First Meeting at noon!

Just a reminder the first meeting is at noon. Here's the powerpoint we'll be going over:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1g9s3OBHPWGfPtEib047HE6DPjNhlGVJmZxUKno2dR58/edit?usp=sharing

The first meeting is THIS THURSDAY!

Hey everyone, just a reminder that Thursday is our first meeting! Recall that this first meeting is just about getting everyone introduced to each other, and discussing why we love robotics. On the technical side, we'll talk about the promise of using Ubuntu and ROS to program robots. I understand that a lot of you have lunch and other obligations at that time, but I hope you can make it, at least so we can establish a more convenient time for the next meeting.

Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing you there.

--Jacob

First Meeting Topics

Without getting too specific and giving out all my secrets, here's what you can expect to see at our first meeting. Understand that for this first meeting it's super general, so digging into any particular topic.

• Introductions
  What do you love about Robotics?

Of course introductions will be necessary. We're not all from the same following, and we all like robotics for different reasons. It would be great if each of us understood who we could talk to about our interests.

• Robotics: A multi-disciplinary Science
  What is Robotics? What components make up robotics?

By embracing our interests, let's discuss what exactly makes up robotics. You'd be surprised at the number of different studies and sciences that can make up a single robotics project. I hope you can find new interests that maybe you didn't associate with robotics before.

• Business as usual
  When's the next meeting? What are we going to talk about?

I understand that Tuesday at noon might be a really bad time for you. Let's establish a new time that works for everybody. Also, from our list of disciplines, let's decide what we want to talk more about next time we meet.

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I hope to have this all covered by 12:30 pm. At this point I'll let anyone go who doesn't want to learn more about ROS and programming robots. Here's what we'll have to offer for the people who stay:

• Working with LinuxWhat is Linux? Why would you ever want to use it?

The way Berea operates, you've most likely used only windows on your student laptop. You've maybe thought about other OS's, tried them out on machines across campus, but haven't really got to spend anytime with them. 

You may not be aware, but Linux is a powerful tool for programmers, and you may even find it more inviting than Windows! At the same time there also exists this strange fandom around Linux, which makes it seem perhaps a little too difficult or off-putting. We're going to talk about Linux realistically, with it's advantages and disadvantages, and ways you can get your machine to use a Linux Operating System. There are a lot of difficult questions when it comes to Linux, but I'll try to make everyone feel a little bit better. 

• ROS, the Robotic Operating System
  How do people just 'use' robotic systems? How do they code for them?

No doubt during your programming courses, you've asked yourself "How do people even get to the point where they're working with these giant systems?", and, surprisingly, the answer is much closer than you think. Again, it seems like there's a high wall, but once you. And don't worry, we won't be going through all of ROS, not even by a long shot. We'll be talking about it on a totally conceptual level: What we want from robots, and how we can achieve that. 

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Again, the point of these technical parts is not to show you how much I know about these things, but help make them a little less frightening and more accessible to you.

I hope to see you there! Again, feel free to send any questions to BereaRoboticsSociety@gmail.com

First Meeting Date announced!

Happy to announce that I just met with Dr. Pearce, and we decided on a date--

Thursday October 16th

12:00pm to 1:00pm

Danforth Tech Building
Laboratory

 I understand this time may be inconvenient, but I really encourage everyone interested to show up. At this meeting we'll all get to know each other, decide what we want to pursue, and most importantly, what times we want to do so.

I really want to take the time to make it clear that we want everyone interested to join the group. Sure, we'll be taking on projects, and talking about programming, but we'll also be discussing a lot of other material, like design, ethics, popular culture, and psychology. Robotics is not just about programming.

In the meantime, I'll be doing everything I can to get this info out there. There will be posters, and you can expect a few emails. 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! Email me at BereaRoboticsSociety@gmail.com

Thanks!

--Jacob

Logo Approval

At the behest of Dr. Pearce, I asked Willow Garage if we could use the image from their site for the Robotics Society... And it was a resounding yes! Included is the Executive Director's response I received this morning:

Hi Jacob,

Congratulations on starting a robotics club at your college!  That's really terrific and will provide you and your club members with an invaluable skill set throughout your careers. Please feel free to use the image in your logo.  We hope it will gain student interest for your efforts.

Best of luck,

Bob

Executive Director

All right!

Poster Submission thread

Membership hasn't officially opened yet, but please feel free to submit poster designs and slogans here in the comments! Just keep it appropriate.

Mission Statement

Included here is a link to the mission statement. This is intended as a draft, but depending on future membership may vary. We will be discussing these goals at the first meeting. Now begins the advertisement stage.

Logo Creation

Made a good logo to stand by, at least for the time being. I like sorting things by date, but also giving them a nice flashy name. Let's call this one "Atlas", and tag it as "0912". Here is the image:

0912_Atlas

I won't lie, the picture comes from the good guys at Willow Garage, providing the world not only with great products, but amusing robot drawings. At the bottom is the addition of BRS for "Berea Robotics Society" in Sabandija, a nice modern typeface I felt fit in well with the rest of the aesthetic. as I create the rest of the posters, you'll see this design on them.

The robot featured is the PR2, known for its variety of sensors are rather flexible arms and grabbers. It's not uncommon to see this model under discussion when speaking about the current advances in robotics. While the college may not own the notably expensive PR2, the image serves the purpose of featuring a premiere robot not performing a task, but reflecting on its actions, an appropriate gesture for a club interested not only in the mechanics of robotics, but the applications, science and history as well.

We can discuss the prospect of an updated logo at future meetings, but for the time being, I will rely on this one. Feel free to comment with any contributions.

Club Creation and Establishment

Hello everyone. My name is Jacob Leibeck.

I recently talked to a Berea Alumni, who, in his time at Berea College founded an Economics club, an effort which impressed me, but also left me thinking why the Computer Science department doesn't offer a similar club. The next week I happen to be meeting with Dr. Pearce, so I discussed with her the possibility of creating a robotics club, a proposition that really interested her. We then proceeded to discuss the goals, membership, and other aspects of the club. With all of those boring details out of the way, we can now proceed to creating and establishing the club. This will consist of a small virtual and physical campaign in the Berea Community, starting with this blog post, the first "official" mention of the club. Without eating up more of your time, here's a checklist of what needs to be done:

• Discussion with advisor, presentation and approval of club.
• Come up club name.
• Creation of contact account, blog, google drive.
• Creation of mission statement
• Decision of meeting date
• Creation of media to be placed around college campus
• Hope that people show up

At our first meeting we'll be bringing everyone together, reviewing the mission statement, and exploring everyone's interests, and how this organization might help. Thanks, and I hope to see you there!