Dean on Dateline Wednesday night

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Posted by Susanne Krussell.

Coach on team #163, The Quantum Mechanics, from International Academy and Quantum Consultants/Eaton/ITT.

Posted on 6/30/99 6:32 PM MST



Hi People,

Dean was on dateline tonight (NBC) withj a new invention. Wheelchair that can go upstairs and downstairs, over sand. He has it patented. Lots of gyros. Can go up on 2 wheels. It is incredible!! Looks like a lot of robot competition moves. People in wheelchairs can actually 'stand' up. You rock, Dean!!!
s. Krussell

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Posted by Michael Martus.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Coach on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central H.S. and Delphi Automotives Systems.

Posted on 6/30/99 6:55 PM MST


In Reply to: Dean on Dateline Wednesday night posted by Susanne Krussell on 6/30/99 6:32 PM MST:



Saw it by a stroke of luck. FIRST should have let all of us know. See my message in the rumor section.

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Posted by Joe Johnson.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.

Posted on 6/30/99 7:22 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: Dean on Dateline Wednesday night posted by Michael Martus on 6/30/99 6:55 PM MST:



I was lucky enough to get a call from Mike in time to tune in.

WOW.

Has there ever been a time such as right now to live?

I was really moved.

I wept with woman who was able to be at eye level for the first time in years.

I was so proud to be part of a profession that makes this kind of magic happen in 1000's of ways big and small every day for billions of people.

Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians, Stock brokers...

...Do any of these professions have a greater claim on the improved standard of living or on the reduction of suffering than that of Engineering?

I think not.

Joe J;

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Posted by Joe Johnson.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Engineer on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.

Posted on 6/30/99 7:31 PM MST


In Reply to: I wept. posted by Joe Johnson on 6/30/99 7:22 PM MST:



Here is a picture of the machine being demonstrated by Dean.

Joe J.

P.S. I have had trouble relinking to msnbc's site. I hope that something is wrong with their site and not my links. If so, I apologize in advance. JJ.

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Posted by Mike King.

Other on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater Raynham and Johnson & Johnson Professional.

Posted on 7/1/99 10:35 PM MST


In Reply to: picture of machine posted by Joe Johnson on 6/30/99 7:31 PM MST:



: Here is a picture of the machine being demonstrated by Dean.

: Joe J.

: P.S. I have had trouble relinking to msnbc's site. I hope that something is wrong with their site and not my links. If so, I apologize in advance. JJ.


It's not you. I can't connect to there site either

Mike

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Posted by Brandon Martus.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Other on team #47, Chief Delphi, from Pontiac Central High School and Delphi Automotive Systems.

Posted on 7/2/99 4:14 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: picture of machine posted by Mike King on 7/1/99 10:35 PM MST:



i dont know if it was dumb luck
but i connected to their site once last night

i tried to connect another time, and it wouldn't let me.



: : Here is a picture of the machine being demonstrated by Dean.

: : Joe J.

: : P.S. I have had trouble relinking to msnbc's site. I hope that something is wrong with their site and not my links. If so, I apologize in advance. JJ.

:
: It's not you. I can't connect to there site either

: Mike

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Posted by Bethany Dunning.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Coach on team #163, Quantum Mechanics, from International Academy and Quantum Consultants/EATON/ITT Industries.

Posted on 7/2/99 1:05 PM MST


In Reply to: connecting to their site posted by Brandon Martus on 7/2/99 4:14 AM MST:



Something must be really funky with the site. I can get on, and one link, but then all the
other links don't work. But the other day, I had the fortune to be able to watch the whole
segment on their site. Dunno.

: i dont know if it was dumb luck
: but i connected to their site once last night

: i tried to connect another time, and it wouldn't let me.

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Posted by Mike King.

Other on team #88, TJ², from Bridgewater Raynham and Johnson & Johnson Professional.

Posted on 7/2/99 11:39 PM MST


In Reply to: Re: connecting to their site posted by Bethany Dunning on 7/2/99 1:05 PM MST:



Seems to be working now

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Posted by Jon.

Engineer on team #190, Gompei, from Mass Academy of Math and Science and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Posted on 7/3/99 2:12 PM MST


In Reply to: connecting to their site posted by Brandon Martus on 7/2/99 4:14 AM MST:



MSNBC is goofy with its links, i had to wade thru the source code to pull out the video link (it's below). Reuters posted the story on its news wires on friday so expect to see it on CNN and newspapers across the world!

Good job Dean!

jonathan abad
Team 190 WPI/MAMS

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Posted by Daniel.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M Gunn Senior High School and NASA Ames.

Posted on 7/2/99 12:29 PM MST


In Reply to: picture of machine posted by Joe Johnson on 6/30/99 7:31 PM MST:



That is beautiful.

But...I keep staring, and the more I stare, the more confused I get. What if there was a strong gust of wind?? What if a baseball from a game of catch goes wide and hits the back of his chair? Isn't it going to fall?

It just looks dangerous.

I'm sure it's not, because Dean is brilliant, but I'd love to know how he does it. Does someone know how this thing works?


-Daniel

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Posted by Austin Martus.

Other on team #47 from son of pchs coach.

Posted on 7/2/99 1:56 PM MST


In Reply to: I'm confused. posted by Daniel on 7/2/99 12:29 PM MST:



it wont fall over cause on date line he had a guy throw like a 20 lb bag of lead at him and the computer compensated the weight changed and kept it from falling over. so no it wont fall over

austin



: That is beautiful.


: But...I keep staring, and the more I stare, the more confused I get. What if there was a strong gust of wind?? What if a baseball from a game of catch goes wide and hits the back of his chair? Isn't it going to fall?

: It just looks dangerous.

: I'm sure it's not, because Dean is brilliant, but I'd love to know how he does it. Does someone know how this thing works?

:
: -Daniel

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Posted by Joe Ross.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Coach on team #330, Beach Bot II, from Hope Chapel Academy and NASA/JPL, NASA ARC.

Posted on 7/2/99 2:39 PM MST


In Reply to: I'm confused. posted by Daniel on 7/2/99 12:29 PM MST:



Like austin said, they threw a bag of lead at it and the machine compensated and stayed upright. Dean said that the computer reacts faster than the human brain! It works like your arm, the gyros can keep it level.

I was able to video tape it but I don't have the equipment to make copies. It didn't turn out to well, we don't get that great of reception of NBC but it is still decent.

Joe Ross
Team 330

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Posted by Fran .

Other on team #166, Team Merrimack, from Merrimack High School and Unitrode/R.S. Machines.

Posted on 7/3/99 2:07 PM MST


In Reply to: I'm confused. posted by Daniel on 7/2/99 12:29 PM MST:



: T
iii I f you go to the rumor mill and read Jon's comments from WPI he has a link so you can see the show.....it is very impressive and shows the stability of the unit. They threw a 35 pound weight at it and it didn't topple and they showed an extensive testing of all kinds of problems that might arise. I was very impressed but more so after I saw the show...it brought tears to my eyes too...thank you Jon for providing the link.

Fran


I hat is beautiful.

: But...I keep staring, and the more I stare, the more confused I get. What if there was a strong gust of wind?? What if a baseball from a game of catch goes wide and hits the back of his chair? Isn't it going to fall?

: It just looks dangerous.

: I'm sure it's not, because Dean is brilliant, but I'd love to know how he does it. Does someone know how this thing works?

:
: -Daniel

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Posted by Rick Berube.

Engineer on team #121, Rhode Warriors, from Middletown H.S..

Posted on 7/5/99 9:37 AM MST


In Reply to: I'm confused. posted by Daniel on 7/2/99 12:29 PM MST:



: That is beautiful.

: But...I keep staring, and the more I stare, the more confused I get. What if there was a strong gust of wind?? What if a baseball from a game of catch goes wide and hits the back of his chair? Isn't it going to fall?

: It just looks dangerous.

: I'm sure it's not, because Dean is brilliant, but I'd love to know how he does it. Does someone know how this thing works?

:
: -Daniel

Daniel,

the gyrochip measures angular velocity (or angular acceleration). That is, how fast about a point (or shaft for example) something is moving. If you think about the motion as being bi-directional (+ and -), and the point that your rotating about is the shaft of a motor, you can counteract the force off the '35lbs bag of lead' by having that motor apply an equal and force in the opposite direction. If you ever take control theory, this simple tenant will be drummed into your head time and time again. It is basic but at the core of all control systems!
As long as gravity doesn't change or that 35lbs bag doesn't become a 100lbs bag (or whatever weight the chair can no longer compensate for), I assure you it will be safe. But the FDA has many tests the chair must overcome before they allow them to be sold. I'm sure they'll become safer over time too (just like automobiles).

I think the mechanical design is really the amazing thing myself. Although I will admit that this chair wouldn't be possible without computers, electronics and software, to me its the mechanism itself that is awesome. The fact that the machine reconfigures itself effortlessly much like a kids 'Transformer' toy. What is obviously a fairly complex piece of machinery seems to be very stable by designed, yet it has several positions/configurations and terrains/environments in which it must operate.

Remember all those points of physics your engineers/teachers brought up when you were trying to build your robot? Deans chair I'll bet uses all of the same principles, starting with a low center of gravity. Heavy parts (motors/batteries/gears) mounted closest to the ground and I'll bet all the high parts (chair/structure) are strong but light weight. Dean's chair seems to possess the same fine qualities you'll find in most of the successful FIRST robots over the years!

Having said that, do you think the addition of a gyrochip in this year's kit was a coincidence? What about the games themselves over the past several years?

Rick

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Posted by Mike.

Student on team #175, Buzz, from Enrico Fermi High School and UTC - Hamilton Standard Space Systems.

Posted on 7/6/99 9:17 AM MST


In Reply to: Re: I'm confused. posted by Rick Berube on 7/5/99 9:37 AM MST:



I definitely do not think the addition of the gyros was a coincidence. I
think Dean just wanted to see how we could use them. I'm also a strong
believer that this year's puck was put in to see how our robots did
with curbs )
- Mike