4H Live Wires Blog

Its been awhile

2009-02-27T16:49:00.000-08:00

So...its been a long time since this blog was updated. Eh, I feel old. This 4H club no longer exists, thus i doubt this blog will ever be updated again. Later.

-End Transmission

telepresence robot and a new project

2007-09-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

ok, so since the last post on the 'bot, we have worked out all the kinks and it works beautifully. We'll have some vids of it in action up soon. We entered it in the county and state fairs, receiving a champion at the state fair. we also demoed it at both fairs to promote technology in 4H.

we'll be showing it one last time in September, before we have to take it completely apart. :(

On another note we have started work on a new project: a 2d game, possibly with multiplayer, its still in the early stages of development though.

ok, later

Technology in Seismology

2007-07-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Being a technology club, we're always looking for ways that technology is being used in various fields. So when I had the chance today to attend a meeting of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network at the University of Washington in Seattle, it was a great opportunity to see how this group uses technology.

The PNSN is responsible for operating many seismometers (the device above) and seismograph stations in Oregon and Washington. These help them predict when earthquakes are going to happen. They also keep an eye on volcanoes like Mt. St. Helens. Before the meeting started, I got a tour of the part of the Earth and Space Sciences building where the organization operates.

Data from all kinds of seismometers comes in to these computers, where it's represented as wave forms. It's amazing to see! No major earthquakes while I was there, but you could tell when there was more activity than normal. They also had the old-fashioned paper kind of seismograph, but it wasn't on.

The meeting consisted of the members of the PNSN on a phone call with other member groups of the Cascade Volcano Observatory. It started out with a slideshow of camera set-ups around the crater of Mt. St. Helens. Then there were time-lapses of pictures from various cameras and discussion of the motion over the period of 21 days. They noted there had been fewer earthquakes than normal recently. Although it's hard to predict, the possibility of a magnitude 4 coming soon was mentioned. It's exciting to see how technology is helping us!

robot again

2007-07-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

ok so, since the plexiglass shattered we switched to lexan (very cool material) which worked great so we now have a platform

the webcam in the picture unfortunately was incompatible with the laptop so we are now waiting for a diff. webcam to get here. we have the beginnings of a control program using the basic stamp editor debug window. Here's some of the code:

' {$STAMP BS2}

' {$PBASIC 2.5}

counter VAR Word

pulseWidth VAR Word

pulseWidthComp VAR Word

FREQOUT 4, 2000, 3000

DO

DEBUG "enter pulse width"

DEBUGIN DEC pulseWidth

pulseWidthComp = 1500 - pulseWidth

FOR counter = 1 TO 244

PULSOUT 15, pulseWidth

PULSOUT 13,pulseWidthComp

PAUSE 20

NEXT

LOOP

we may just have the robot done in time for fair.

robot mishaps

2007-07-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

our telepresence robot has been going through some interesting mishaps, to start off with we were trying to use plexiglass for the robot platform (see picture)and when we tryed to drill it, the sheet cracked and on the next try shattered completely...more later

Telepresence

2007-07-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

What does 'telepresence' sound like to you? The word telepresence literally means "being somewhere else." Livewires has been working on its own way to get telepresence: a robot. The project started out with the idea of attaching a camera to Neil's BoeBot and controlling it remotely. This would allow us to "see" and "hear" anywhere we wanted by sending the robot. The plans have changed, but we've finally started on it.

The BASIC stamp that comes with the BoeBot controls the servos that make the wheels move. It works by plugging into a computer that downloads programs to it. That works great if you want the robot to move randomly or in a pre-set direction, but we needed constant control, so we knew that we'd need to stay "plugged in." The problem is that the cord isn't long enough to really make the bot go somewhere. So we got an EB500 Bluetooth module to download wirelessly, but it didn't work.

So we changed the whole shape of the robot. Now it's two sheets of Plexiglass on top of each other, about a foot square. On this platform will go a laptop that's plugged directly into the stamp. After looking around a bit, we found some software that will allow a remote computer to control the screen of the laptop on the robot. This is possible with a technology called remote desktop. Unfortunately, it's pretty slow since it needs to send images of the screen every time it changes. The next challenge is to make (or get?) a program that has simple buttons to download programs for left, right, forward, and back. Stay tuned!

We have a vidcast...

2007-06-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

After a few technical difficulties regarding secret information on the participants, the vidcast of the Tech Conference (see below) is now online! Also, Livewires is pleased to report a new member, Hannah. We'd like to hear what you think about the vidcast; go ahead and leave a comment for us with your opinion. Also, we have picked our a camera for our robot so it should be ready for the fair in August. We'll be seeing you around...

Going Hi-Tech in Douglas County

2007-05-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

Umpqua Community College, 9:30 AM yesterday- The computer lab at UCC didn't seem like a very likely place for a spy meeting, but then again, the 25 youth and adults that attended didn't seem like spies. After all, the Livewires 4-H club presented the event as a tech conference. As part of their continued effort to share information learned at their last spy meeting (see the rest of the blog for more on this), Neil and I (Caleb) taught students how to design web pages, use Blender to make 3D animations, and build two different kind of robots. Then almost everyone stayed to grab a GPS unit and use it to find secret drop sites hidden outside the building.

Participants had a lot of fun, and most gave the day good ratings on the evaluation sheets they were given. We plan on teaching the same classes at Summer Conference at OSU. Yesterday's conference included three sessions, each with a choice of one or two classes. In 3D Animation, students learned how to animate a simple movie scene using Blender. In Web Design, everyone discussed how their ~~spy organization~~ 4-H club could benefit from having a website, then learned some basic HTML and many were even able to get their new sites online. In Robotics: Invasion of the Art Bot Swarm, they were challenged to make a robot that did art using such supplies as paper cups, rubber bands, markers, paintbrushes, popsicle sticks, and a small motor. In Lego Robotics, they used RCX Lego Kits and discovered how they can compete in 4-H. The GPS class also included some time on the computers using Google Earth and a demonstration of ArcGIS.

None of the participants were already involved in a 4-H tech club, and we expect the area's clubs to grow now that local 4-Hers have seen some of the cool things they can do with technology. More to come when we get our vidcast (video podcast) uploaded, so check back often!

Livewires podcast

2007-02-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

Hi, LiveWires has been busy (somewhat) here is our podcast:

Rumor has it

2007-02-21T14:30:00.000-08:00

Rumor has it that Livewires is planning a spy meeting, I mean technology conference for Douglas County in May (To learn the rest of the story, you might want to have a look at our archives - but don't tell anyone!) Sources tell us that topics will include electronics, web design, 3D animation, and podcasting. "Delegates" can be anyone who could be in 4-H, but all youth in the county are encouraged to come. No word yet on a time or date, however we heard the location might be Umpqua Community College.

Livewires 4-H Tech Conference Blog

2007-02-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

Lincoln Airport, 1:30 PM Monday 7.24.06: As our group waited for a contact under an overhang, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by agents dressed in gray. They had dropped from the ceiling of the overhang where they had been silently waiting for us. Without a word, they split us into two groups and hustled us into unmarked vans that were waiting around a corner. The windows were one-way mirrors so we couldn't see the way to our destination. We rode for about twenty minutes before the van stopped and we got out. The sight of an old warehouse greeted our eyes, in fact as far as we could see, we were in the middle of a complex of warehouses.

We quickly went inside and waited while our identities were confirmed. We found out that our contact was already at the briefing somewhere in the maze of warehouses. Fortunately we were given a map and soon we arrived at the briefing center we ran up the stairs, just in time for...

OK, so it was a dorm building instead of a warehouse. And we could see out of the vans. But there was still plenty of adventure in store at the 2006 4-H National Technology Conference. Arriving yesterday at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the two of us (Neil and Caleb) along with the rest of the Oregon delegation, eight youth and four chaperones, headed across the campus for an orientation meeting. We decided to intentionally miss the orientation and arrived right in time for a talk on how new technology can help 4-H.
After that we were surprised to find that we were in for some games, including hitting each other with noodles. As we tried to figure out what that had to do with technology, we went to dinner. Then we went back for the Skillathon, in which we collected data on top-secret experiments. For obvious reasons, I'm not at liberty to explain them.

Today we were again met by secret agents who quickly escorted us to our conference "focus areas". These ranged from digital video editing to LEGO robotics to civil engineering. Having greatly improved our knowledge of our respective areas, we got ready to go to dinner with our spy rings, I mean state delegations. More coming from here at the conference!

I was detached on special assignment to the robotics containment unit at 7.45 July 25. I met my co-conspirator after the shift change and my brain was still reeling from the programing code I was downloading intravenously. With the help of my partner I quickly learned how to make the robot move and then follow a line. We took a break for our MRE's and I met briefly with the rest of my team for an update on their program's satus. When we returned to the contanment unit we learned how to make the robot stay inside a square. We also programed it to play music.

7.45 July 26 Back in the robotics containment unit, my partner Chris (whose last name I can't tell you) and I receved our instructions for our first training assignment. We had an hour to plan and create a robot that could wrestle the other agents' robots out of the sumo ring. We quickly went to work planning the mechanics and software programs. I worked on building the mechanics while Chris worked on the program, then we checked each others' work and tested the robot. We made some modifications to it and tested it again. It worked perfectly. We finished well within the hour, so we decided to add some fight music to it. Several other agents' robots went first, and then it was our turn; we failed utterly and completely. In our confidence we had neglected to test the program with the music. The robot had ignored its insructions and only played the music. We could only watch as others went ahead. Later we reprogramed it, taking the music out, and entered in the free for all. It took on all the other robots and finaly won...

--BEGIN SECRET TRANSMISSION--
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 22:43 Wed. 7.26.06: Day three at the National Tech Conference. Today again we started out by going to our focus area classes. If nothing else, we'll all be in good shape at the end of the conference from walking across across the campus several times a day. In "Lights, Camera, Action!", we finished cutting and editing scenes from a three-minute movie we were provided with. No coincidence, cough cough, excuse me, but it was about spies. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time for us to perfect our edits. Today was the second and last day of classes, and we only got this morning.
After that we went to a different building and cleaned up old computers to give to disabled people in Nebraska. That involved taking them apart, cleaning the components, and installing Windows 2000. Oh, I almost forgot to mention: we removed certain confidential information from the computers' hard drives. Of course, I'm not at liberty to say what.
Well, that's
Uh-oh! The transmission's being intercepted! Over and out.

7.27.06: After lunch we again found ourselves waiting, tipped off that an unknown contact would take us to our next destination now that we had finished our focus areas. It was the last full day of the conference, and sure enough, our contact arrived and took us to where we started our post-conference workshops. Everyone in our state was doing GPS/GIS. Using these technologies, one can find the coordinates of a point (GPS) and input them into a computerized database. Then the points can be imported onto a map (GIS) by layers that can be used to find different relationships between types of points. For example, we entered points for doors of buildings that could be used for emergency shelters. These could be displayed on top of an aerial photo of the campus, and have information stored with them, like the name of the building and whether or not it's wheelchair accessible. One could also put secret meeting locations, or some such thing.
Looking back on the past few days, let me take a few minutes to reflect on the conference. I think the biggest downside was the lack of time, which made it hard to balance discussion and hands-on work in the focus areas. The conference did well on planning plenty to do, but it didn't leave much free time. Breakfast in the cafeteria started at 7:00, focus areas (with a lunch break) lasted from 8:00 to 4:00, then dinner, some kind of evening activity, state meetings, and that fills up the schedule. If there's any extra time, you'll find the computer lab full of people looking at MySpace. Every few minutes, someone asks "Do you have MySpace?" Come on, people, get a life! Don't you know there's more to do than use the Internet? I talked to a lot of people that were very happy with their chosen focus areas, so those seemed to be planned well.
Now that's it almost over, we've been challenged to think about how we can bring what we've learned back to our states and communities. The goal is to get technology integrated into all the project areas of 4-H, not just the ones that are based on technology. In Oregon, we hope to start county and state technology teams. These teams will focus on representing 4-H technology to 4-Hers and other youth in their communities. Overall, I'd say everyone learned things from the conference and had a great time. The opportunities provided by a program like 4-H are endless, and we're all looking forward to seeing where we go from here.

Disclaimer: parts of this blog may or may not be true. Of course, we're not at liberty to disclose which.