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1
The term robot, as defined in most dictionaries implies at least SOME level of autonomy. These power tool drag race machines are hardly robots. Nor are the machines built by SRL. I've been to a number of SRL shows, and while pretty darn amazing, all they're machines are controlled by your run-of-the-mill hobby RC control system. Not to be nudge, but the term *robot* is tossed around too much. It's time to raise the bar on this sort of thing and get some AI in these beasts.
You're absolutely right. These are not robots, they're cool cars.
I have to correct you on the SRL thing though. Most SRL machines are remote control, which technically makes them 'puppets.' (I don't think they'd like to hear that)
However, SRL is a big group of people and they have had many different true robots.
My favorite was a bunch of robots about the size of garbage cans that knew each other's locations and moved in a swarming pattern. They were covered with rotting meat, and they made the audience puke!
They have others too. They're usually the smaller ones that get smashed by the big ones. I think it's reasonable that the largest, most destructive machines are not autonomous though! That could get ugly pretty quick.
Incidently I once asked Mark Pauline (whom I don't know very well) about computer controlled hydraulics. He said it's technically straightforward, but it's a very bad idea. He said 'you're talking about a situation where a bug in your code causes someone to get hit in the head with 500 pounds of metal.'
This guy practically invented danger. He's got a firing range in his BATHROOM. If he gives you safety advice, you LISTEN!!!
Slashdot Mirror
Happy, bouncy, fuzzy robots stay in the bedroom...
Lame.
0110100100100000011000010110110100100000011000100
"There are very few happy, bouncy, fuzzy robots."
Bah, who wants those kind... bring on the terminator!
--------
Free your mind.
I'm sure they must have covered this in a few episodes. I saw a show on TLC about racing riding lawn mowers at speeds up to 50 mph.
I don't know about you, but I would get very worried if my power tools started running around wearing women's clothing. Or any clothing at all, for that matter. Spooky.
We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
The Robot Wars phenomenon, begun in San Francisco, gave rise to Comedy Central's "Battlebots" and a similar new show on Tech TV.
I always found Battlebots to be more like remote control cars on steroids. What I want is something with a little more AI, like Honda's ASIMO (or whatever its called), give those guys a sword, shield, and we'll have Light Ages of Camelot - Live!
--------
Free your mind.
So if these are like drag races, would walking disk drives be the equivalent of a tractor pull/monster truck event?
derigiderbils? (or happy furry party gerbiloons?)
If good things come to those who wait...why work now? Procrastinate!
I remember there were a article a few weeks ago in slashdot that talks about the encouragement these shows receive when they are to do with fuzzy robots- thought to be cool.
Efforts towards building truly intelligent systems dont get as much coverage or encouragement - thats truly sad.
Siggy Say, Siggy Do
I think I know who took the Segway.
This is where it all started. The International Belt Sander Drag Race Association.
"Want in one hand and spit in the other and see which one fills up first." - My Dad
I love this sort of stuff. Unlike drag racing, which is expensive and takes up lots of space, these gizmos are things that just about anyone can do... Add to that the 'art' aspect and it makes it truly fun. I wish there was an outlet for this in Southern California.
That one's going into the xmas cards!
You should go look at the places where they really race power tools:
National Belt Sander Racing Association International Belt Sander Drag Race Association Tyrol Basin Belt Sander Races North Liberty Belt Sander Races
And yes, it's what it sounds like. Ever used a belt sander and had the sander get away from you because you weren't holding it tightly enough? Well, get a bunch of people sitting around in a bar drunkenly arguing about whose belt sander can get away from them the fastest, and belt-sander racing is born.
here at the Do It Best web site. These belt sander races are great promotional events for small town hardware stores. Kind of like a pinewood derby for adults.
"We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers." Carl Sagan
Good riddance
I fling my poo at you, ass hat!!!!
who else read this headline and thought it was some sort of race participated by transvestite models of power tools?
Welley Corporation - SLM Scammers
Competitor #2: Go Circular Saw!
Me: Go banana!
"The Robot Wars phenomenon, begun in San Francisco, gave rise to Comedy Central's "Battlebots" and a similar new show on Tech TV."
What, pray tell, is this "new show"? Certainly not Robot Wars, which has been around for years. I can't think of any other show to which they could be referring.
Also, is it just me, or did Robot Wars get really lame after Craig Charles left?
If anyone wants a mirror site, I found some
good ones with Google.
Bad boys rape our young girls but Violet gives willingly.
The future is here. It's just not evenly distributed yet. -- William Gibson
they say that this current inspired the Robot Wars, etc - which, incidentally, I have something to say.
Why oh why does nobody builds bepedal (or quadrapedal) robots? you get *TWICE* the weight limit! For that kind of mass, I'd get a robot that has two non-functional legs that will sit and peg the other guy with a retractable harpoon.
ahem.
My life in the land of the rising sun.
I've never heard anyone here discuss SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABS.
I've seen fuzzy robots in their videos.Of course
it was usually a robot clothed in a dead rotting animal carcass.
SRL was probably the great grandfather precursor to battlebots(which I've always found to be waaaay wimpy compared to SRL)
The difference being many of SRLs robots are industrial size,insanely dangerous and operate under much less stringent rules of conduct than battlebots.
Mark Pauline the founder is a fantastic gearhead-artist-geek.Check out the SRL site at http://www.srl.org/
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
hey all i found this site and thought you might want to hear it www.thelinuxshow.com
besides the lawnmower races mentioned by someone else (i've actually seen these on tv, they're pretty funny), people also race:
Tractors
Shopping carts (motorized)
golf carts
rubber band/spool racers
people, especially americans, will race damn near anything.
You like your new Mac more than you like me, don't you, Dave? Dave? I asked...She said Yes.
imagining... "You smell that? Do you smell that? C19 H28 O2, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of testosterone in the morning!"
Yep. The reporter gets into the area, takes a whiff of the atmosphere, and it's Iron John all the way, baby! [very deliberate wink]
Doing my level best to piss off the religious right wing...
FIRST's (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) annual robotics competition has been supplying high school-based teams from all over the United States, Canada, Brazil, and the UK, with motors from power drills, car window mechanisms, powered van doors, and motorized camper jacks for years, now.
Check out the FIRSTrobitcs.net galleries for pictures of the kinds of robots we make.
It's not BattleBots or Robot Wars. The goals are never to destroy an opponent. The program is focused on education.
Words can't do it justice.
</shameless plug>
According to Freud, we use use our poo as currency(or rather a sublimation thereof).
This rules. It was a great day, and not only sfgate, but SLASHDOT? I'm shocked!
Although the whole place was packed with robot people these weren't really robots. It was awesome, and Jim Mason's fire extinguisher rocket broke 100mph at the end of the track. He builds the giant fire cannons for burningman. He's brilliant but he smells awful.
Kimric Smythe (who's in SRL and runs an accordion shop and gallery in Oakland) made a propane jet powered vacuum cleaner. It made a HUGE flame but went nowhere. He got 'most pathetic engineering'. It looked incredibly cool but he burned the hell out of some photographer's leg and there was some skin falling off.. In addition to incinerating the track...
Remember the name of that junkyard, kids! It's the most wonderful place around. All your favorite robot parts, and all the obsolete computers you can crush with a forklift! A few weeks back there was a whole PDP-11. You can get dual 133 pentiums, apple ][e's, there was an Osbourne once. I got a magnatherm, a big medical thing that they used to use to microwave your body parts for therapudic reasons before they found out that was... um... Bad... It's got nixies and a built-in O-scope! Lights up a bulb with no cord. You can put a bag of popcorn on one of the paddles and it will make microwave popcorn right there in the middle of the room. I'm pretty sure it's illegal.
Anyway, if you're into geek stuff you need to crawl around that place for a while. It's greasy geek heaven. Stay away from the old army crane, it's kinda radioactive. Don't pet the hairless squirrels. They're not nice.
=mortimer
(First my job, then my favorite junkyard and the technology art group I'm a member of (q-box) have been slashdotted. I feel shiny.)
Belt Sander Racing
I'm surprised. The first time I heard of it was 3-4 years ago, when apparently my former high school started participating in the competition a year or two after I graduated. (Talk about bad timing... I wish they'd had something like FIRST when I was there.)
In the past 4-5 years, FIRST has gone from unheard of to every school in the area fielding a top-notch team. As sad is it may seem, you might have BattleBots and the like to thank for that.
Note: I live in Central Jersey. Not exactly the boonies.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
The term robot, as defined in most dictionaries implies at least SOME level of autonomy. These power tool drag race machines are hardly robots. Nor are the machines built by SRL. I've been to a number of SRL shows, and while pretty darn amazing, all they're machines are controlled by your run-of-the-mill hobby RC control system. Not to be nudge, but the term *robot* is tossed around too much. It's time to raise the bar on this sort of thing and get some AI in these beasts.
Event photos at Laughing Squid: http://www.laughingsquid.org/pix/2003_05/power_too l_drag_races/
Kimric's flaming Kirby Vac: http://qbox.org/ (1 can of propane = 45 secs of intermittent flameout)
It was a good day, even though my weed whacker bike (plate 4) refused to start.
http://mindfart.com/pic/2003ptdr/