After a rousing round of bowling on Tuesday afternoon, I was inspired to relive the classic move The Big Lebowski by mixing up The Dude’s favorite drink.
Posted on 16-08-2010 | By: KatyLeask | 
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Category : Fun Stuff
The vibe in the office had a mad scientist flavor today. It’s all happening. Strange robot crashes and grinding noises in the other room…heated debate about parts and equations…now l hear the distinct rattle and clink of a wild engineer digging through LEGO bits in a plastic tub. Ben said “build something” and the guys have until Monday to get going. Looking forward to the first “creations.”
It may be a little intimidating to think of preschoolers who are as comfortable with a laptop as they are with crayons and finger paint, but it is happening. I’m actually excited to think that the practice of having students memorize and regurgitate may be going the way of the dodo. How fantastic would it be to have a generation of learners focused on creative, innovative, critical thought? Here’s an interesting clip about upcoming trends in education:
Posted on 04-08-2010 | By: Ben Zimmer | (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
Category : Enable my LEGO, Featured, Fun Stuff, LabVIEW Tips, Mindstorms, TETRIX
Here at ETC we do a lot of work with LEGO robotics (WeDo, Mindstorms and TETRIX) and with LabVIEW. Plus, we have three University of Waterloo Engineering students this term who have to write work-term reports.
We also have quite a pile of parts…
So, this post is officially (whatever that means) kicking off the “Enable my LEGO” project. Our ultimate goal is to build an automatic, PC- and NXT-driven robotic LEGO photocopier.
Here are the lofty goals (now, forever publicly and blogospherically listed) of the system:
- one webcam to capture the object to be copied
- a second webcam to capture and identify a pile of LEGO elements
- one netbook running LabVIEW to process the images and provide motion paths to the…
- one LEGO Mindstorms NXT brick driving an XY stage built out of TETRIX DC motors, servos, and/or Mindstorms motors
- a Z-axis carried by the XY stage capable of picking and placing a LEGO element
I’ve tasked the students with getting something working by the end of their term. (Don’t tell them, but I expect it will be a humble subset of the list above.)
I’ve also tasked them with blogging on here about their engineering design process, to describe successes and failures, hints, tips and tricks.
Here’s how the tasks are broken down:
Akos Bakos: XY-axis stage
Kasyap Patel: Software architecture
Kevin Wang: Z-axis mechanism
Dhrov Gupta and Corey Eagle: support
I think Pat and I might find some time to play, too! 
Stay tuned!
In the lead role is President Ben Zimmer, long-time computer geek and LabVIEW programmer since 1994. Ben started Enable Training and Consulting in 2006, putting his degrees in applied math and physics to work, as well as his many years of experience as a programmer. In recent years, Ben’s experience as an educator has helped him to design teaching, learning and training tools for both industry and education.
Amy Leask, Vice President, has served as the non-technical lead since Enable was formed. An educator, writer and editor by trade, Amy is passionate about encouraging even the smallest of thinkers. She is living proof that you can do something useful with a degree in philosophy.
In supporting roles are Pat Allen, Katy Leask, Lukas Reidinger, Mike Baird and Dan Dwyer. Pat brings a wealth of experience in both hardware and software. Lukas and Mike provide unique software solutions, backed by their training in programming and electronics. A former primary school teacher, Katy creates innovative curriculum resources for teachers and students. Dan keeps all of us in line as office manager.
Last but not least is our chorus of interns and coop students. Enthusiastic, clever and innovative, they provide us with a constant influx of new ideas and solutions. They are, in no particular order, Akos Bakos, Dhrov Gupta, Kasyap Patel, Kevin Wang, and Corey Eagle.
Making cameo appearances are: Ruby Zimmer, and official office mascot Finnigan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkH9rMMGGy0
