pic: JVN and CJC's Office at IFI

[JVN]

Sharp eyes!
I’m going to just respond to the observations made in the thread. It would take WAY to long to respond to everyone individually, but kudos to all those who found something.

Here we go…

Yes, that is a Segway sitting there. We have a few of those in the office. Very convenient for “gliding” between the office and our new metal shop, or just a fun way to go grab a cup of coffee from the break room. (Coming in I didn’t understand either… but when there are three of them just sitting there… “why walk, when segging is more fun?”)

There are definitely a few kitbot pieces laying around, though most of these are just prototypes from last year.
I am searching for improvements to make. (More on this later.)

Lots and lots of Vex stuff. IFI helped with the development of the Vex product line (using our EDU technology) and we’re still involved. It’s pretty cool, we’ve had lots of fun challenges to solve. The more I play with Vex, the more excited I am about it. All those Vex boxes decorating my office are empty. We go through ‘em pretty quickly.
Check out: http://www.vexlabs.com/vex-ribbon-cutter.shtml to see an example of one of the robots RadioShack has asked us to build.

Yes, I’ve got some IFI products sitting around… Annual product review meetings have been happening, mostly electrical but sometimes they let us MechE’s participate.

The whiteboard is my task list, and it is mostly accurate. We did throw a couple of jokes on there. No, I’m not really in charge of washing the boss’ Porsche, but I DO frequently need to babysit the intern. There are a couple more up there that no one saw. I guess the picture was blurry... weird.

Underwater Victor? Why would we need something like that? I mean… certainly there are many applications, but we wouldn’t need it for FRC… right?

Yes, the “refrigerator” is actually a 3D printer. It prints in real ABS plastic, so we can make all kinds of stuff. I don’t know why it got stuck in my office, but I’m not complaining. One of the coolest things I’ve done is print out some custom handlebar plugs for a Co-workers’ Ducati.

Yes, there is lots of Rack Solutions stuff; Rack Solutions is actually what I spend most of my time on. (Not too much Mechanical Engineering required for a Robot Controller.) Our company originally started with the Victor Speed Controller, but since then the Rack Solutions side of the business has started, and grown exponentially.
As Dave said, at this point the Rack Solutions side of the business is bigger than the IFI-Robotics side. If you check out www.racksolutions.com you can see some of the products we make. I definitely have a lot of fun; all kinds of challenging design problems to solve. On the table, there is a 19” LCD mount we make for the Navy, a simple keyboard shelf we made for Yahoo, and also a PC wall-mount bracket.

The 19” LCD sketch on the whiteboard is actually a rack-mount for the Navy, not a new IFI-Robotics project. (Sorry folks.)

Rack-111 (Custom Rack) & Rack-111-Caster (Caster Kit)
http://www.racksolutions.com/server-...s-custom.shtml
Sorry Stangers…
That bent caster plate sitting on my desk is actually a customer return of a Rack-111-Caster. We have no idea how much weight they put on it, but it definitely exceeds the specs.

My design station is a real monster, like Baker noticed I do have a dual-monitor setup with a spaceball.
That machine is faaaaaaaaaaaaast... It is sad; when I sit down at my home computer I find myself missing my work setup. (Ever find yourself reaching for a spaceball that isn’t there?)

Ingenious Mechanisms for Designers and Inventors is a pretty cool series of books. You guys should check it out. The illustrations are amazing (done back before CAD). I heard the rumor about Dean’s secret passage; believe it or not, by pulling volume 2 off my desk, it opens up my CD-ROM drive (no joke!).

Yes, the middle desk is a giant whiteboard. It comes in very handy for brainstorming and product design meetings. It is also handy for immature practical jokes on our intern. We haven’t tried tic-tac-toe yet… good idea Baker. I can see your years of work experience have taught you much. I am but a young grasshopper, eager to learn.

My “personal assistant” Chris has been working his butt off. He is IFI’s summer Mechanical Engineering intern, and we’ve kept him VERY busy. I guess after spending 3 years on a FIRST team together, he knows how to deal with me by now. I’m sure he can/will comment more on his 'summer-o-fun' later.

The Omni-Wheel:
Though I have greatly enjoyed the speculation posted on here, I’m going to come out and admit it; that isn’t an omni-wheel. It is actually a giant DC motor mounted to a piece of rack-solutions steel. It was used for the testing of the high-voltage Victor. The “rollers” are actually the cooling fins on the side of the motor. I must admit, it looks a lot like an omni. The only omni-wheels in this picture, are little ones for Vex.
There are actually two such “Test” motors in the picture, one of which has the red leads on it which were confused for a tether.

The “Pouring” Robot:
Another little creation whipped up for RadioShack. More details to come…
(I am especially proud of that little guy. Yes, they let us test it in the office.)


I’m impressed with some of the sharp eyes from this group. Though, you did miss a few fun things. If there is some interest, we may begin doing more “Inside Innovation First” features. Anyone ever wonder what is lying around on Mark Lambert’s desk?

Another day at the office,
John